And Then There Were None

USA, 1945. Directed by René Clair. Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young, June Duprez, Judith Anderson, Mischa Auer, C. Aubrey Smith, Richard Haydn, Queenie Leonard.

The first filmed version of Agatha Christie’s classic mystery thriller. Eight people, all strangers to each other, have been invited to spend a weekend at a large house on a remote island off the coast of Devon. None has met their host before and when they arrive they are greeted by two servants, a married couple who have been engaged for the weekend and who also haven’t met their employer. It transpires that all ten have a guilty secret and soon they are being killed off one by one by an unknown assailant. As the bodies pile up it becomes apparent that the murderer is probably one of them and the tension mounts as no-one knows who they can trust. Christie adapted her book into a stage play and it’s worth mentioning that the film was adapted from the play rather than the book. It’s an important distinction because the book is much bleaker than the play, which softened the original ending and allowed for humour and a little love interest. The humour certainly comes out in the film, with a wonderful cast of seasoned players pulling out all the stops. Now over 65 years old, it’s no surprise that the film’s a little creaky in places but nevertheless it’s still entertaining and became something of a template for a whole raft of murder mysteries which followed in its wake. There are lots of memorable lines in Dudley Nichols’s witty screenplay, my favourite coming from Rogers the butler (Richard Haydn) after the guests voice their suspicions: “Never in my life have I been accused of any crime, sir - and if that's what you think of me, I shan't serve any dinner!”