| Ten Little Indians | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Alan Birkinshaw |
| Produced by | Harry Alan Towers |
| Written by | Novel & stage play: Agatha Christie Screenplay: Jackson Hunsicker Gerry O'Hara |
| Starring | Donald Pleasance Frank Stallone Sarah Maur Thorp Brenda Vaccaro Herbert Lom Warren Berlinger Yehuda Elfroni Paul L. Smith Moira Lister Neil McCarthy |
| Music by | Noel Coward |
| Cinematography | Arthur Lavis |
| Editing by | Penelope Shaw |
| Distributed by | Cannon |
| Release date(s) | 1989 (USA) |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Ten Little Indians is a 1989 mystery film, and the fifth screen adaptation (including the 1987 Russian version Desyat Negrityat) of Agatha Christie's famous novel. It was the third version to be produced by Harry Alan Towers, following his 1965 and 1974 adaptations. In the opening credits it is stated that the film is based on Christie's stage adaptation and makes no mention of her novel, perhaps because the film's climax is taken almost verbatim from the stage script. (Other western adaptations, while all still using an upbeat finale, have significantly toned down the action-packed climax Christie used in the play.) Herbert Lom, who plays the General here, starred in the 1974 version as Dr. Armstrong.
Plot
The plot remains the same as in all previous adaptations. As he did in his other versions, producer Towers has yet again changed the locale of the action, this time to the African savannah. A group of 10 disparate people, strangers to each other, have all traveled to Africa believing they have won a fabulous vacation safari. Things turn ominous from the beginning, however. First their native guides abandon them, more natives cut a bridge line across a deep canyon (their only way in and out of camp), and their host is strangely absent. Then events go from being unsettling to deadly when the guests start dying one at a time, and those who remain realize that they are being slaughtered one by one...but who is responsible?
Cast
- Donald Pleasance...Judge Wargrave
- Frank Stallone...Capt. Lombard
- Sarah Maur Thorp...Vera Claythorne
- Brenda Vaccaro...Marion Marshall
- Herbert Lom...Gen. Romensky
- Warren Berlinger...Blore
- Yehuda Elfroni...Dr. Hans Werner
- Paul L. Smith...Elmo Rodgers
- Moira Lister...Ethel Rodgers
- Neil McCarthy...Anthony Marston
