And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie tale of 10 people invited to an isolated place only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. One of them?
- Director: René Clair
- Genre:Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
- Runtime:97 minutes
Cast
Barry Fitzgerald: Judge Francis J. Quinncannon
Walter Huston : Dr. Edward G. Armstrong
Louis Hayward : Philip Lombard
Roland Young : Detective William Henry Blore
June Duprez : Vera Claythorne
The film begins with eight strangers (and two domestic servants) being summoned to Indian Island, a small island off the coast of Devon, by a mysterious note. Once there they discover that their unknown host, a certain “Mr. Owen”, has not arrived yet. Though this fact is somewhat odd, they are told that Mr. Owen plans on arriving for dinner and so they all retire to their rooms to prepare for the evening.
When they all sit down to dinner Mr. Owen still has not arrived, so they eat their meal and then relax in the living room. Suddenly a voice on a gramophone record proceeds to accuse all of them of past murders that the law was unable to prosecute them for. The accusations are thus: General Mandrake sent his wife’s lover to his certain death during a WWI mission; Emily Brent was responsible for the suicide of her young nephew; Vera Claythorne murdered her sister’s fiance; Justice Quincannon sentenced an innocent man to hang; Dr. Armstrong operated on an elderly patient while under the influence of alcohol; Philip Lombard was responsible for the deaths of twenty-one African natives; William Henry Blore perjured testimony against an innocent man, who subsequently died in prison; Thomas and Ethel Rogers murdered an invalid employer for financial gain; and Prince Starloff ran over two young people while driving under the influence of alcohol.
The guests vehemently deny any wrongdoing, and the decision is made to leave the island immediately. Rogers, however, tells them that there is no way to get the boat from the mainland. There is no phone on the island, and the boat only comes twice a week; it will not be back until Monday morning, while it is now only Friday night. At this point Starloff confesses that the accusations against him are true. His only punishment was to have his driving license revoked. Soon thereafter he takes a drink of whiskey and chokes to death. Though Dr. Armstrong confirms that there was poison in Starloff’s glass, he is unable to ascertain whether his death was murder or suicide. At the same time Rogers also discovers that one of ten little Indian figurines on the dinner table is missing.
The next morning the guests arise and prepare for breakfast, only to be greeted with ominous news: Mrs. Rogers has died in her sleep, victim of an apparent overdose of sedative (she became extremely upset due to the accusations of the night before). Another figurine is also missing. With two deaths in twelve hours, the remaining guests decide to form a search party and canvass the island, as they believe that Mr. Owen, whoever he might be, is hiding somewhere. But a search of both the house and the outside area proves fruitless, as no one is found. They come back to the house for lunch, only to discover the body of Gen. Mandrake, a knife protruding from his back. This time the evidence is conclusive: Mr. Owen has invited them here to exact punishment for their past crimes…but there is no one else on the island. It is the judge who arrives at the answer. Since there truly is no one else among them, there is only one explanation: Mr. Owen is one of them. Read more
