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Ten Little Indians (1989)
Dull, static, and unfortunately inept.
This film is the weakest of the Harry Alan Towers' adaptations of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". This is a shame, as it is the most recent film we have of this book, although we all pray that there will be another film in the future. Everything about this film has more weak points than strong. The casting is dull and uninteresting. The setting is bizarre. The script is slow and lacks energy. It looks, in all honesty, more like an amateur production. However, I shall go through things fairly chronologically:
The setting is possibly the weirdest of any of the films. A mansion in the Swiss Alps (1965) was believable, an ornate palace in Iran (1974) was a little more difficult to comprehend, but this is beyond both. There is very little claustrophobia felt, possibly because they are pretty much always in the open air, but also because of the method of transport. In the original novel and 1945 film, the guests travel by boat across a particularly choppy sea. In the 1965 film, they travel by cable car, which is later sabotaged. The 1974 film probably has the most isolated feel, because they arrive by helicopter in the middle of nowhere. In this film, the guests arrive by foot, and, although it looks desolate and seems isolated, it doesn't look impossible for anyone to escape – it looks as though at least one person is going to manage to make a run for it. None of the characters fit into the setting, either; why the elderly Judge Wargrave and General Romensky are there is a mystery.
The acting is, to put bluntly, poor. This is not necessarily the fault of the actors, as the script itself is slow and seems pregnant, as if something should be happening, but never actually does happen. By contrast, the deaths happen at lightning speed, and we rattle through the first five murders, without any deductive reasoning or hypothesising taking place in between. The acting doesn't really convince. Donald Pleasance appears less authoritative than any previous Judge Wargrave; he is bumbling, forgetful, slow, and weary, and not really very believable as a judge. Frank Stallone gives a dull, static performance as Lombard, speaking his lines as if he's reading the news. Sarah Maur Thorp is refreshing as Vera, but her overacting becomes irritating, and by the end, her high-pitch scream becomes incredibly annoying. Brenda Vacarro is a good actress, but she is let down by the fact that she is playing a bland, substanceless character, fading actress Marion Marshall. Yehuda Efroni gives a bizarre interpretation of the doctor; instead of the wise portrayals of Walter Huston and Dennis Price, he appears positively half-witted and childlike – he sulks like a schoolchild at dinner on the first night of the safari, for no reason. Herbert Lom is not given very much to do, but his exposition sequence, when he reveals to Vera his past crime, is excellent. Sadly, he dies just as we grow to like him. Warren Berlinger, like Brenda Vacarro, is given a dull character with little/no substance at all. His performance is gruff, grumbly, and inaudible. Neil McCarthy plays Anthony Marston as a foppish spoiled brat, and while his characterisation is not bad, his fast-paced music number "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" is pointless and random. Paul Smith overacts as Mr Rodgers, to the point where we don't really feel sorry for the death of his wife, played by Moira Lister. Lister's performance is screechy but entertaining, but unfortunately she does very little in the film. The past crimes are a mess. Some are not mentioned at all (judge, doctor, Lombard), and the rest are just vague. Blore's confession is quiet and muffled. Vera's crime, the best the book had to offer, is changed to a one-liner about a boy she looked after drowning. Marston mentions a couple run down by him, with no mention of him being drunk, or even the victims being young children. Marion Marshall's crime is also vague and confusing – we just hear that she pushed her lesbian lover into a swimming pool. The Rodgers' crime is, like Vera's, distorted. Rodgers mentions that they looked after a woman who died – that's it.
This film takes ages to get going – we have to sit through the entire journey to the campsite, watching everyone engaging in everyday conversation, little bursts of talk followed by more scenery and elephants. Although Africa is beautiful, and elephants are quite interesting, I think it would have been better to have the focus on the characters and their backstories. Then, after so much wasted time, we suddenly get death after death after death after death after death
the whole thing is poorly paced. The scene involving the gramophone record is distorted as well. The voice is not the clear, booming voice it is in the novel, but instead a raspy, slow, accusatory sound crackling from the record player. And somehow, the person who is about to be accused next happens to utter something silly and mechanical before being named by the record.
At least the ending is exciting and dramatic, unlike any previous films, but unfortunately it doesn't hold water – why did Lombard wait several minutes before bursting into the tent and saving the screaming Vera? I have read elsewhere on IMDb that there was an original script using the novel's original ending, which was binned just before production began. Where is this script? It is unlikely that we will ever know now.
This film has never been released on DVD, but is available on VHS, should anyone have a VHS player. It is also currently unavailable on YouTube, despite being available just a few months ago.
Ten Little Indians (1965)
Humorous, glamorous, and very very very 1960s.
The 1965 film version of "Ten Little Indians" is incredibly entertaining. Despite not sticking to Agatha Christie's original novel, it is a product of its time: the characters, style, setting, script, and general feel of the whole movie is very 1960s. Like the 1945 film, it takes a more light-hearted approach to the story, which despite stretching the credibility of the story, makes for highly entertaining watching.
The moving of the action from Indian Island to a beautiful mansion in the Swiss Alps is not such a silly idea as some people make it out to be; the Alps are incredibly attractive and appealing, and the characters actually fit into the setting. The casting is strong, and there is a good blend of youth and experience. Hugh O'Brian's Lombard is dashing but can appear aggressive, and he gives the impression of being a 'special guest star'. Shirley Eaton plays Ann Clyde with poise and level-headedness, but in this respect she is playing a very different character to the one Christie created! Fabian is very funny as Mike Raven, a spoilt, arrogant playboy. British screen veterans Leo Genn, Stanley Holloway, Dennis Price, and Wilfrid Hyde-White give the film a very British feel, however, Genn and Holloway seem a little restricted in their characters. Price is believable as an arrogant surgeon who believes himself to be cleverer than anyone else there. Hyde-White shines as Judge Cannon, with a retiring 'old and wise one' characteristic. Daliah Lavi overacts a bit as Ilona Bergen, the film's biggest step away from its source material, but she is very beautiful and well cast as a femme fatale movie star. As the servant couple, Mario Adorf and Marianne Hoppe are quite humorous in their stereotypical husband-and-wife arguments in the kitchen.
To fit the attitude of the 60s, quite a few changes were made: the omission of sinister old woman Miss Emily Brent and the replacement of her with glamorous Ilona Bergen; and the alterations to some of the murders, including a cable car calamity, a rather spooky stabbing scene, and someone being pushed down the mountainside. The chemistry between the actors is fantastic - Dennis Price and Wilfrid Hyde-White work well together as the judge and the doctor, as do Leo Genn and Daliah Lavi, two characters who have an unexplained history together. However, the strongest pairing is that of Hugh O'Brian and Shirley Eaton, who seem perfectly matched and it is simple to imagine them running off and getting married once the story finishes.
Overall, this film is very different to Christie's original novel, but it is entertaining and intriguing as a film in its own right. It certainly betters the subsequent 1974 and 1989 films.