The 2015 BBC miniseries overshadows every other version of Agatha Christie's classic ; every previous version,but the Russian one (1987) ,was based on the play the writer wrote with some change ,because during the war, such a pessimistic black ending was not tolerable .
I've never gone much for my compatriot René Clair's highly praised "and then there were none" (1945) ; both Louis Hayward and June Desprez lacked charisma as Lombard and Vera ;on the other hand Judith Anderson as Emily Brent ,Walter Huston as the doctor and Barry Fitzgerald as the judge were excellent.
George Pollock 's effort has improved with time ; Hugh O'Brian and golden girl Shirley Eaton make an attractive pair , with plenty of go ,even though their characters names have been changed (Hugh for Philip , Anne Clyde for Vera Claythorne . ) But the really good performances come from the old guard : Stanley Holloway , Dennis Price ,Wilfrid Hyde-White ,leo Genn.....All are seasoned thespians who sometimes give a tongue-in -chick touch in this macabre story.Too bad spinster Brent was ruled out : imagine Margaret Rutherford (who played Miss Marple)! Instead we've got starlet Daliah lavi , wearing a heavy wig,as an actress(?) .As for Fabian, as I cannot say something nice...
The setting is beautiful ,and the mountain is as effective as an island : the cable-car crashing into the precipice is even impressive for the time.Good use of the nursery rhyme melody which comes back as a sinister leitmotiv.
When I saw the movie in a theater a long time ago,there was the "murder minute" , which showed short scenes to help the audience find the culprit and ended with a wry "no,no you won't find out";since it was deleted.Perhaps wisely ,because the novel is one of the 10 (you read well) best-sellers of all time ,and most of the audience know the whodunit.(in the video game ,they changed the identity of the killer).
I've never gone much for my compatriot René Clair's highly praised "and then there were none" (1945) ; both Louis Hayward and June Desprez lacked charisma as Lombard and Vera ;on the other hand Judith Anderson as Emily Brent ,Walter Huston as the doctor and Barry Fitzgerald as the judge were excellent.
George Pollock 's effort has improved with time ; Hugh O'Brian and golden girl Shirley Eaton make an attractive pair , with plenty of go ,even though their characters names have been changed (Hugh for Philip , Anne Clyde for Vera Claythorne . ) But the really good performances come from the old guard : Stanley Holloway , Dennis Price ,Wilfrid Hyde-White ,leo Genn.....All are seasoned thespians who sometimes give a tongue-in -chick touch in this macabre story.Too bad spinster Brent was ruled out : imagine Margaret Rutherford (who played Miss Marple)! Instead we've got starlet Daliah lavi , wearing a heavy wig,as an actress(?) .As for Fabian, as I cannot say something nice...
The setting is beautiful ,and the mountain is as effective as an island : the cable-car crashing into the precipice is even impressive for the time.Good use of the nursery rhyme melody which comes back as a sinister leitmotiv.
When I saw the movie in a theater a long time ago,there was the "murder minute" , which showed short scenes to help the audience find the culprit and ended with a wry "no,no you won't find out";since it was deleted.Perhaps wisely ,because the novel is one of the 10 (you read well) best-sellers of all time ,and most of the audience know the whodunit.(in the video game ,they changed the identity of the killer).