Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians' (1965)
"Ten Little Indians" (original title)

Agatha Christie tale of 10 people invited to an isolated place only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. One of them?

Director:

George Pollock

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Peter Yeldham (screenplay),

Stars:

Hugh O'Brian, Shirley Eaton, Fabian

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hugh O'Brian	...	Hugh Lombard
Shirley Eaton	...	Ann Clyde
Fabian	...	Mike Raven
Leo Genn	...	General Mandrake
Stanley Holloway	...	William Blore
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Judge Cannon (as Wilfrid Hyde White)
Daliah Lavi	...	Ilona Bergen
Dennis Price	...	Dr. Armstrong
Marianne Hoppe	...	Frau Grohmann
Mario Adorf	...	Herr Grohmann

Storyline

Up to a house high on a mountain top have been invited ten people who are strangers to each other. When they are all gathered, they hear from their host that each one of them has in someway caused the death of an innocent person and that justice had not be served in their cases. There are eight guests and two servants there for the weekend, but one by one, they are being knocked off according to the poem of "Ten Little Indians". As the number of survivors decreases, they begin to believe that the killer is one of the group, but are unable to decide on which one he or she may be.

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Plot Keywords:

indian | guest | house | death | judge | 

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Taglines:

The Whodunnit Break! A first in motion pictures! Just before the gripping climax of the film, you will be given sixty seconds to guess the killer's identity! The film will pause and on the screen you will see clues to help you decide who the murderer is...We Dare You To Guess!

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1965 (UK)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians'

Filming Locations:

Kenure House Rush Co, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tenlit Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The poem: Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were Nine. Nine little Indian boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were Eight. Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven. Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six. Six little Indian boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five. Five little Indian boys going in for law; One got into Chancery and then there were Four. Four little Indian boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three. Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were Two. Two little Indian boys were out in the sun; One got all frizzled up and then there was one*. One little Indian boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none. (*In some versions Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun; One shot the other and then there was one.)

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Goofs

When Shirley Eaton slowly dresses for dinner, her underwear is white. After an evening of terror, when she slowly undresses for bed, the underwear is black.

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Quotes

Judge Arthur Cannon: I find it a singular lapse of manners - a house party, and the host the last to arrive!
Mike Raven: It happens.
Judge Arthur Cannon: Not to me, young man.

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Connections

Referenced in Evil Laugh (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Ten Little Indians"
Adaption of traditional nursery rhyme
Performed by Fabian

User Reviews

low-budget Harry Alan Towers adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic, great cast!

While the ending of the novel is changed in this 1965 remake of Agatha Christie's novel AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, it's still an OK murder mystery, a kind of modern version of an old dark house chiller, with an excellent cast of UK veterans and US imports Hugh O'Brian and Fabian. A mysterious "Mr. Owen" invites ten strangers, all of whom seem to be guilty of some crime, to spend a weekend in an isolated mountain home. They gradually get killed one by one. My wife felt that the only interesting character in the film was the one who is killed first (you'll have to watch it to see who that is), but I found the whole thing to be entertaining and the ending to be surprising (although the clues ARE planted, when you watch it a second time). Like any Harry Alan Towers production, this is low budget but well cast, and once again Towers wrote the script himself under his Peter Welbeck pseudonym. The recent DVD reissue of this includes the infamous "Whodunit Break" (which appeared at the film's climax in its theatrical run but was cut from all TV prints) as an "extra" but does not edit it back into the film, which is good because it would make second and third viewings of the film painful. Watch that scene once, marvel that anyone would ever attempt anything so cheesy, and then watch the uninterrupted movie again. Nice to see Shirley Eaton as always (The Girl From Rio and Su-Muru), Hugh O'Brian is a charming and masculine lead, Fabian is entertaining, and the British veterans are as colorful as you'd expect, although some Americans may have trouble telling them apart initially, except for Dennis Price. Worth renting, but I can't say it's worth fifteen dollars. Maybe $8.99 or so.