Review by spinninginvertigo

A polished and classy thriller, in the same vein as Otto Preminger's "Laura" (1944). Based on one of Agatha Christie's most celebrated novels of the same name, "And Then There Were None" is a fun, if rather cold whodunit. The cast reads like a who's-who of character actors. Names found in the credits include Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Judith Anderson, C. Aubrey Smith, Roland Young, as well as June Duprez (who looks remarkably similar to Gene Tierney, the star of Laura) and Louis Hayward who become romantically involved during the course of the film in a relationship not found in the book. Rene Clair, the acclaimed French director, directs in a capable, if rather unmemorable manner which neither adds nor subtracts from the film experience itself. Thankfully Clair manages to make the adaptation from written page to film image smooth and fluid, and while the plot does take some liberties with the original story (especially regarding the ending), the essence of Ms. Christie's writing is not only retained but brilliantly executed. The story unfolds as eight guests (as well as two servants) arrive at a large house on a foggy, isolated island. The hosts are said to be detained in London, and that evening at dinner a record is played accusing each assembled person of commiting a crime that cost someone else their life. Almost instantly one of the guests fall dead from poisoning. From then on it's a rip-roaring ride as another, and then another guest falls dead by a completely different manner. Every person begins to suspect the other, causing obvious tension, and some hilarious comic situations. They are stranded on an island in this big house, and because a boat only comes to the island twice a week, the guests who manage to evade death attempt to find the murderer before he or she too falls dead. I suppose it would be much more suspensful if one had not read the book before viewing this movie, and did not know the resolution of the story. The end is different then found in the novel, but the surprise element nontheless is diminished. The DVD put out by VCI Home Video is adequate but not as good as it could be. Still, "And Then There Were None" is a respectable, engrossing and enjoyable mystery, and read the book or not, is great fun and marvelous entertainment. 9/10