And Then There Were None…
Another favourite of mine story wise, but a movie adaption I haven’t seen in a long time. Not 100% convinced I’ll be watching it again any time soon either, I just can’t quite put my finger on why…
For those who don’t know the story, you might want to stop reading now. It’s definitely my favourite Agatha Christie novel and, quite possibly, one of my favourite novels of all time. I’ve read it countless times, the ending still chills me and it’s been copied many times but very rarely have those attempts come anywhere near the greatness of the novel. The version I’ve pulled off the shelf is the third movie version, colour with Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough amongst others. Rather than inviting ten people to a house on an island, the house is relocated to the desert. Diplomacy means the nursery rhyme is about Ten Little Indians (still not got as far as soldier boys though) and yes, as always seems to be the case they’ve given it the “revised” ending. Gits. Sorry but it’s one of the classic murder mysteries and yes, I know the ending that the book has would be very hard to film, but the BBC radio adaption managed to stick to the spirit of the original, why do the movie versions have to have such a crappy upbeat ending???
I really can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong with this particular movie version. It can’t just be the ending as the other films did the same (as did the stage play from memory) so it must be something else. It can’t be the acting as the cast list is fairly impressive and they’re clearly all trying their hardest (maybe trying too hard?) and the scenery is definitely spectacular (strangely enough I quite like the idea of the new location as it makes it far more believably remote) so I’m narrowing it down to two things. The music and the direction. Neither are particularly awful but there’s something about the film that makes it seem flat. By the time the first three or four characters have been bumped off there should be a real feeling of unease and fear amongst the characters but they just seem to carry on with little change to the way they’re acting. The music should, by the end, be heart stopping suspense but it’s just a little too seventies to be able to pull it off. Oh, and when people are singing at the piano, it didn’t help there was a drum beat out of nowhere to accompany them and make the song sound right. Orson Welles guest voices as the person reading out the list of murder accusations but even that sequence is too bombastic for it to be terrifying. There should have been a chill as they were read out but, instead, it’s almost like a headmaster reading out the prize list at the end of the school year.
Ah well. No matter how flat the film it will always be a remarkable piece of plotting and story. I’ve yet to see something pull off the “everyone dies” story without clearly ripping this one off or failing to reach its levels of style and charm. It would just be nicer if they’d actually had the balls to make a movie version that had the very unpleasant and frightening ending that the book has. Maybe one day…
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