Third film version of Agatha Christie's mystery whodunit (following 1945's "And Then There Were None" and 1965's "Ten Little Indians") has a seemingly disparate group of people flown out to an ornate but empty hotel in the Iranian desert by an unknown benefactor. Once settled in, the group learns they do have something in common: at one time in their lives, each was responsible for the death of another person--and none of them paid the price for their crimes. Not badly made or cast, just deadly dull; even the curious new location isn't used to any advantage. Peter Collinson directs without invention or energy. Script by Erich Kröhnke, Enrique Llovet and Peter Welbeck (a pseudonym for Harry Alan Towers, who also produced) is awfully similar to the screenplay for the 1965 version, coincidentally also co-written and produced by Towers. NO STARS from ****

Harry Alan Towers, producer of schlock and international adventure on a low budget, is the man behind this reworking of the Agatha Christie novel, alternatively titled AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. It's a highly simplistic murder mystery, about a group of disparate types being bumped off one by one, so Towers goes all out in an attempt to attract audiences.He does this by assembling an ensemble cast of famous faces. You get a typically tough Oliver Reed as the heroic lead, and Elke Sommer as his love interest. In support we're handed the likes of Richard Attenborough and genre stalwart Herbert Lom playing against no less than two former Bond villains in Gert Froebe and Adolfo Celi. If that wasn't enough, there's a minor role for Euro crumpet Maria Rohm and some voice work for no less than Orson Welles.Directorial duties are handled adroitly by Brit director Peter Collinson, responsible for Michael Caine classic THE Italian JOB and Hammer psycho-thriller STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING amongst other flicks. And it's a well paced and fairly mysterious affair, strong on predictability but also atmosphere and style. It's not a film that's going to win awards or anything, but it's definitely worth a watch.

This film always seems to get to much criticism, especially when compared to the 1945 version. Personally though I love it, I love the fact that they captured some of the claustrophobic feeling which you get very much in the book but not in any of the other versions. It has such a British feel to it, even though it's set in such an elaborate setting. I'm halfway through watching the Optimum DVD release and its amazing to see how vivid the colours are in it, the sets are amazing. Yes the acting is a little wobbly in parts, Elkie Sommer is very good but maybe someone else would have been better, I'm half expecting her to say to the Doctor 'Hello How are your doings?' (Carry on behind was done about the same time) Oliver Reed is very masculine in the role, again something i feel no other version had. The closing scene is very well done, understated and quite chilling. I'm glad this finally had a quality DVD release. Flawed but excellent whodunit.Update, I've just acquired the Spanish Blu Ray release, and it does manage to explain the name of Rik Battaglia in the credits, as there is about an additional ten minutes of material, including a longer start, and cutaways to Iran, the only trouble with this release is that big chunks are in Spanish. So the mystery of Rik Battaglia is partially explained. Sadly not being fluent in Spanish I can't understand the content, and its relevance to the film.

Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" is one story that always struck me as intriguing but hopelessly implausible and grotesque. Just think about it: if YOU were to receive an invitation from a complete stranger, requesting you to come to an unknown location (in this case in a hotel in the middle of the godforsaken Iranian desert, of all places) and spend a vacation with nine other people you've never seen or heard about before in your life … would YOU go? I certainly wouldn't… But hey, that's just the story and already proved itself to be hugely successful since it was first published in 1939. "And then there were none" could have been a great black comedy thriller, especially if you take a look at the talented director and the literally amazing cast, but somehow they messed up badly here. The atmosphere of mystery completely falls flat and, for a movie that constantly features murders and accusations, there's very little excitement to be found. The ensemble cast of wonderful actors and actresses (including Oliver Reed, Herbert Lom and Gert Fröbe) manifests very few interests in the concept and the production in general, illustrated through some of the most unsavory performances ever seen. It literally hurts to see great names like this give away such lousy and lifeless performances. A wide variety of people, ten in total and all from different backgrounds, assembles in a luxurious but abandoned Iranian hotel after they all received an invitation from a mysterious individual named U.N. Owen (read = unknown). After diner and the inevitable chant of supportive French star Charles Aznavour, they are forced to listen to a tape (apparently voiced by Orson Welles, but I wouldn't know as I saw a German dubbed version) which accuses each and every one of them of having committed murder(s) in the past. Immediately after they start dying one by one, exactly like in the nursery rhyme of "Ten little … um … colored people". As stated before, the plot is already quite preposterous, so it definitely doesn't help to bring the whole formula in the most unconvincing fashion imaginably. People are dying left and right, yet none of the remaining survivors seems to be very nervous or in a hurry to out of there. Heck, even when half of the guest list is already dead, the remaining ones still carelessly smoke cigars in the lounge, play games of pool or even engage in romantic liaisons with each other! The killings are dull, commonplace and a vast number of them even occur off-screen; God forbid! The twist in the end is reasonably unpredictable, I guess, but nonetheless another very abrupt and random event in an overall uninteresting movie. Apparently this is the only film ever shot in the Iranian deserts, but I hardly consider that a motivation to watch it.