And Then There Were None (1945)
Directed by René Clair

Film Review

French filmmaker René Clair rounded off his productive and generally successful period in Hollywood with this inspired adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel which is considered the author's most popular. Originally published in the UK as Ten Little Niggers and later as Ten Little Indians, And Then There Were None has been adapted for film and television more often than any other Christie novel - Clair's adaptation was the first and easily one of the best (far superior to the next big screen version Ten Little Indians (1965) directed by George Pollock). How curious that the plot should so closely resemble that of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes adventure The House of Fear (1945)...

The plot may have undergone innumerable re-workings since this film was made, but somehow the film (arguably the best adaptation of an Agatha Christie whodunnit) still manages to feel fresh and enjoyable.  It's far from obvious who the killer is - the audience is kept guessing right up until the denouement. (A propos, the ending is not that of Christie's original novel but rather that of her more upbeat 1943 stage stage adaptation.) The delicious combination of black comedy and mystery thriller intrigue may lead you to mistake it for one of Hitchcock's films, so strongly does it resemble his early suspense thrillers. Some inventive use of lighting and noirish camerawork lends the film an unrelenting sense of lurking menace, which intensifies as the drama builds to its gripping climax. Clair also makes good use of his fiendish sense of comic irony, injecting some effective shots of humour just when the narrative needs it. Thankfully, the humour is more restrained than it was on Clair's previous comedy I Married a Witch (1942), but it beautifully complements the film's darker aspects. Murder is, after all, a serious business...

Film Synopsis

Eight men and women, all unknown to each other, accept a mysterious invitation to an island estate.  They are welcomed by two domestic servants, Mr and Mrs Rogers, who appear to be as ignorant of the reason for the meeting as the guests are.   When they are all assembled together, they hear a strange message from their unknown host on a gramophone record.  Each one of them is accused of a murder, and each one of them is destined to be punished.  The first victim is Prince Nikita, poisoned.  The next morning, it is found that Mrs Rogers has died in her sleep.  The murders appear to be following the pattern of a children's nursery rhyme, The Ten Little Indians.  One by one, the guests will be eliminated - until there are none…