I have a theory that all her life Dame Agatha Christie hoped she would plot the perfect murder case mystery. She certainly entertained the world doing so, with way over sixty novels, books of short stories, and plays, most of which actually dealt with homicide in one form or another. Despite the sometimes too perfect clockwork that her plots could degenerate into, she was one of the masters of the form. I don't think any other mystery novelist ever found as many variations on the central theme of a detective story as she did.
Of all her plots, that of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE / TEN LITTLE INDIANS was possibly her greatest achievement (the nearest competitor is an inverted form of it, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS). Yet in every film version of the plot the perfection of the story is short circuited in the interest of "justice". Christie's original intention was that the ten people brought together to the ill-fated locale were to be found dead, and without any survivor the mystery would be apparently unsolved (though even Christie hedged her bet by having the perpetrator leave a written confession/explanation). But as the versions are now, the perpetrator is outwitted by two would-be victims at the last moment, thus leaving two survivors.
The best version of the novel was this one. It was directed by French director in exile (due to World War II) Rene Clair. Of his American films this one is the most revived. Whether it is better than I MARRIED A WITCH or FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS is another matter, as they are all clever films. Clair was well served by a great cast of character actors, most of whom were victims in the story: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Roland Young, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Mischa Auer, Judith Anderson, and Richard Haydn did the best with their parts. Louis Hayward and June Duprez were more than adequate as the two lovers in the plot.
The secret of this film's success is that Clair treated the subject of murder lightly (to an extent). An example: Mischa Auer as a careless playboy explaining how he killed someone while driving drunk, and playing the piano while doing so - thoroughly bored looking while explaining what he did. A moment later he is gasping for breath as poison was added to his highball. He's the first victim.
The key is that all the invitees to this island were acquitted of acts of homicide or manslaughter on technicalities. They all were apparently quite guilty, but lucky. So the viewer is somewhat torn after awhile - you don't like people who get away with murder, but as each one is wiped out by the mysterious host/killer we find ourselves sympathizing with their helpless plight. The original ending kept this sympathy up to the conclusion. But the improved (?) conclusion manages to dissipate this sympathy in the search for achieving a degree of justice for the victims. Oddly it still works, and the sense of impish humor is maintained even after the killer is revealed and destroyed.
Of all her plots, that of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE / TEN LITTLE INDIANS was possibly her greatest achievement (the nearest competitor is an inverted form of it, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS). Yet in every film version of the plot the perfection of the story is short circuited in the interest of "justice". Christie's original intention was that the ten people brought together to the ill-fated locale were to be found dead, and without any survivor the mystery would be apparently unsolved (though even Christie hedged her bet by having the perpetrator leave a written confession/explanation). But as the versions are now, the perpetrator is outwitted by two would-be victims at the last moment, thus leaving two survivors.
The best version of the novel was this one. It was directed by French director in exile (due to World War II) Rene Clair. Of his American films this one is the most revived. Whether it is better than I MARRIED A WITCH or FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS is another matter, as they are all clever films. Clair was well served by a great cast of character actors, most of whom were victims in the story: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Roland Young, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Mischa Auer, Judith Anderson, and Richard Haydn did the best with their parts. Louis Hayward and June Duprez were more than adequate as the two lovers in the plot.
The secret of this film's success is that Clair treated the subject of murder lightly (to an extent). An example: Mischa Auer as a careless playboy explaining how he killed someone while driving drunk, and playing the piano while doing so - thoroughly bored looking while explaining what he did. A moment later he is gasping for breath as poison was added to his highball. He's the first victim.
The key is that all the invitees to this island were acquitted of acts of homicide or manslaughter on technicalities. They all were apparently quite guilty, but lucky. So the viewer is somewhat torn after awhile - you don't like people who get away with murder, but as each one is wiped out by the mysterious host/killer we find ourselves sympathizing with their helpless plight. The original ending kept this sympathy up to the conclusion. But the improved (?) conclusion manages to dissipate this sympathy in the search for achieving a degree of justice for the victims. Oddly it still works, and the sense of impish humor is maintained even after the killer is revealed and destroyed.