Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians'(1965)Ten Little Indians(original title).Up to a house high on a mountain top have been invited ten people who are strangers to each other. When they are all gathered, they hear from their host that each one of them has in someway caused the death of an innocent person and that justice had not be served in their cases. There are eight guests and two servants there for the weekend, but one by one, they are being knocked off according to the poem of "Ten Little Indians". As the number of survivors decreases, they begin to believe that the killer is one of the group, but are unable to decide on which one he or she may be. Written byTony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>... Synopsis Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians'(1965)Ten Little Indians(original title)
Movie Title: Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians'(1965)Ten Little Indians(original title)
Run Time: 91 min
Rating: 6.6 / 10
Genres: Crime |Mystery |Thriller
Release Date: June 1965 (UK)
Director: George Pollock
Writer: Agatha Christie (novel),Peter Yeldham , more credit ... and other credits
Actor: Hugh O'Brian,Shirley Eaton,Fabian
It's only fair to mention that I saw the 1945 adaptation of this same story before seeing this film, so obviously the plot and characters were very familiar to me before watching. There were some changes between the two versions, however, which helps to keep things fresh...although most of the changes were for the worst. Rather than being set on island, this version sets the story on top of a snow covered mountain; while several of the characters have either had their professions changed or have been made younger than in the earlier version. The film does at least stick more rigidly to the nursery rhyme at the centre of the story. The basis of the story is the same as in previous versions, however, and we focus on ten people that have been invited to stay at a house owned by a Mr U. N. Owns. Shortly after their arrival they are played a tape made by the mysterious host; accusing them all of murder. One by one they are picked off and it's not long before the remaining guests realise that their host is amongst them.
The film feels very upper class and all the guests are well dressed and polite. The script is very similar to the earlier adaptation and so I would imagine that both versions stick very closely to the original literature. The cast is rather good and each actor fits into their role well. Standouts for me include Daliah Lavi, who plays an actress and is very sexy - and Mario Adorf who plays the butler. Eurocrime fans may recognise him as the pimp from the masterpiece The Italian Connection. The deaths are rather well handled and we see a bit more than we did in the earlier version; although 'less is more' is still very much the order of the day. Deaths include stabbing, falling off a cliff and someone has a stuffed bear dropped on their head. I was hoping that the film may have changed the ending, but unfortunately it sticks to the original story on this point so it wasn't much of a surprise for me. Still, this is a rather decent adaptation of the classic story; although I'd certainly recommend 1945's And Then There Were None over this version.
