Ten Little Indians (DVD-2006)
Warner Home
Video
Reviewed by Daniel Severin
And Then There Were None is regarded today as Agatha Christie’s greatest novel. It has been made into four movies since the 1940s,
under that title and its more fitting but less P.C. moniker, Ten Little Indians.
New on DVD from Warner Brothers is the outstanding British film Ten Little Indians,
directed by George Pollock in 1965, and for mystery fans, it doesn’t get much better than this movie!
The classic
plot sees ten strangers summoned to a weekend house party in the mountains at the invitation of a Mr. U. N. Owen. The unknown
host has found a skeleton in the closet of each guest, for which he or she must be punished. One by one the partygoers are
killed, according to the fates of the victims in the nursery rhyme “Ten Little Indians”: one is poisoned, one
stabbed, one shot, and so on, until there are none left alive. The talented cast of victims includes Hugh O’Brien, Fabian,
Stanley Holloway, and Bond Girl Shirley Eaton from Goldfinger.
If you try
to figure out the killer’s identity as the film unfolds, prepare to be kept guessing until the very last minute. Agatha
Christie’s surprise endings are justifiably famous. Ten Little Indians is
a gem; with its wonderful jazz score and deceptive clues, this nicely restored film warrants multiple viewings. Also included
on the disc is the Whodunit Break from the original theatrical version, which challenges the viewer to solve the murders in
just one minute. You will want to watch and rewatch Ten Little Indians to see if
you can solve the crimes by yourself.
