The last weekend
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The last weekend |
| Original title | And Then There Were None |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1945 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | René Clair |
| script |
Dudley Nichols based on the detective novel And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie |
| production | René Clair |
| music | Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco |
| camera | Lucien Andriot |
| cut | Harvey Manger |
| occupation | |
| |
The Last Weekend is an American feature film by René Clair from 1945, based on the famous detective novel And then there was no more by Agatha Christie . This film is widely regarded as the most successful adaptation of the original.
action
Two women and six men are transferred to a remote island in a small fishing boat on rough seas. They do not know each other and are all guests of a stranger named Mr. Owen. People introduce themselves to each other on the property high up on the island. Retired judge Francis J. Quinncannon and doctor of about the same age, Dr. Edward G. Armstrong soon get in touch with each other and make friends a little. In the evening, all eight invitees meet for dinner and see a small group of figures on the table, called "Ten Little Indian Boys". Vera Claythorne, one of the two female guests, explains to those present about the famous "Ten Little Indians" counting unit. As the hour continues, the always a little drunk exiled Russian prince Nikita Starloff sings the song of the “Ten Little Indian Boys”, one after the other being carried away, and accompanies himself on the piano. He anticipates the dark events of the plot in the form of a morality. Late in the evening, a record recorded by her host Mr. Owen is played on the gramophone. Owen's voice accuses each of the guests of a previously unpunished crime:
- General Sir John Mandrake is said to have driven his wife's lover, a lieutenant, to his death,
- Emily Brent is said to have caused the death of her young nephew Peter,
- Dr. Edward G. Armstrong allegedly caused the death of a patient while drunk,
- Prince Nikita Starloff is said to have murdered a couple
- Vera Claythorne is said to have killed her sister's fiancé,
- Judge Francis J. Quinncannon believed to be responsible for the wrongful conviction of a defendant who was subsequently hanged
- Philip Lombard is said to be responsible for the death of 21 natives in South Africa,
- William H. Blore allegedly drove an innocent man to death as a result of perjury,
- Thomas and Ethel Rogers, who is said to have caused the death of their previous, physically disabled employer.
When the record is over, Mrs. Rogers breaks down first. She reproaches her husband for having accepted this position without knowing the client. Judge Quinncannon takes another look at his letter of invitation and states that the host has signed it with “UN Owen”, English spoken “unknown”. It is stated that none of the invited neither knows nor has ever met “UN Owen”. One discusses the allegations made by the stranger and whether, when and how one can leave the island as soon as possible. House servant Mr. Rogers explains that the boat from the mainland would only dock here twice a week, so that one would be stuck on this island for a few more days. When Prince Nikki reached for a glass of whiskey while playing the piano again, it knocked him over first: he was poisoned. The judge and the doctor meet in the parlor and see that the first Indian figure has been broken out of the ensemble.
The next morning, as the “Ten Little Indians” song says, another person never wakes up from their sleep. This time Mrs. Rogers got it. Dr. Armstrong expresses his suspicion that that ominous Mr. Owen must be hiding somewhere on the estate and is reinforced in this view by Judge Quinncannon. Gradually the involuntary guests begin to harass each other with suspicion. When the old, already somewhat calcified General Mandrake does not appear for dinner, one worries, and Philip Lombard rushes into the rainy night to look for him, who was last seen by Vera Claythorne on the cliffs. He finds him dead. And again an Indian boy figure has broken out of the ensemble of figures. Philip and Vera are gradually getting closer and wondering which of the survivors could be Mr. Owen. When Butler Rogers ends up in first place among the suspects in a secret ballot, he is so piqued that he drinks away the remaining stocks of alcohol in order to prove to everyone that he could not have poisoned anyone. The situation is getting more and more absurd. When Emily Brent wants to go to bed in her room, Vera offers to accompany her. The mistrust is so great that Emily refuses and is finally accompanied upstairs by four people. Meanwhile, the doctor armed with a fire hook and the judge watch each other in front of the fireplace.
The next morning, Rogers is dead too, despite the fact that, in fear of the others, he locked himself in a nearby woodshed armed with an ax. Insignificantly later it hits Mrs. Brent: she lies dead in her bed and was killed with a syringe. Everyone now suspects everyone: Once Philip Lombard is held by the others, seconds later it hits detective William H. Blore, who is mistaken for the murderer. Then the light begins to flicker. The nerves of the survivors are on edge, while playing billiards in the semi-darkness, the judge and the doctor begin to keep each other in check with their billiard cues, while Philip Lombard follows Blore into the woodshed and asks about Vera, because she has suddenly disappeared. Blore feels threatened by Lombard and reaches for a log. Vera appears unharmed, and for a moment some trust seems to have been restored. Also between Quinncannon and Dr. Armstrong will temporarily rectify the situation. In the evening everyone gets together so that everyone can make a confession regarding his "crime" accused by Mr. Owen. The judge begins and admits that by convicting the innocent he only wanted to destroy the reputation of the defender's defender. Dr. Armstrong admits that he actually operated under the influence of alcohol, killing a patient. Detective Blore admits his perjury, who put a man in prison, but does not see himself responsible for his death. Philip Lombard, in turn, begins his statement as follows: “Mr. Lombard is unable to deny anything ”. Vera Claythorne suddenly jumps up and claims that she is cool. She wants to go up to her room. Shortly afterwards a shot sounds ...
The remaining gentlemen run up in the dark in vain, then miss the judge among themselves, find him again downstairs and have to find out that he is now also dead. A bullet struck his skull. Dr. Armstrong walks up to him and closes his eyes. Vera is now under suspicion because she is the only one who does not have a witness for her whereabouts at the time of death. When asked by Armstrong whether she was guilty of the crime Mr. Owen charged, she said she took her word of honor that she did not commit the crime. Soon everyone goes to his room to sleep. A little later, however, Philip goes to the room where Vera has been locked in from the outside for security reasons. To assure her that he will not pose any threat to her, Philip hands her his revolver. Vera confesses to Philip that she is not the accused, but her sister. Mr. Owen is probably not perfect, says Philip Lombard, "because I'm not Mr. Lombard". Then he jumps back over the window into his own room to track down the perpetrator. He believes the murderer could only be Blore or Armstrong. But the doctor cannot be found. So Lombard assumes that Armstrong must be the killer. But it remains until the next morning as if swallowed by the ground.
When Blore thinks he knows who the perpetrator is, he is struck dead by a mighty stone gable that is being pushed down from a cornice as if by magic. Now only two little Indian boys have not broken out of the figure ensemble. In the distance, Vera and Philip see a lifeless body lying on the beach and rushing there. It's the dead Dr. Armstrong. Now that no one else is alive, the two young people accuse each other of being the other's murderers. Lombard admits that his real name is Charles Morley and that Lombard was a friend who recently killed himself for the offenses of which he was accused. Morley then had the letter addressed to Lombard inviting “Mr. Owen ”and therefore followed up to find out whether this was related to Lombard's suicide. Morley alias Lombard has an idea: he orders Vera to shoot him. A shot sounds and he falls over.
From the country estate high above the island, someone is watching the action. Then this stranger goes back to the group of figures and breaks out the penultimate Indian figure. Vera returns to the property alone. When she arrives at the house, a gallows rope is already dangling from the ceiling. She steps up to the pool table and sees ... the judge who was believed to be dead! He says: "A little Indian boy was left alone, he hung himself and then there was no more". The rope is meant for you, Vera, declares Quinncannon, confident of victory, because his job of creating justice for the crimes of the dead guests is done. In response to Vera's objection that she had no reason to hang herself, the overly self-assured, murderous lawyer explains that this end is imminent one way or another because of the existing death penalty for murder. Because she'll be the sole survivor ... in a house full of murdered people.
The judge explains to the perplexed woman that he had his own death with the help of the easily persuaded Dr. Armstrong "staged", who noted Quinncannon's death in front of the eyes of the others. A little later he rose from the dead and killed Armstrong on the beach. He himself, according to Quincannon, did not have much longer to live, he was seriously ill. Then, smiling coldly, he takes a whiskey filled with a lethal dose of poison. The judge couldn't believe his eyes when suddenly Charles Morley entered the room. The shot at him was only faked to lure the real killer out of the reserve. The judge dies knowing that in the end he has miscalculated. His last words are "Never trust a woman".
Production notes
The last weekend was filmed at Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood and had its world premiere on October 31, 1945. The German premiere took place on April 10, 1953, the German television first broadcast took place on January 6, 1967 on ZDF .
Ernst Fegté was responsible for the film construction, Edward G. Boyle for the equipment. René Hubert designed the costumes. Charles Previn was the musical director.
Literary template
The film is based on one of Agatha Christie's most successful crime novels , “And Then There Were None”, originally “Ten Little Niggers” based on the counting rhyme “Ten little niggers”, which is also known in Germany. The German publication title is And then there was no more . With 100 million copies sold to date, this novel is Christie's best-selling work and the best-selling detective novel of all time. This film from 1945, the first cinema adaptation of the Christie novel, does not adhere to the literary original in every detail.
Further films
- 1965: Secret in the blue castle
- 1969: Ten Little Negroes (German TV Version)
- 1973: A stranger accounts
- 1987: Destjat Negritjat (Soviet cinema production)
- 1988: Ten Little Indians
- 2010: And Then There Were Fewer (Episode 1, Season 9, Family Guy)
- 2015 And then there was no more (2015) (three-part TV series)
The Arnold Schwarzenegger film Sabotage , which was released in 2014 , is loosely based on the Christie model.
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created in 1953 by Berliner Synchron .
| role | actor | German Dubbing voice |
|---|---|---|
| Judge Francis J. Quinncannon | Barry Fitzgerald | Alfred Balthoff |
| Dr. Edward G. Armstrong | Walter Huston | Walther Suessenguth |
| Philip Lombard aka Charles Morley | Louis Hayward | Wolfgang Kieling |
| Vera Claythorne | June Duprez | Margot Leonard |
| Detective William Henry Blore | Roland Young | Martin hero |
| Prince Nikita "Nikki" Starloff | Mischa Auer | Erich Fiedler |
| General Sir John Mandrake | C. Aubrey Smith | Walter Werner |
| Emily Brent | Judith Anderson | Ursula War |
| Thomas Rogers, attendant | Richard Haydn | Wolfgang Kühne |
Reviews
The criticism went wild and showered René Clair's subtle staging with eulogies . Below is a small selection:
“France's most French director, René Clair, translated the tension technique of the English crime writer Agatha Christie into a cinematic mental puzzle that is still unsolved by the two survivors and all viewers after seven murders. The series of murders is gently accompanied by the musical leitmotif "Ten little negroes". Even crime film aficionados tingle with tension in their fingertips. "
"Excellent film adaptation of a novel by Agatha Christie: fast-paced crime suspense with an eerie atmosphere and high-profile character drawings and at the same time a genre parody full of black humor."
"Great script from Dudley Nichols, completed with superb visual inspiration."
"A classic mystery novel has been adapted and staged with the greatest possible care to show a boisterous, black comedy, stylish confusion and some excellent acting."
"Rich in the ingredients that have made mystery dramas so popular."
Individual evidence
- ↑ C Peers, Spurrier A & Sturgeon J: Collins Crime Club - A checklist of First Editions (2nd ed.) . Dragonby Press, 1999, ISBN 1-8711-2213-9 , p. 15.
- ↑ Bruce Pendergast: Everyman's Guide To The Mysteries Of Agatha Christie . Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC 2004, ISBN 1412023041 , p. 393.
- ↑ Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen: 21 Best-Selling Books of All Time . Editors of Publications International, Ltd .. September 14, 2007.
- ↑ The last weekend at the synchronous database
- ↑ The last weekend at the German synchronous file
- ↑ Der Spiegel , No. 22, of May 27, 1953
- ^ The last weekend in the dictionary of international films
Web links
- extensive review in the New York Times
- The last weekend in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- And Then There Were None on Turner Classic Movies