Ten Little Indians (1965)

Wonderful character development!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Yours truly is currently so stuck in an Agatha Christie obsession phase that I would read and watch everything that has her name attached to it, even if it is – like "Ten Little Indians" - a redundant and inferior version of the same story I read and watched many times already. After all, let's be honest, the 1945 version "And Then There Were None" is the only true and fantastic film interpretation of Christie's wondrous 1939 novella, and all the other existing versions are mediocre and remotely entertaining at best. This British production, released in 1965 and still in black and white, is somewhat comparable to the 1974 version directed by Peter Collinson and the 1989 version directed by Alan Birkinshaw. This one is slightly better in terms of atmosphere and tension building, whereas the other two have far more appealing names in their ensemble casts. The opening sequences are quite promising, as ten people – strangers to each other – travel to the top of a snowy Alp mountain together in an aerial tramway and stare at each other without making conversation. Once inside the isolated mountaintop mansion, they discover that they were all invited by a certain Mr. U.N. Owen but that nobody has, in fact, met this mysterious individual in real life; including his cute secretary Ann Clyde or the house staff Mr. and Mrs. Grohmann. Later that first night, a recording suddenly starts playing (keep your ears open for the moody voice of the almighty Christopher Lee) and the physically absent host accuses every single one of his guests of having committed a foul murder for which he or she wasn't righteously punished. Moments later, the first guest dies from poisoning and the rest of them slowly begin to realize they might be next. You'd wonder how it's possible considering the source material, but strangely enough "Ten Little Indians" is often far too slow-paced and balancing on the verge of boredom. All the gimmicks are still there, like for example the little Indian statues that keep decreasing in numbers after each murder and the frequent repeating of the gloomy nursery rhyme, but they come across as less menacing and unsettling than in the forties' version. George Pollock's direction is nonchalant and unsteady, which is weird because he previously already did several Miss Marple adaptations ("Murder, She Said", "Murder at the Gallop", …), so he should be an expert in bringing Agatha Christie's magic to life. The cast isn't the least bit impressive and most of them give away very wooden performances. The film doesn't feature any truly great names, but still all the cast members have long-running and respectable careers, so I honestly expected more. Unquestionably the most remarkable moment in "Ten Little Indians" is the so-called whodunit-break. All of a sudden, when approaching the climax, a timer appears on screen and a voice- over explains that the audience receives one minute to determine who the killer is. I felt like I was watching a film of William Castle, who made his trademark out of seeking interaction with the audience and general foolishness like this. The silly whodunit-break doesn't damage the film too much, but it certainly also doesn't help to make it more unique or even memorable.

This is a pretty good screen version of the classic Agatha Christie story: it successfully conveys the atmosphere of paranoia and suspicion among the "Ten Little Indians", and will probably surprise those (few?) still unfamiliar with the plot. If the whole enterprise is a little by-the-numbers, at least it follows the numbers adequately. The casting is generally OK (the breathtaking Shirley Eaton appears in her underwear twice, by the way!), and some of the deaths (the cable car in particular) are memorable. The main setback of this film - as with the underrated 1974 version - is that it follows Christie's somewhat forced "happy ending" that she wrote for the stage rather than her original nihilistic ending from the book. **1/2 out of 4.

Based on what is probably the most ingenious whodunit premise ever created, this film animates the classic Christie story, and does so at least as well as its forerunner, "And Then There Were None" (1945).Set in a remote castle at the top of a mountain on a cold, snowy weekend, "Ten Little Indians" tells the story of ten guests invited to this place of isolation by their unknown host, Mr. Owen. As one person dies, and then another, and with no chance of escape, the remaining guests get caught up in a game of suspicion and paranoia, as they attempt to solve the basic riddle and save their own lives. At dinner, one character asks frantically: "Are we going to sit around trying to guess who is Mr. Owen while we're murdered one by one?"Pacing is perfect. Dialogue is mesmerizing. In one scene, two characters face each other in big wing chairs in a dark room with shadows, enhanced by a fire in the fireplace. One character blurts out: "Cold." The second character responds: "Yes cold, quite cold." The first character then adds: "Lonely." The second agrees: "And lonely; quite, quite lonely." The exchange thus continues: "It might not be Grohmann." "It might not be." "Then who?" "Tell me doctor, do you lock your door at night?" "Invariably; do you?" "I think I will tonight."The ensemble cast is quite good. Overall acting is memorable, if not quite award worthy. The film's score enhances the cold, snowy setting. Stark, B&W lighting, combined with a pronounced echo in the large rooms, contribute to a tone that could best be described as ... creepy.One can nit-pick this film all day. But no amount of nitpicking can deny the brilliance of Christies's underlying story premise, borrowed by innumerable films and television series through the years, including the TV reality show "The Mole". For viewers who appreciate whodunit films, "Ten Little Indians" is hard to beat.

A snowed-in, mountaintop castle is the setting for mystery as ten strangers gather for a weekend party. They've all been invited by a man none of them know, but their host, Mr. Owens, knows a lot about them. Each of them is accused of being a murderer and Mr. Owens wastes no time in punishing them for their crimes according to the children's rhyme, "Ten Little Indians." This version of Agatha Christie's novel is vastly inferior to the 1945 movie. It uses virtually the same script, but the actors, with a few exceptions, aren't as good. Wilfred Hyde-White, Stanley Holloway, and Dennis Price are very good as the judge, the detective, and the doctor, but Hugh O'Brian and Shirley Eaton are a stiff and unsympathetic leading couple while Daliah Lavi and Fabian's acting skills are laughable.A major drawback is the upbeat jazz soundtrack which is completely out of place in a moody mystery. The setting is another weak point; the "castle" is a cheaply-built and fairly modern home and the mountaintop isn't really as inaccessible as it should be. Too many of the characters view the mounting death toll as a subject for derision rather than fear, so the movie lacks intensity and thrills. Disappointing.