Ten Little Indians (1989 film)
| Ten Little Indians | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Alan Birkinshaw |
| Produced by | Harry Alan Towers |
| Written by |
Novel and stage play: Agatha Christie Screenplay: Jackson Hunsicker Gerry O'Hara |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Cinematography | Arthur Lavis |
| Edited by | Penelope Shaw |
| Distributed by | Cannon Films |
|
Release date
|
1989 (US) |
|
Running time
|
98 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $59,405 |
Ten Little Indians is a 1989 mystery film, and the fifth screen adaptation (including the 1987 Russian version Desyat Negrityat) of Agatha Christie's famous novel. It was the third version to be produced by Harry Alan Towers, following his 1965 and 1974 adaptations.
In the opening credits, it is stated that this film is based on Christie's stage adaptation and makes no mention of the earlier novel, perhaps because the film's climax is taken almost verbatim from the stage script. (Other western adaptations, while all still using an upbeat finale, have significantly toned down the action-packed climax Christie used in the play.)
Harry Alan Towers commissioned the original script that used the novel's ending (in which Lombard gets shot and Vera hangs herself) and setting the action on an island. However, both of these were changed at the last minute. This version also introduced a lesbian affair. Herbert Lom, who plays the General here, previously starred in the 1974 version as Dr. Armstrong.
As of December 2013, this production has been released on VHS and laserdisc. A German DVD release (including the English version) became available in 2015.
A group of ten disparate people, strangers to each other, have all been summoned by a mysterious host named Mr. Owen to travel to Africa and join him on a safari he is hosting. After arriving by train, they meet Philip Lombard who guides the entourage with the aid of local Natives through the jungle. They are joined by Marston who makes a spectacular entrance as a flying ace. Things turn ominous from the beginning, however. First their native guides abandon them, then more natives cut a bridge line across a deep ravine (their only way in and out of camp). As a result, the eight guests, plus a married couple, the Rodgers, who arrived earlier, find themselves isolated in their hunting camp. In addition, their host, Mr. Owen, is strangely absent. Following their dinner, by means of a gramophone recording, an inhuman voice accuses each person of a murder that they each had caused and escaped justice. Events go from being unsettling to deadly when Marston chokes to death after drinking a poisoned martini. His death mimics the first verse of the English Nursery Rhyme 'Ten Little Indians'. Later, one the ten small Indian dolls that adorn the centre of the dining table is found with its head snapped off. In the morning, Rodgers makes everyone breakfast single-handedly, as his wife, Ethel Mae is found dead in her bed. Suspicion arises that they are being picked off by a dangerous lunatic. As four of the men set off with rifles to hunt down Mr. Owen, General Romansky confides to Vera Claythorne his guilt over the death of his subordinate and that no one will leave the safari. The General not long after is pushed off a cliff and the guests to realize that they are being executed by Mr. Owen who, in fact, may be one of them.
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