I read Agatha Christie’s famous mystery novel (originally published as “Ten Little Niggers”) when I was a teenager and it remains a favorite. Dark, elegant and incredibly fast-paced, it still had a mild sense of humor that made it incredibly entertaining. In her autobiography, Christie expressed a sense of satisfaction: “I wrote the book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I made of it.” One might say that the story is a candidate for what could be the greatest screen adaptation Alfred Hitchcock never made.
Invited by a mysterious “Mr. Owens”
Eight strangers arrive on Indian Island, just off the coast of Devon. They’ve been invited by a mysterious “Mr. Owen”. The party learns that Owen will arrive later for dinner and the guests are urged to relax at his mansion, which is the only house on the small island; a housekeeper and butler, Ethel and Thomas Rogers (Queenie Leonard, Richard Haydn), see to their needs. Later in the evening, when everybody has gathered in the living room, a booming voice is suddenly heard. A man who introduces himself as Owen explains that they have all been summoned to Indian Island to be punished for having caused the deaths of innocent men and women; the voice goes on to specify the crimes to each and everyone of them, including the Rogers couple.
Everybody is stunned. Then the first death happens, followed by someone smashing one of the ten Indian figurines on the dinner table…
True to its dark theme
You can figure out what happens after that, but perhaps not exactly how Christie’s clever mystery plays out. The novel was true to its dark theme throughout, albeit not entirely credible toward the very end of it. When the time came in 1943 to adapt it for the stage, Christie changed the ending and additional modifications were made for the screen adaptation; the result is a “happier” ending. Somewhat duller, perhaps, but still more realistic.
The reason why I made a comparison with Hitchcock earlier was not to diminish the effort of director René Clair – on the contrary. I was initially skeptical of the humorous approach to the material, but one soon becomes completely engaged in these characters’ efforts to find the wolf in their midst. The longer the story goes on, the more darkness gets an upper hand; the group is effectively decimated over a couple of days and the few remaining know that one of them is a cold-blooded murderer. Clair and his team offer interesting visual touches in several sequences (another reason why I thought of Hitchcock), such as allowing the audience to find a body ahead of two bickering characters; there’s also a funny set-up involving several guests spying on each other through keyholes. The filmmakers do a good job of trying to confuse us, much the same way as the real Owen is operating…
Most of the cast is a treat. Louis Hayward and June Duprez may seem a little bland as potential lovers, but Haydn is a lot of fun as Rogers who reaches a point where he simply doesn’t give a damn anymore… And Walter Huston delivers another rich performance as the authoritative but tricky Dr. Armstrong. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s memorable music is used to great effect near the end.
One year after the novel’s first edition, the title was changed in the U.S. due to racial concerns. May seem unusually early for a country that wouldn’t give African-Americans equality before the law for another twenty years. The choice is understandable, even if the story loses some of its edge with the new title; as some academics have pointed out, the prospect of a “nigger” nursery rhyme inspiring a killer adds an intriguing level of fear.
And Then There Were None 1945-U.S. 98 min. B/W. Produced and directed by René Clair. Screenplay: Dudley Nichols. Novel: Agatha Christie. Cinematography: Lucien Andriot. Music: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Cast: Barry Fitzgerald (Francis J. Quinncannon), Walter Huston (Edward G. Armstrong), Louis Hayward (Philip Lombard), Roland Young, June Duprez, C. Aubrey Smith… Judith Anderson, Mischa Auer.
Trivia: Remade three times as Ten Little Indians, in 1966, 1975 and 1989; there was also a miniseries, And Then There Were None (2015).
