Ein unbekannter rechnet ab (1974)

Director:

Peter Collinson

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel) and
Erich Kröhnke (writer)

Release Date:

24 September 1974 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

The who's next whodunnit

Plot:

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?

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Beautiful Woman | Murder Mystery | Paranoia | Based On Novel

Cast

Charles Aznavour	...	Michel Raven
Maria Rohm	...	Elsa Martino
Adolfo Celi	...	Gen. André Salvé
Stéphane Audran	...	Ilona Morgan
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Otto Martino
Richard Attenborough	...	Judge Arthur Cannon
Gert Fröbe	...	Wilhelm Blore
Herbert Lom	...	Dr. Edward Armstrong
Elke Sommer	...	Vera Clyde
Oliver Reed	...	Hugh Lombard
Orson Welles	...	Voice of Tape (voice)
Teresa Gimpera	...	Maria
Rik Battaglia
Nasser Malekmotei	...	Inspector (as Nasser Malek Moti-i)
Sepedeh

Also Known As:

...e poi non ne rimase nessuno (Italy)
And Then There Were None (UK)
Diez negritos (Spain)
Dix petits nègres (France)
Ten Little Indians (USA)
Zehn kleine Negerlein (West Germany) (TV title)

Runtime:

Germany:92 min | Spain:105 min | USA:98 min | Belgium:95 min (video version) | Italy:95 min (home cinema version)

Country:

France | Spain | West Germany | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 (w) | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Shah Abbas Hotel, Isfahan, Iran

Company:

Corona Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Robert Rietty dubbed Adolfo Celi, Charles Aznavour, 'Alberto De Mendoza', and Gert Fröbe.

Goofs:

Continuity: Large parts of the dialogue are lifted, whole and entire, from the original version - but not all of them. In the original, Blore advises Vera to go to her room and stay there, then later scolds her for not doing so. In this version, the second half of their exchange is repeated - but the first half isn't. So when Blore yells, "Ms. Clyde! I told you to stay in your room!", he is referencing a conversation that didn't happen.

Quotes:

Vera Clyde: You are a bastard, aren't you?
Hugh Lombard: Yes. But I'm not a killer.

Movie Connections:

Version of Ten Little Indians (1959) (TV)

And then there was no ... suspense, atmosphere or excitement

Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" is one story that always struck me as intriguing but hopelessly implausible and grotesque. Just think about it: if YOU were to receive an invitation from a complete stranger, requesting you to come to an unknown location (in this case in a hotel in the middle of the godforsaken Iranian desert, of all places) and spend a vacation with nine other people you've never seen or heard about before in your life … would YOU go? I certainly wouldn't… But hey, that's just the story and already proved itself to be hugely successful since it was first published in 1939. "And then there were none" could have been a great black comedy thriller, especially if you take a look at the talented director and the literally amazing cast, but somehow they messed up badly here. The atmosphere of mystery completely falls flat and, for a movie that constantly features murders and accusations, there's very little excitement to be found. The ensemble cast of wonderful actors and actresses (including Oliver Reed, Herbert Lom and Gert Fröbe) manifests very few interests in the concept and the production in general, illustrated through some of the most unsavory performances ever seen. It literally hurts to see great names like this give away such lousy and lifeless performances. A wide variety of people, ten in total and all from different backgrounds, assembles in a luxurious but abandoned Iranian hotel after they all received an invitation from a mysterious individual named U.N. Owen (read = unknown). After diner and the inevitable chant of supportive French star Charles Aznavour, they are forced to listen to a tape (apparently voiced by Orson Welles, but I wouldn't know as I saw a German dubbed version) which accuses each and every one of them of having committed murder(s) in the past. Immediately after they start dying one by one, exactly like in the nursery rhyme of "Ten little … um … colored people". As stated before, the plot is already quite preposterous, so it definitely doesn't help to bring the whole formula in the most unconvincing fashion imaginably. People are dying left and right, yet none of the remaining survivors seems to be very nervous or in a hurry to out of there. Heck, even when half of the guest list is already dead, the remaining ones still carelessly smoke cigars in the lounge, play games of pool or even engage in romantic liaisons with each other! The killings are dull, commonplace and a vast number of them even occur off-screen; God forbid! The twist in the end is reasonably unpredictable, I guess, but nonetheless another very abrupt and random event in an overall uninteresting movie. Apparently this is the only film ever shot in the Iranian deserts, but I hardly consider that a motivation to watch it.