Ten Little Indians 1965

Agatha Christie’s story was first adapted for the screen in 1945  with the title “And Then There Were None”. This  was shown on BBC2 at the Weekend which prompted me to write this article on the Blog.

I also saw a stage version a few years ago in 2008 with a cast that included veterans Gerald Harper and Peter Byrne.

And Then There Were None 2008 Stage Tour 2

 

Here is a revue of that Production :-

I grew up reading the books of Agatha Christie and I also enjoyed all the various film versions of her novels, including the star-studded epics such as “Death On The Nile” and “Murder On The Orient Express”.

One of the first films I watched based on a Christie novel was “Ten Little Indians”  The film version I remember the most was from 1945 and was also retitled “And Then There Were None”. I was delighted back in 2006 when Bill Kenwright launched The Agatha Christie Theatre Company. This venture aimed to mount a different production every year with a cast of familar faces. The first production was a lesser known play “The Hollow” and it starred one of my favourite femme fatales, Kate O’Mara, who I have seen many times over the years and will feature her in different productions in future posts. This production was for the 2008 season and I flew to Glasgow to catch this performance on Saturday 28th June 2008. This play was originally performed in 1943 at the St Jame’s Theatre in London’s West End. Of all the versions that were filmed and performed, this production is the original adaptation by Agatha Christie, as it retains the original bleak ending of the novel. The classic storyline concerns a group of seven travellers invited to a secluded house and are eventually killed off one by one!

Among the cast members in the production was Mark Wynter, who in the 60’s had been a pop star teen idol, with nine top twenty singles, hits including..”Venus In Blue Jean” and “Go Away Little Girl”, similar to Cliff Richard. My mum had been a fan of his and as I was born in the 60’s, she somehow got the inspiration to name me after Mr Wynter. He seemed amused and flattered when I told him this after the show! Mark after his pop career dried up, as where, turned to theatre and has appeared in many productions such as “Charlie Girl” with the legendary Cyd Charisse and Dora Bryan. He also appeared in the Tigon shocker “Haunted House Of Horror”. Mark has appeared in every Christie production since 2007.  Other stars in the production included Jennifer Wilson, who is remembered for her role in the long running 70’s series “The Brothers”. Gerald Harper is best known for the cult series “Adam Adamant” and “Hadleigh”, but his body of work has also included films such as “The Admirable Crichton”, “Tunes of Glory”, “The League Of Gentlemen” and “The Shoes Of The Fisherman”. I will be meeting Gerald next weekend in Birmingham, will find out if he has any more Christie in the works!. Denis Lill has appeared in many films including, “The Eagle Has Landed”, “Batman”, “Empire of the Sun” and “Evita”. On tv he has a regular role in the long running ITV series “The Royal” as well as classics such as “DR Who”, “Rock Follies” and “Lillie”.

 

 

And Then There Were None 2008 Stage Tour

Chloe Newsome – Pictured above on the Right of the Stage – was a regular “Coronation Street” star, playing Alec Gilroy’s granddaughter Vicky, while Alex Fearns played the nasty wife beater Trevor in “Eastenders”

Peter Byrne – PICTURED ABOVE –  is famous for appearances in “Dixon of Dock Green”, “Bread” and “Blake’s Seven” All in all a diverse cast and as usual from this company a quality production. The latest play to get the Touring company treatment is “Witness for the Prosecution” and hopefully I will catch this in the Autumn.

 

Now to the 1965 Film :-

Producer, Harry Towers apparently liked the story so much that he made two versions – One in 1965 and  the second ‘And then There Were None’ came almost a decade later in 1974.

This is the  third of many film and TV adaptations of the popular Agatha Christie novel – however this 1965 version moves the action from a remote island to an isolated ski resort and  rearranges the plot.
Ten Little Indians 1965
The basic storyline is much the same, when ten strangers, eight of them guests and two of them servants, are lured to a dinner party and then trapped there to be killed one at a time by an unseen killer who wishes to punish them for their  perceived crimes. The old nursery rhyme provides both the framing device, and, in the source material, the method of execution for each victim.
In this version, however, the revised murder scenes include a hapless servant (Marianne Hoppe) falling to her death from a booby-trapped ski lift. Ten Little Indians features a varied cast that ranges from Shirley Eaton and Daliah Lavi  to former teen pop  idol Fabian and former Wyatt Earp TV star Hugh O’Brian.
From the cast of  My Fair Lady co-stars Stanley Holloway and Wilfrid Hyde-White are in the film.
The film was the final one for  George Pollock as a Film Director , he had done  several adaptations of  Agatha Christie’s popular Miss Marple mysteries, starting with 1962’s Murder, She Said.
Christopher Lee makes an uncredited appearance as the recorded voice of absentee host/villain Mr. Owen.
Despite its mountain setting, filming was done  in Ireland.

 

posted by Movieman in Uncategorized and have Comment (1)

One Response to “Ten Little Indians 1965”

  1. David Rayner says:

    AND THEN THERE WERE NONE was originally released in 1945 as TEN LITTLE NIGGERS and released in the UK under that title by 20th Century-Fox. But due to societal changes, later reissues of it had the title changed to the one we know it by today.

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