Secret in the blue castle
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Secret in the blue castle |
| Original title | Ten Little Indians |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Pollock |
| script |
Peter Yeldham Peter Welbeck |
| production | Harry Alan Towers |
| music | Malcolm Lockyer |
| camera | Ernest Steward |
| cut | Peter Boita |
| occupation | |
| |
Secret in the Blue Castle (original title: "Ten Little Indians") is a British crime film from 1965. It is based on the novel Ten Little Niggers (" Ten Little Niggers ") by the British author Agatha Christie . Directed by George Pollock , Mario Adorf , Shirley Eaton and Daliah Lavi are among the stars .
George Pollock is also the director of the film adaptations of the Miss Marple novels starring Margaret Rutherford .
The novel is still the best-selling detective novel in the world.
action
At the beginning of the film, all protagonists are introduced to the plot at the same time. After arriving in Mayrhofen, two horse-drawn sleighs take you from the train station to the valley station of a cable car outside the village. With this they drive to a castle in the mountains, where they have been invited by an unknown host named IR Gendwer. He himself cannot be found in the castle. The guests are served by the butler Joseph Grohmann and the housekeeper Elsa Grohmann.
Grohmann had been instructed in writing to start a tape on the evening of arrival at 9 o'clock and assumed background music on it. In fact, however, an eerie voice can be heard over a loudspeaker in the dining room, accusing each of the guests of guilt or complicity in a murder that has not been punished. The voice prophesied to those present that they would all die one after another in the castle. Later in the evening everyone is sitting in the great hall and discussing the situation. Mike Raven is sitting at the piano drinking schnapps and confesses that he actually committed the crime he is accused of. Shortly afterwards he grabs his throat and collapses dead, his face contorted with pain. The guests, including a doctor, discover that he was apparently poisoned with hydrogen cyanide in his drink.
The housekeeper Elsa Grohmann no longer keeps it in the castle. She takes the cable car towards the valley. However, someone sawed the carrying rope so that the rope snapped and Grohmann shattered on the rock in the cabin. The other guests suspect Mr. Gendwer is in the castle and decide to search the building from top to bottom. General Sir John Mandrake dies during the search. He had previously admitted to having sent several of his soldiers to their deaths and to having fled himself. His death increases the fear among the guests. Since the search of the castle was unsuccessful, the judge concludes that Mr. Gendwer must be one of the guests.
Joseph Grohmann is killed when he tries to climb into the valley. A stranger knocks the safety hook out of the rock on which the climbing rope is hanging, and Grohmann falls to his death. The six remaining guests note that the different types of death in the previous murders correspond to the descriptions in the nursery rhyme Ten Little Negroes . In addition, one of 10 ornamental figures is missing from the wreath of a fruit basket on the dining table after each murder. A picture with the rhyme hangs on the wall both in the hall of the castle and in the guest rooms.
Ilona Bergen is murdered in her room by an injection of poison that is supposed to symbolize a bee sting from the nursery rhyme. The suspicion falls on the doctor Dr. Edward Armstrong, as one of his syringes was used for it. However, the latter firmly rejects the suspicion. The following night, the light in the lock begins to flicker and the private detective present causes a short circuit while trying to stabilize the line. Judge Cannon is at the time with the doctor Dr. Edward Armstrong in the billiards room and convinces him that neither of them are possible as Mr. Gendwer because neither of them could have caused the blackout. They decide to trust each other and work together to expose Mr. Gendwer. Later, the doctor Edward, Judge Cannon and detective William confess their actions, but Ann and Hugh do not. Ann is startled just outside the door of her room and yells for help. When the others hurry up, the power goes out again. A shot can be heard in the dark. When the lights come on again, the judge is found lifeless in his bed.
Hugh and Ann spend the night in bed together. Hugh admits to Ann that he is not the invited Lombard, but a friend who accepted the invitation after his suicide. Ann again admits that she is only suspected of murder because she had helped her sister, the actual murderer. Both are therefore not guilty of a capital crime. The next morning, Dr. Edward disappeared. The private detective William searches the area in front of the castle with his binoculars. He is killed by a bear statue falling from the roof ledge. Hugh and Ann notice this and in turn search the area for Dr. Exit Edward. They eventually find him frozen to death in the snow.
It looks like Ann or Hugh must be the murderous host. Ann pulls out the revolver Hugh had given her for her own safety. A shot can be heard from the lock and Hugh falls to the ground. Ann returns to the castle, where she meets Judge Cannon in the great hall. With a ruse and with the help of the doctor, he had only staged his death. He admits that he had initially lived out his lust for killing with death sentences as a judge, but now wanted to lend a hand himself, especially since he was terminally ill. Before Ann he pours a bottle of poison into his glass and drinks it. For Ann he had prepared a rope on the ceiling in the great room so that she could hang herself instead of being sentenced to death as the only survivor with nine bodies in the area. Instead, Hugh comes in unharmed; he and Ann are saved.
Reviews
“Ten guests in the lonely castle have to realize that one of them is trying to kill the other. Remake of the Agatha Christie novel 'Ten Little Negroes' or 'Last Weekend'. Even the lack of care in the weak staging cannot rob the excellent material of the tension. "
John J. Puccio, a member of the Online Film Critics Society , describes the film as "a capable if somewhat lackluster run-through" . The production design is efficient instead of detailed, the acting is competent instead of inspired, the direction is professional instead of creative ("The production design is efficient rather than elaborate; the acting is capable rather than inspired; the direction is workmanlike rather than inventive") .
background
- The voice of IR Gendwer in the English original (not named in the credits) is that of Christopher Lee .
- The original title of the film is "Ten Little Indians". This is also the name of the children's song on which the story is based in the Anglo-Saxon region. The German dubbing uses the German counterpart “ Ten Little Niggers ”. But the film image contradicts this: the characters, who are gradually disappearing, are of course Indians. The limits of synchronization are shown drastically here.
- In the original the name of the host is UN Owen - based on unknown . In the German dubbing it became. IR Gendwer = anyone.
- In contrast to the film, all ten protagonists in Agatha Christie's book are killed. Also in the book all but the judge are guilty of the crimes of which they are “charged” at the beginning.
- In the book, the setting is an island.
- The film was released on DVD under the title There were only nine - Secret in the Blue Castle .
- Marianne Hoppe's voice cannot be heard in the German version. The actress was voiced by Gisela Trowe .
- Marianne Hoppe (born April 26, 1909) and Mario Adorf (born September 8, 1930) portray the Grohmann couple in the film. The age difference between the two was therefore more than 21 years.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Secret in the blue castle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .