Desyat Negrityat

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A 1987 poster for the movie.

The film was shot at Swallow's Nest, an architectural folly near Yalta.

Desyat Negrityat is a 1987 Russian film adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None (the title of this version translates as Ten Little Negroes, which was very close to Ten Little Niggers, Christie's original title for the book). It was directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, who also penned the script. This film is 137 minutes in length.

Cast

Vladimir Zeldin...Judge Lawrence Wargrave
Tatyana Drubich...Vera Claythorne
Alexander Kaidanovsky...Philip Lombard
Aleksei Zharkov...Detective William Blore
Anatoli Romashin...Doctor Armstrong
Lyudmila Maksakova...Emily Brent
Mikhail Gluzsky...General Macarthur
Aleksei Zolotnitsky...Mr. Rogers
Irina Tereshchenko...Mrs. Rogers
Aleksandr Abdulov...Anthony Marston

Plot

Ten complete strangers are invited to spend the weekend in a lonely mansion on an island off the English coast. Once there, they realize that none of them know their unseen host, who has identified himself only as "Mr. Owen." Using a prerecorded gramophone, Mr. Owen accuses them each of past murders that the law was unable to punish, and promises swift retribution. Soon thereafter the first guest dies, the victim of poisoning. The remaining guests come to realize that the killer is murdering them according to the old Ten Little Niggers nursery rhyme. When their attempt to locate Mr. Owen by searching the island proves fruitless, they realize that the unknown assailant is in fact one of them.

Miscellanea

This is the only film version to retain Christie's original title.
It is also the only version to duplicate the novel's downbeat ending.
This is the only film version of Ten Little Indians that does not change any of the characters or their pasts.
This adaptation has never been officially released in the U.S., though an NTSC format disc with English subtitles is available.

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