History Film / AndThenThereWereNone1945

Ten people arrive at a mansion on an island that is little more than a bare rock, each having been invited there by one U.N. Owen. As it turns out, all ten have committed some terrible crime. They include: Sir John Mandrake (Creator/CAubreySmith), an army general who sent his wife's lover off to die; Emily Brent (Judith Anderson), a pietistic spinster responsible for the death of her nephew; Dr. Edward Armstrong (Creator/WalterHuston), who killed a patient by operating while drunk; Prince Nikita Starloff (Mischa Auer), who killed two people in a hit-and-run acccident; Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), suspected of killing her sister's fiance; Phillip Lombard (Louis Hayward), who left 21 African soldiers in his unit to die in the desert; William Blore (Roland Young), whose perjured testimony led to an innocent man's death by hanging; Judge Francis Quincannon (Creator/BarryFitzgerald), who caused a different innocent man to be hanged; and Thomas and Ethel Rogers (Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard), servants at the house, who poisoned their previous employer.

* TroubleEntendre: Seeing that Rogers hasn't gotten breakfast together, Miss Brent comments that if she employed such a servant, she'd get rid of him quickly. This comes across more ominously to the men, who have just found Rogers' corpse.

* TilMurderDoUsPart: When the others start discussing the possibility that he's the killer, Rogers breaks in to point out the unlikelihood of it, given that his wife was killed by the same murderer. Judge Quinncannon lightly answers that he's seen multiple cases in which husbands killed their wives.

* LighterAndSofter: This movie goes with the ending originating in Christie's 1943 play where Phillip and Vera both turn out not to have committed any murders and save each other by falling in love, which renders them less vulnerable to paranoia. It also mixes in a lot of comedy, both light and [[BlackComedy dark]] varieties.

* PoeticSerialKiller: The killer arranges deaths for his victims (except for Blore) in a manner similar to that of the "Ten Little Indians" rhyme (e.g., Prince Nikita, like the tenth Indian, chokes after downing a poisoned drink). Lombard lampshades it, saying that the killer likes to line up his murders with the nursery rhyme.

* TilMurderDoUsPart: When the others start discussing the possibility that he's the killer, Thomas Rogers breaks in to point out the unlikelihood of it, given that his wife was killed by the same murderer. Judge Quinncannon lightly answers that he's seen multiple cases in which husbands killed their wives.

** At the end, when the boatman shows up, Vera and Charles walk out the front door. The boatman asks about the others and Phillip says "You call them!"

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: Like most adaptations, this film changes the grim ending to the book in which all ten people do in fact die. In this version "Phillip Lombard" is actually Charles Morley, another man impersonating Phillip, who committed suicide after getting his invitation to the island. Charles and Vera fall in love and thus save themselves.
* AdaptationalHeroism: While Book Vera is guilty (of killing a child, not her sister's lover), Vera in the movie took the blame for her sister, who was mentally disturbed. Then there's Phillip, who is innocent because he isn't actually Phillip.

** Rogers reacts to the accusation that he poisoned the cocktails by indignantly drinking all of them; he then serves dinner drunk. After Rogers' death, Blore tries to reason that Rogers could have been the murderer, at which point Lombard says that Rogers then picked up an axe and split his own cranium, before saying he'd like to see Blore try to do that on himself, and quipping that it would take practice.

'''Lombard''': You grasp a point very quickly, Blore.
* ChekhovsGun: Lombard's suitcase with its "C.M." monogram. He isn't really Phillip Lombard.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: "Phillip Lombard" is really Charles Morley. Morley's friend Lombard killed himself, and Morley, suspicious about the letter from U.N. Owen, took his place.

* DramaticThunder: There's a dramatic clap of thunder sound right after the doctor confirms that the third victim was murdered. There's another instance of dramatic thunder right after Judge Wargrave says that the murderer must be one of them.
* DroppingTheBombshell: Near the climax, "Phillip" drops TheReveal: "I am not Mr. Lombard!" Moments later on the beach he explains to Vera that he took the real Lombard's place.

* ThePowerOfTrust: What saves "Phillip" in this film is that he showed enough trust in Vera to give her his gun for self-defense. (In the novel Vera steals the gun from Phillip before she shoots him.)
* RightHandCat: The CuteKitten house cat seen throughout the movie becomes more ominous at the end when Judge Quincannon sits down in an easy chair, and pets the cat as he explains his evil plan.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: The LighterAndSofter ending has Phillip and Vera falling in love and saving themselves. This ending originated with Christie's 1943 play and is found in most English-language adaptations.
* StagedShooting: Vera and Charles fake her shooting him on the beach to get the killer to reveal himself.

* YouWouldntShootMe: Phillip says "You won't shoot me" to Vera on the beach when she thinks he's the killer. Unlike the book, they're in love, so he's right.

* AlcoholHic: Thomas hiccups when he's drunk after dinner, having drunk all the cocktails to prove they weren't poisoned.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: How Judge Quincannon tries to talk Vera into hanging herself, pointing out that if she doesn't hang herself, she'll be hanged for nine murders.

* BlackComedy: ''Loaded'' with this. Rogers reacts to the accusation that he poisoned the cocktails by indignantly drinking all of them; he then serves dinner drunk. After Rogers' death, Blore tries to reason that Rogers could have been the murderer, at which point Lombard says that Rogers then picked up an axe and split his own cranium, before saying he'd like to see Blore try to do that on himself, and quipping that it would take practice. At the end, when the boatman shows up, Vera and Charles walk out the front door. The boatman asks about the others and Phillip says "You call them!"
* BreakingTheFourthWall: After the guests arrive at the island, five of the characters introduce themselves to each other, and all look straight at the camera when they do it. Later, Blore looks straight at the camera and says "I get it!" right before his head is caved in by a falling turret.

* DeadHandShot: All that's shown of the death of Emily Brent is her hand dangling off the bed, after the other guests follow the trail from her ball of yarn, which the cat was playing with.
* DeadHatShot: Blore's demise is indicated by a dead binoculars shot, as the binoculars he was holding are shown lying on the ground.

* DeathFakedForYou: Judge Quincannon tricks Dr. Armstrong into helping him fake his murder, so that he, Quincannon, can catch U.N. Owen.

* EnemyEatsYourLunch: In the flashback, right after Judge Quincannon kills Dr. Armstrong on the beach, he takes the last swig from Armstrong's flask before tossing it aside.

* FailedASpotCheck: Two characters argue about whether Rogers is the killer, while dead Rogers' shoes are visible in the foreground of the shot, just a few yards away and in plain view.

* VigilanteExecution: Judge Quincannon invites nine (more or less) murderers to the island, so he can kill them one by one.
* VigilanteMan: Judge Quincannon indulges in a twisted form of justice by killing people who have murdered others. However, he makes a mistake: Vera Claythorne, whose sister actually murdered the victim.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: In his MotiveRant at the end Judge Quincannon says that he was motivated to put his scheme in motion when he found out that he's terminally ill.

Ten people arrive at a mansion on an island that is little more than a bare rock, having been invited there by one U.N. Owen. As it turns out, all ten have committed some terrible crime. They include: Sir John Mandrake (Creator/CAubreySmith), an army general who sent his wife's lover off to die; Emily Brent (Judith Anderson), a pietistic spinster responsible for the death of her nephew; Dr. Edward Armstrong (Creator/WalterHuston), who killed a patient by operating while drunk; Prince Nikita Starloff (Mischa Auer), who killed two people in a hit-and-run acccident; Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), suspected of killing her sister's fiance; Phillip Lombard (Louis Hayward), who left 21 African soldiers in his unit to die in the desert; William Blore (Roland Young), whose perjured testimony led to an innocent man's death by hanging; Judge Francis Quincannon (Creator/BarryFitzgerald), who caused a different innocent man to be hanged; and Thomas and Ethel Rogers (Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard), servants at the house, who poisoned their previous employer.

''And Then There Were None'' is a 1945 mystery film directed by Creator/ReneClair. It is possibly the most well-known of the many, many stage, film, and television adaptations of Creator/AgathaChristie's novel ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''.

* BlackComedy: ''Loaded'' with this. Rogers reacts to the accusation that he poisoned the cocktails by indignantly drinking all of them; he then serves dinner drunk. At the end, when the boatman shows up, Vera and Charles walk out the front door. The boatman asks about the others and Phillip says "You call them!"

* AdaptationNameChange: Macarthur is changed to Mandrake, Lawrence Wargrave to Francis Quincannon, and Anthony Marston to Prince Nikita Starloff.

* AlcoholHic: Thomas does that when he's drunk after dinner, having drank all the cocktails to prove they weren't poisoned.

* FingertipDrugAnalysis: How Dr. Armstrong determines that Prince Nikita's cocktail contained "a lethal solution" of something.

* LighterAndSofter: This movie goes with the ending originating in Christie's 1943 play where Phillip and Vera fall in love and save each other. It also mixes in a lot of comedy and BlackComedy.

* PoeticSerialKiller: The killer arranges deaths for his victims (except for Blore) in a manner similar to that of the "Ten Little Indians" rhyme.

* TillMurderDoUsPart: When the others start discussing the possibility that he's the killer, Thomas Rogers breaks in to point out the unlikelihood of it, given that his wife was killed by the same murderer. Judge Quinncannon lightly answers that he's seen multiple cases in which husbands killed their wives.

* TheUriahGambit: General Mandrake's crime, sending his wife's lover off on a doomed mission, to die.

* VigilanteMan: Judge Quincannon indulges in a twisted form of justice by killing people who have murdered others.
* WhamLine: Near the climax, "Phillip" drops TheReveal: "I am not Mr. Lombard!" Moments later on the beach he explains to Vera that he took the real Lombard's place.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: Since the film was made at the height of the Hays Code, Emily Brent’s crime was drastically altered to suit the censors. Beatrice Taylor, Miss Brent’s tragic pregnant servant girl is replaced with Peter Brent, her wayward nephew who ends up hanging himself after Miss Brent cruelly locks him up in a reformatory.

Ten people arrive at a mansion on an island that is little more than a bare rock, having been invited there by one U.N. Owen. As it turns out, all ten have committed some terrible crime. They include: Sir John Mandrake (C. Aubrey Smith), an army general who sent his wife's lover off to die; Emily Brent (Judith Anderson), a pietistic spinster responsible for the death of her nephew; Dr. Edward Armstrong (Creator/WalterHuston), who killed a patient by operating while drunk; Prince Nikita Starloff (Mischa Auer), who killed two people in a hit-and-run acccident; Vera Claythorne (June Duprez), suspected of killing her sister's fiance; Phillip Lombard (Louis Hayward), who left 21 African soldiers in his unit to die in the desert; William Blore (Roland Young), whose perjured testimony led to an innocent man's death by hanging; Judge Francis Quincannon (Creator/BarryFitzgerald), who caused a different innocent man to be hanged; and Thomas and Ethel Rogers (Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard), servants at the house, who poisoned their previous employer.

* YouWouldntShootMe: Phillip says "You won't shoot me" to Vera on the beach when she thinks he's the killer. Unlike the book, they're in love, so he's right.

''And Then There Were None'' is a 1945 film directed by Creator/ReneClair.

It is possibly the most well-known of the many, many stage, film, and television adaptations of Creator/AgathaChristie's novel ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''. Ten people arrive at a mansion on an island that is little more than a bare rock, having been invited there by one U.N. Owen. As it turns out, all ten have committed some terrible crime. They include: Sir John Mandrake, an army general who sent his wife's lover off to die; Emily Brent, responsible for the death of her nephew; Dr. Edward Armstrong (Creator/WalterHuston), who killed a patient by operating while drunk; Prince Nikita Starloff, who killed two people in a hit-and-run; Vera Claythorne, suspected of killing her sister's fiance; Phillip Lombard, who left 21 African soldiers in his unit to die in the desert; William Blore, whose perjured testimony led to an innocent man's death by hanging; Judge Francis Quincannon (Creator/BarryFitzgerald), who caused a different innocent man to be hanged; and Thomas and Ethel Rogers, servants at the house, who poisoned their previous employer.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: After the guests arrive at the island, four of the characters introduce themselves to each other, and all look straight at the camera when they do it. Later, Blore looks straight at the camera and says "I get it!" right before his head is caved in by a falling turret.

* DramaticThunder: The 1945 film has a dramatic clap of thunder sound right after the doctor confirms that the third victim was murdered. There's another instance of dramatic thunder right after Judge Wargrave says that the murderer must be one of them.
* ExactWords: Lombard is asked about the accusation that he left 21 natives in his unit to die. He says, "Mr. Lombard is unable to deny a thing." [[spoiler:That's because the real Mr. Lombard isn't there.]]

* ThePowerOfTrust: What saves "Phillip" in this film is that he showed enough trust in Vera to give her his gun for self-defense. (In the novel Vera steals the gun from Phillip before she shoots him.)

* BetterToDieThanToBeKilled: How Judge Quincannon tries to talk Vera into hanging herself, pointing out that if she doesn't hang herself, she'll be hanged for nine murders.