Product Details

• Actors: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young, June Duprez
• Directors: René Clair
• Writers: Agatha Christie, Dudley Nichols
• Producers: René Clair, Harry M. Popkin, Leo C. Popkin
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: VCI Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 25, 2000
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000IO3S
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,358 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #31 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > British Mystery Theater > Agatha Christie
  #35 in	Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem

• For more information about "And Then There Were None" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At first glance, René Clair might seem an odd match for Agatha Christie's mystery thriller Ten Little Indians, but his buoyant touch is exactly what is missing from so many overly solemn remakes. Ten strangers gather for a mysterious gathering on a secluded island. It turns out to be a farewell party, for they all have been sentenced to die for crimes in their past by a self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner who may be one of them. One by one, the guests are systematically dispatched in the manner described in the lyrics of the children's rhyme "Ten Little Indians," while the survivors nervously eye one another, splintering into tenuous alliances until the next murder throws suspicion on someone new. The terrific cast of character actors has a ball with Dudley Nichols's witty script. The flamboyant sparring of Barry Fitzgerald (whose paternal Irish lilt takes a sinister dimension) and Walter Huston is almost upstaged by Roland Young's deadpan drollery. Romantic leads Louis Hayward and June Duprez come off as arch and stiff in august company that includes a sinisterly detached Judith Anderson, a dotty and distracted C. Aubrey Smith, and a hilariously flippant Mischa Auer. The story has been remade numerous times under the title of Christie's novel, Ten Little Indians, but never as well. Clair's effervescent, lively little gem is a fatal drawing-room comedy with a body count and a surreal mood of doom. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

Ten people, strangers to each other, are invited to a lavish estate on an island. Through a recording, their mysterious host accuses each of his `guests' of murder and proceeds to exact `justice'. The tension mounts as, one by one, the number of people are reduced through the ingenious plotting of the unseen killer. Finally only two are left and each is uncertain as to weather or not the other is the murderer. A top cast of veteran performers bring the intricate twist of the plot to life. One of the most thrilling novels, climaxes at the spine tingling conclusion. Match wits with the script as you watch a thriller that has carved its own special niche in the realm of tales of suspense and mystery. Released by 20th Century Fox. Bonus Features: Bonus Classic Comedy Two-Reeler starring Leon Errol, Scene Selection, Actor Bios, Narrative track for the blind. Specs: DVD5; Dolby Digital Mono; 97 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year -1945.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

208 of 217 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And then there are...three DVD versions, November 26, 2001

By	keviny01 - See all my reviews

This review is from: And Then There Were None (DVD)

The new Image DVD version of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is a vast improvement in video/audio quality over previous DVD releases by VCI in 1999 and Madacy in 2001. All three versions are currently available at Amazon, so be sure to check the technical info page for each disc to see which company makes it.

The video transfer on the Image DVD, said to be made from "original elements", is much, much sharper and more detailed than that on the VCI and Madacy versions. It also shows a little more picture on all four sides of the screen. The picture looks somewhat battered during the opening credits, but it looks great the rest of the way. There is a slight amount of graininess and other blemishes throughout, but it is not detrimental. I'm especially impressed with the scenes that take place in the dark, in which some of the background details, such as engravings on the wall, the subtle lights and shadows, etc., can be seen with much greater clarity. The VCI disc, conversely, looks much less sharp, and the Madacy disc even less so.

The monophonic audio tracks on the VCI and Madacy discs are louder but have more noise compared to that on the Image disc. The problem of the dialogs not being synchronized properly on the VCI and Madacy discs has also been fixed on the Image disc.

The Image disc has one extra: the film's British opening credit sequence, which uses the deplorably offensive title "Ten Little N******" (which is also Agatha Christie's original title for her whodunnit). The sequence is preceded with an explanation of its use so the viewer has the historical context in mind. The VCI disc has a biography section on the filmmakers and the 1946 comedy short TWIN HUSBANDS, starring Leon Errol. The Madacy disc has a 9-minute newsreel footage from 1945, a 12-minute blooper footage (of OTHER films), 3 screenshots of lobby cards, and a trivia quiz section. All three discs are region-free and without subtitles or closed captioning.

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Film Version of the Chrisite Classic, March 26, 2002

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Agatha Christie's 1930s novel AND THEN THERE WERE NONE told the story of ten unrelated people who are lured under various pretexts to an island resort; once assembled, they discover they have been brought to the island by a mysterious homocidal maniac who accuses each of them of having escaped punishment for a past murder--and who then proceeds to pick them off one by one as the ever dwindling party rushes to unmask the hidden killer in their midst. Nothing like the novel had been seen before, and it was a popular sensation. So much so that Christie herself adapted the novel to the stage. In creating the script, Christie discovered that the novel's uncompromising tone and shocking conclusion did not translate well to the stage, and the final script was considerably lighter and had a considerably softer conclusion. When performed, the script was played as much for comedy as for suspense--and proved as popular as the novel. A film version became inevitable.

Countless novels, plays, and movies have borrowed the premise Christie presents in AND THEN THERE NONE, and there have been at least four film versions (most often known as TEN LITTLE INDIANS) of the original work. All of these versions rely more upon the play script than the novel, offering a mix of comedy and suspense, and by far and away the best of them is famed French director Rene Clair's 1940s version. Brilliantly played by an ensemble cast of famed character actors including Judith Anderson, Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, C. Aubrey Smith, and Roland Young, Clair creates a stylish, somewhat surrealistic romp that satirizes British "stiff upper lip" sensibilities with florishes of black comedy while quietly building a sense of increasing unease. From a modern standpoint, the Clair version seems more comic than suspensful; few will find it in the least unnerving. This does not, however, change the fact that it is a tremendous amount of fun to watch. The film creates an air of old-fashioned mischief that is compulsively enjoyable, and even if a contemporary director decided to have another go at the material it seems unlikely that any cast to equal this could be assembled. If you're prepared for a witty amusement, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is recommended.

I don't usually comment on the quality of DVDs unless there is a glaring issue--but since there are several DVD versions of this film, and some have been poorly reviewed, I will specify that I purchased the VCI edition. (The cover of this particular edition is yellow with the faces of the characters appearing in a V-shaped "wedge.") When the DVD began to play, the VCI logo was very distorted; when the DVD changed over to the menu, however, the picture became stable. When I ran the movie, I found the titles had a bit of a flicker, but this quickly vanished; as for overall quality, the picture and sound quality are rather poor as the movie begins but quickly corrects to an acceptable--although not excellent--level.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Abysmal DVD transfer lets down this entertaining film, October 29, 2001

By A Customer

Terrible, scrappy transfer to DVD format of a good film! I got the first warnings of things to come in the opening credits.. a scatchy & dusty picture...but that was nothing to the intermittent lip-synch problems! There is little more distracting than having the characters' voices reach your ears either before or after their lips move... And this DVD version is VERY distracting in that respect, with whole chunks of the movie being affected. Such a pity - and such a waste of money!