Spikeopath
Ten Little Indians (AKA: And Then There Were None) is directed by Peter Collinson and adapted to screenplay by Peter Wellbeck (AKA: Harry Alan Towers) from the Agatha Christie novel. It stars Charles Aznavour, Stephane Audran, Elke Sommer, Gert Frobe, Herbert Lom, Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough. Music is by Bruno Nicolai and cinematography by Fernando Arribas.Agatha Christie's famous novel gets another make-over, this time the action is located at a near empty hotel in the Iranian desert. Premise is exactly the same as the 1965 version, 10 people gather at the location on the request of the mysterious U.N. Owen (here voiced by Orson Welles), who via a tape recorded message calls them out for dastardly deeds committed in their respective lives. When they start being killed off one by one it becomes apparent that the price they have to pay for said crimes is death. But who is doing the killing?Well it's the first version in colour and it has what can only be described as a pretty formidable cast, yet it's as bland as bland can be. Especially if you have seen the superior 45 and 65 versions. The murders lack vitality, the cast go through the motions, seemingly just happy to be on location in Iran, while suspense is in very short supply. The only mystery is who is doing the killings? And once revealed at pic's finale it just isn't enough to warrant having sat through over an hour and half of mundane scripting and zero chills. 4/10
Cheese Hoven
The 1970s saw a large number of "all star cast" versions of Agatha Christie classics. These are all, I think, mediocre adaptations, Ten Little Indians being no exception. The general problem with all these adaptations is the profusion of big name actors, chosen for their box office appeal rather than any chemistry they may have with each other.A distinct lack of chemistry is very evident here as well as a tendency (typical of when big egos are put together) to try and out act each other. Some of this is no doubt due to the indigestible nature of the dialogue which is apparent lifted completely from 1966 film version which is in turn derived from Christie's inferior pot-boiling stage play rather than the original novel.Then there are the excessive pauses between each person's dialogue. This is heightened by the filming in large echoey rooms which leads to a large amount of "dead air". Curiously although there is a soundtrack, it does not cover these pauses. Indeed the music is one of the embarrassments of the film, cliché ridden and inappropriate. Another problem with the big echoey rooms, is that it renders some of the dialogue indistinct, especially from those with heavy accents. Dickie attenborough's final flutter of "Two..little..Indians?", appropriately enough with a very red face, sums up this embarrassment.
gridoon2018
There is a pleasingly old-fashioned aura about this 1974 film: the killings are creepy but not gory; the locations and sets are majestic; the camera movements are slow and carefully thought out; the humor is subtle and not in-your-face ("After you, Judge." - "No, my dear Doctor, I insist. After you."). The diverse cast offers major cult value (two former Bond villains in the same film!), and there is also a grand, sometimes chilling score by Bruno Nicolai. After a load of red herrings, the very last scene is a bit underwhelming - perhaps if they had gone with the book's original, more logical and much darker conclusion, the ending would have been more powerful. Nevertheless, the 1974 "And Then There Were None" is considerably better than its reputation suggests. **1/2 out of 4.
neczygrl373
This movie sucked. It didn't follow the book. Sure it's an adaptation. Whatever. It sucked. The rhyme's last line was, "and then were none". The book is based on the rhyme. The movie should be based on the book. Since the book is based on the rhyme, obviously, the movie should be too. Suffice to say, it wasn't. While I'm not saying I could do better, I was really excited when "Ten Little Indians" was found in the mall when shopping. Later that night, when it was watched, it wasn't exactly following the original plot. Admittedly, that's basically the definition of "adaptation" (in this case), but honestly. That was very... well... It didn't do what I expected, and in this case, I don't think it did very well.
AD
