And Then There Were None (1945)

Plot summary (with spoilers): Based on the Agatha Christie play of the same name, And Then There Were None is a groundbreaking (for its time) whodunit about a group of 10 strangers who were all invited to a secluded island by a man named U. N. Owen. Each invitation stated different reasons for asking the individual to come. Some thought they were getting job offers, while others thought they were simply participating in a weekend retreat.

Things get even more confusing when Mr. Owen doesn’t even show up. Instead, he leaves a record to be played by the butler Rogers (played by Richard Haydn), on which he accuses each attendee of murder. None actually killed anyone in a cold-blooded fashion, but their careless, selfish actions either directly or indirectly led to another’s death. Mr. Owen, who thinks the courts have failed miserably at letting these people get away with their crimes, seeks to exact his own brand of justice.

Everyone laughs off the recording at first, but then when Prince Nikita Starloff (Mischa Auer) suddenly drops dead, ostensible from cyanide poisoning in his drink, things take on a more gruesome aspect. The death, along with a broken Indian statue, suggest that the killer might be intent on knocking off his targets according to an old nursery rhyme. Furthermore, since no one else is on the island, that means the killer is walking among them under false pretenses.

The rest of the film shows the guests getting knocked off one by one, exactly according to the nursery rhyme. With each death, the survivors become increasingly agitated and suspicious of one another, until the final showdown where the real killer is unmasked.

My Reaction: I’d read the novel by Christie, which, while different than the play this movie was based on, was similar enough that I pretty much knew what was going to happen. The ending was significantly different, however. In the book, the judge’s plan works to perfection, whereas in the play and movie, he’s caught out by a couple of others and has the tables turned before he can carry things out to the end.

Even though I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened on the screen, I still thought this was an entertaining film. It probably would have been a lot more suspenseful and tension-filled if I didn’t already know the general plot, but it was a fun experience nevertheless. I was happy to see that the film clipped right along at a good pace, and didn’t delve off into any subplots that slowed the whole thing down. How likely would that be today, with Hollywood’s tendency to favor overbloated productions?

Overall, I thought And Then There Were None to be a very good film. It seems very tame compared to modern thrillers, but just remember that it was the first of its kind to use that whole “the killer is among us” plot that many have since copied. I give this movie 4 stars out of 5.