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And Then There Were None (1945)
(aka: Ten Little Indians)
American Mystery Crime Drama.
Seven guests, a newly hired secretary and two staff, all strangers to each other, are invited to a manor house on an isolated island. But their host Mr. and Mrs. Owen are absent.
The Poem:
Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were Eight.
Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were Seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law; One got into Chancery and then there were Four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.
Two little Indian boys were out in the sun; One got all frizzled up and then there was one*.
One little Indian boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
(*In some versions Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun; One shot the other and then there was one.)
This movie, as all extant versions of “Ten Little Indians”, is based not on the novel by Agatha Christie, but on her similar play. While the identity of the murderer is the same in both versions, the survivors of the tale in each version are different.
Agatha Christie’s novel has been adapted 10 times for film, and at least twice for television. That’s more adaptations than almost any other novel ever.
In recent years it has come to light that much of Agatha Christie’s plot appears to have been inspired by a little-known 1930 play by Owen Davis titled “The Ninth Guest”, which utilized the same framework of people being brought together by an unknown host who proceeds to kill them one-by-one.
The film won the Golden Leopard and the Best Direction Award at the 1946 Locarno International Film Festival.
| Directed by | René Clair |
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| Written by | Dudley Nichols |
| Based on | 1939 Novel: Agatha Christie |
| Produced by | René Clair Harry M. Popkin |
| Starring | Barry Fitzgerald Walter Huston Louis Hayward |
| Cinematography | Lucien N. Andriot |
| Edited by | Harvey Manger |
| Music by | Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million |
| Box office | $1 million |
