Ten Little Indians (1965)

"Drop dead!", 1 April 2006

Ten Little Indians may not be the best or most faithful Agatha Christie adaptation, but I've always enjoy it. The problem with Ten Little Indians is that it suffers from one of the same flaws that plague most films based on a Christie work – plot holes. The viewer is required to accept some of the most astounding coincidences in order to move the plot along. How does the killer seem to know exactly how everyone will respond to a given situation? If you stop and think about it, you'll quickly realize it's all fantasy with little in the way of reality. For example, when the eight "little Indians" split up in pairs to search the house, how fortunate for the killer that every person loses his/her partner thereby throwing suspicion on everyone. That doesn't mean it's not a lot of fun, but you've got be willing to make some mighty big leaps in logic.

The thing I enjoy most about Ten Little Indians is the ensemble cast. For the most part, it's made up of some terrific character actors given a chance to shine on their own. Leo Genn, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Dennis Price are all an absolute joy and more than make up for the leaden performances of Hugh O'Brian and Shirley Eaton. It's too bad these two have more screen time than any of the other actors.

6/10