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Payback is a Bitch, or so the old saying goes. While the good book says that vengeance belongs to
the Man Upstairs, taking our own revenge is the stuff of good drama. Agatha Christie's novel
"Ten Little Indians" has been filmed numerous times, but never better than as 1945s "And Then
There Were None." One of the greatest whodunits ever filmed, "And Then There Were None" is a
frisky, funny, scary film which proves that "payback IS a bitch!" Especially if you are the
object of the vengeance.
Ten people are invited to spend the weekend on a remote English Island by the mysterious Mr.
U. N. Owen. None of them have ever met their host. Upon arrival, they are surprised to find
that their host is no where to be found. The characters run the gamut of high and low European
society. There is Dr. Edward G. Armstrong (Walter Huston), a publicly teatotaling physician who
sneaks his drinks on the sly. A curmudgeonly Irish Judge Francis Quinncannon (Barry Fitzgerald).
General Sir Thomas Mandrake (C. Aubrey Smith), a retired absentminded veddy, veddy English
military man. Prince Nikita Starloff (Mischa Auer), a smarmy Russian jet-setter. Emily Brent
(Dame Judith Anderson), a matronly, snobbish pain in the ass. William H. Blore (Roland Young),
a couldn't find his own nose private detective, Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), a beautiful
young working class girl, Phillip Lambert (Louis Hayward) the dashing young English man about
town, and Thomas and Ethel Rodgers, (Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard) the married butler and
cook hired to provide service during the weekend.
The characters sit down to eat dinner. The center piece includes statues of ten Indian boys.
Vera is reminded of a nursery rhyme. Prince Starloff finds the words and music to the old
English nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indians" on the piano. The bonviant begins to sing the verses:
Ten little Indian boys went out to dine,
One went and choked himself, and then there were nine.
Nine little Indian boys stayed up late,
One of them overslept, and then there were eight.
Eight little Indian boys traveling to Devon,
One said he would stay right there, and then there were seven.
Seven little Indian chopping up some sticks,
One went and chopped himself, and then there were six.v
Six little Indian playing with a hive,
A bee stung one of them, and then there were five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law,
One got in chancery, and then there were three.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea,
A red herring swallowed one, and then there were three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo,
A big bear hugged one, and then there were two.
Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun,
One got all frizzled up, and then there were one.
One little Indian boy left all alone,
So he went and hanged himself, and then there were none.
After dinner the first evening, the guests are greeted by the voice of Mr. Owen. Mr. Owen
introduces himself and proceeds to accuse each of the guests with a crime which resulted in
the death of another human being. It turns out that Mr. Owen had instructed Thomas Rodgers to
play a phonograph record. Mr. Owen is no where to be seen; or is he (or she)? What follows is
a humorous, spooky, bump in the dark thriller in which one-by-one the characters begin to die.
Each time a guest meets their demise, one of the porcelain Indian statues is found broken.
Tension rises as the guests drop. Who will be next? Who is Mr. U.N. Owen? Hints and red
herrings abound throughout. Director Rene Clair makes the most of the claustrophobic setting.
Even when the action takes place outside the estate, there is a feeling of dread among the
characters. Even in the bright sunlight, a swift and just execution seems just around the corner.
This is a great popcorn movie for a dark rainy night. Grab your mate, snuggle up and try to
figure out whodunit!
I picked up "And Then There Were None" at Woody Wise's "Hollywood's Attic."
For this movies and thousands of other classic, rare, silent, hard to find, burlesque, horror
and science fiction films, "Hollywood's Attic" offers prompt delivery at
excellent prices. You can contact His website list many of the thousands of movies available.
I received Mr. Wise's catalog and can promise that there are many, many more not listed on the
website. Mr. Wise does a large volume of business with video stores and other distributors.
For better prices than those listed on the web page click on his "Preferred Customer Access"
link. Your logon word is "preferred" and your password is "customer." Type both of these word
in lower case letters. Doing this will result in substantial savings on all of the thousands
of videos that can be found at "Hollywood's Attic."
Rusty White
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