Ten Little Indians (1989)

Ten people are invited to go on an African safari, only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. Could one of them be the killer?

Director:

Alan Birkinshaw

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Jackson Hunsicker (screenplay)

Stars:

Donald Pleasence, Brenda Vaccaro, Frank Stallone

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Donald Pleasence	...	Judge Wargrave
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Marion Marshall
Frank Stallone	...	Captain Lombard
Herbert Lom	...	General Romensky
Sarah Maur Thorp	...	Vera Claythorne
Warren Berlinger	...	Mr. Blore
Yehuda Efroni	...	Dr. Werner
Neil McCarthy	...	Anthony Marston
Moira Lister	...	Mrs. Rodgers
Paul L. Smith	...	Mr. Rodgers

Storyline

Rehash of classic Agatha Christie story about 10 people who believe they have won a trip to go on an African safari, but are soon killed off one by one by an unknown murderer.

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Plot Keywords:

africa | safari | murder | 1980s | psychotronic film | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

In recent years, it has come to light that much of Christie's plot appears to have been inspired by a little known 1930 play by Owen Davis entitled The Ninth Guest, which utilized the same framework of people being brought together by an unknown host who proceeds to kill them one by one. Columbia Pictures' atmospheric film version of The 9th Guest (1934) has never been released on home video, but is now in the public domain and can be found on eBay and iOffer.

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Goofs

When the survivors are burying the first victim, one of them comments that they "didn't even know" the person's name. However, during the accusation scene, all ten characters are present and all ten characters' full names are used.

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Quotes

Anthony Marston: Well, well. It appears no one knows our host. How gauche. Do I hear a martini calling?

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Connections

Version of Gumnaam (1965)

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Soundtracks

Mad Dogs And Englishmen
Written, Performed and Produced by Noël Coward

User Reviews

Doesn't succeed, but doesn't fail

You could spend hours thinking up reasons as to why Harry Alan Towers (or Peter Wellbeck, as he is sometimes credited) has stuck with "Ten Little Indians" through 3 remakes. It can't be the money. Maybe he wanted to travel, and decided what the heck, as long as I'm here, why don't I film another version of "Ten Little Indians". Or, maybe he feels a need to remake the movie once every 10 or so years. You could fault him for causing people to lose interest in the story, because most reviewers think the remakes were awful. I don't fault him. If it wasn't for Towers, I would not have been able to see my favorite murder mystery filmed with some of my favorite actors, including Herbert Lom, Richard Attenbourogh, Donald Pleasence, and Oliver Reed. Most people think this is the worst of the versions. Personally, I enjoyed it, and I will tell you why. It isn't the best. Rene Clair's "And Then There Were None" is the best. I won't for a minute say that it isn't. But I still found enjoyable things in this movie. I'll begin with the cast:

Donald Pleasence: Excellent casting. When I read the book(which I did before I saw the movie) He is Exactly what I pictured the Judge would look like. And I thought that Pleasence gave a strong performance. This boost my rating of this version.

Brenda Vaccaro: She was okay. I didn't like her or dislike her. she doesn't add or subtract anything form my rating.

Frank Stallone: I'm sorry, but Stallone was a bad choice. While I won't say that Stallone is a bad actor, since I haven't seen him in any other movies, I did not think he was good in this movie. He had no charisma. Louis Hayward gave a good performance. Hugh O'Brian(When the role was americanized) gave a good performance. Oliver Reed(though contrary to most reviews) gave a good preformance. Stallone does not. This does subtract from my rating.

Herbert Lom: Here's where my review becomes biased. I could never say anything bad about Herbert Lom. He has kept me more than entertained thoughout the Pink Panther series. And he is Great as the General. He looked, and portrayed the role exactly as it needed to be portrayed. However, he is not given enough to do. Lom has a great talent when he is allowed to showcase it, and Towers does not give him much of a chance. I wish that Towers would have cast him as Blore, or the Doctor(which he played in the 1975 version) or heck, even the Judge. I personally don't think his age would have been a problem(You should see him in "Son of the Pink Panther"). But sadly, Towers did not. however, his being cast in this version ups my rating.

Sarah Maur Thorp: She was good. I think she gave a stronger performance than Brenda Vaccaro did to!

Warren Berlinger: I thought he was nicely cast as well. He gives a strong performance, and I enjoyed him in this film.

Yehuda Efroni: He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good. I have mixed feelings. It would have been interesting to see what Lom would have done with the character if he had been in the role.

Neil McCarthy: I liked him. For having a small role, I thought McCarthy's performance was one of the best of the bunch. Due to that fact, I enjoyed the character.

Moria Lister: She was average. She said her lines and got out of there. (And I was glad when she did!)

Paul L. Smith: Overall, He was okay. He did have a tendancy to overact though.

Overall, despite some less than spectacular performances, I enjoyed the film. I didn't mind the setting being Africa either. If you like the story, you should see this version.

I give it a 8 out of ten

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ten Little Indians

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$43,436, 12 November 1989

Gross USA:

$59,405

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$59,405

Company Credits

Production Co:

Breton Film Productions, Pathe Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1