And Then There Were None

I couldn’t find an ensemble-murder-mystery-comedy for the 1940s, so I dropped the “comedy” portion. It helped that I’d already seen and loved this movie. Plus there is some comedy provided by the drunken antics of Prince Nikita Starloff.

Fans of the book (I’m proud to call myself one) might be surprised at how “Anthony Marston” turned into “Prince Nikita Starloff”. They’ll be more surprised at dramatic changes in the plot eventually. If the changes made the movie a better sell, so be it. It’s as good as the book, and that’s high praise!

Interesting footnote: the Agatha Christie book serving as the basis for the movie was originally called Ten Little Niggers, which is was the minstrel song featured was called. This movie changed the lyrics so that it said “Indians” instead, and the film got its title from the completely inoffensive last five words of the song/poem. After this film’s success, future reprints of the book were called Ten Little Indians or And Then There Were None. I suppose that’s a positive way the movie impacted society, besides providing tense excitement.

Bottom Line: Great thriller!

Up Next: Lighthearted again.

Questions? Comments? Feel free to write below.