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All right, I'm not going to bother with the movie's strengths, as they are covered by every other reviewer here. What I want to talk about is the one area where I think director Rene Clair missed the boat: mood.

The book is absolutely chilling, and manages to have you jumping at noises in the night far better than most any of today's attempts at horror writing. The movie, however, has a campy, needlessly humorous feel which detracted strongly from my enjoyment. An example? Casting Harry Thurston as the boatman. His is one of the first faces we see, and it is twisted into the best version of a Bud Abbott facial expression that he could muster. Mischa Auer's performance was ridiculous to the extreme, and made his character neither believable nor endearing. There are a few other gripes I have, but they're of the same ilk, so I'll just say that this reasonably faithful portrayal could have been one of the greatest mystery thrillers ever if it had been taken a little more seriously.

Judge Francis J. Quinncannon (Barry Fitzgerald), Dr. Edward G. Armstrong (Walter Huston), Philip Lombard (Louis Hayward), Detective William Henry Blore (Roland Young), the secretary Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), Prince Nikita 'Nikki' Starloff (Mischa Auer), Gen. Sir John Mandrake (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) and Emily Brent (Judith Anderson) are invited by the mysterious Mr U. N. Own to spend the weekend in an island and they are hosted by the newly-hired butler Thomas Rogers (Richard Haydn) and his wife and housekeeper Ethel Rogers (Queenie Leonard).

Thomas explains that Mr. Own will arrive later and following the instructions of his master, he plays a record where the host explains that all of them have been accused of murder. Further, they realize that none of them actually knows Mr. Own. Vera plays a song about Ten Little Indians on the piano and they see a decoration on the table with ten Indians. Soon they are killed one-by-one while the each Indian vanishes from the decoration. Who might be the mysterious killer?

"And Then There Were None" is an engaging thriller based on a novel and a stage play by Agatha Christie. René Clair makes an excellent theatrical but never boring film, supported by magnificent performances and a delightful screenplay with tense and humorous situations. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Vingador Invisível" ("The Invisible Avenger")

No Agatha Christie story has ever been made into a better movie than this one. The movie has the altered ending from the book (which I'm told was changed by Christie for the stage version because let's face it. The book's ending would never *ever* work in a dramatized setting, film or stage) and the character of Tony Marston has become a Russian prince to accomodate the casting of Mischa Auer, but apart from that Christie's book has been flawlessly translated right down to the last detail. The look, the settings, the characters, all of it is just right. There are also some wonderfully comedic performances that veer into some delicious black comedy at times (my favorite being Louis Hayward's bemused response to Roland Young's bumbling deductions: "And then he takes the chopper and splits open his own cranium. Fact. I'd like to see you do that yourself.") About the only casting flaw is June Duprez, who is woefully bland and dull as Vera Claythorne, the lead female character.

Here's another movie that I never felt was anything but fair, but I kept giving it more chances and every time I did, my rating went up. It seems to get better and better with multiple viewings. One of the reasons is that the more films I watch, the more I get familiar with all these actors.

If you didn't know any of these actors, the movie would be "fair" at best. You can bet if the story were re-done today, it would be faster moving. As it stands, its okay but a film in which 10 people are invited to an island and are systematically murdered one by one, should make for a tense thriller. Here, it's more of a study in paranoia, but that's interesting to view, too. I especially enjoy watching Walter Huston and Barry Fitzgerald banter back-and-forth.

The ending to this mystery was well-done, too, and not something you're likely to solve. So, if you like the old classic mysteries, this should be appealing. It features an interesting cast of young and old actors, male and female.

This may be the best mystery ever put to film. If it isn't totally true to the letter of the Christie book, it is totally true to the spirit of her writing. Ten unique individuals are lured to an old house on a deserted Channel island. One by one - but I'll say no more. Very good acting, especially Fitzgerald. If you don't know the plot, you won't figure out whodunnit, despite the fact that it plays fair. There is suspense, good humor that holds up today, fine acting and a wonderful plot. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, turn the lights down, snuggle in the blanket, and prepare to enjoy a wonderful, cozy mystery which hasn't been equaled since.