Overlooked Movies -- And Then There Were None (1945)

The first Agatha Christie novel I ever read was Ten Little Indians which was originally published with a more offensive title and which later became And Then There Were None.  I was 11 or 12 years old, and I thought it was terrific.  Later on I saw the 1965 film in the theater, which is a lot different from the book and which, as it turns out, is also quite a bit different from the 1945 version, which, in turn, is different from the stage play.  I liked the 1965 film when I saw it, though, and you can't go wrong with a movie that has Fabian in it.  but the point is that while it's fairly famous, and while all of you have probably seen it, I'd overlooked the 1945 movie until now.  

As you can see on the poster to the left, the cast is top notch: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young, June Duprez, Mischa Auer, C. Aubrey Smith, Judith Anderson, Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard  No Fabian, though.  René Clair directed, and the movie turned out to be a big hit.

I'm sure you know the setup.  Eight people, none of whom have ever met before, are ferried to a deserted island.  They've been invited by U.N. Owen.  When they arrive at the only house on the island, they're greeted by two servants, but there's no sign of Mr. Owen.  A recording is played and each of the guests is accused of murder or of having contributed to someone's death.  So are the servants.  

You know the rest.  There's no way off the island for several days, and guests begin dying it ways mentioned in the "Ten Little Indians" rhyme.  So who's behind it all?  Who will live and who will die?  If you've read the book, you might not get the answer to both of those right, since the ending has been "Hollywooded" a bit, but it's still fun to watch the cast go through their paces and to see the cleverness of the murderer.  And to try to guess who it is, though that's not as hard as you might think.  A very entertaining movie, and I'm glad I finally saw it.