Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward in "And Then There Were None"

And Then There Were None (1945) is a mystery movie directed by Rene Clair and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward. The film is an adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel of the same name. 

Eight strangers are invited to a small isolated island off the coast of Devon, England, by a Mr. and Mrs. Owen. Two newly-hired servants, Thomas and Ethel Rogers greet them to the secluded mansion, but their hosts are absent. As the guests sit down to dinner, they notice a centerpiece featuring figurines of ten Indians. Thomas plays a record and a man's voice accuses them all of the murder! 

Are they really all guilty? Is this all a cruel game concocted by the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Owen?

Rene Clair (1898 - 1981) was a French film director and writer. He directed silent films in his native France but was lured to Hollywood where he directed five films. His first American film was The Flame of New Orleans (1941) starring Marlene Dietrich. The film was not a success and it would be a year before he made another American film. His most popular American film was And Then There Were None (1945) based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name. After World War II, Clair returned to France where he was considered one of that country’s best film directors.

Barry Fitzgerald (1888 – 1961) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in many notable films over four decades including Bringing Up  Baby (1938), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944), and The Quiet Man (1952). He was a member of the Abbey Theatre and made his film debut in Juno and the Paycock (1930) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Walter Huston (1883 - 1950) was a Canadian singer, stage, and film actor. He is also the patriarch of the Huston clan that includes his writer-director son John, and his granddaughter, actress Anjelica. Huston worked in the theater, with roles on Broadway where he made his debut in 1924. Once talking pictures began in Hollywood, Huston worked as both a leading man and also a character actor. Some of Huston’s films include The Virginian (1929), Rain (1932), Gabriel Over the White House (1933), The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, directed by his son John. Huston’s last film was The Furies (1950) co-starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey.

Louis Hayward (1909 – 1985) was a British-American actor. He worked on the London stage under the tutelage of Noel Coward. He made some films in England in the early 1930s and came to Broadway in 1935 working with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Noel Coward’s Point Valaine. His Broadway fame brought him to Hollywood where he was cast in some minor roles before getting starring roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), My Son, My Son! (1940), and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Hayward was married to Ida Lupino from 1938 to 1945.

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

To join the discussion on December 6, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and link to the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:

1. Agatha Christie's novel has been filmed over ten times, are you familiar with any of the other versions? If so, how does this version hold up?
2. Would you have guessed this was the same director who directed I Married a Witch and It Happened Tomorrow?
3. The film features many prominent character actors; did you have a favorite?
4. What did you think of the top-billed stars: Fitzgerald, Huston, and Hayward?
5. Did anything surprise you?

Dick Powell and Linda Darnell in “It Happened Tomorrow”

It Happened Tomorrow (1944) is an American fantasy film directed by Rene Clair, starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, and Jack Oakie. This was Clair’s fourth of five films he made in Hollywood.

Lawrence Stevens (Powell) writes obituaries for the local paper but he dreams of writing important, hard news stories. An old newspaperman named Pop Bensen (John Philliber) gives Stevens a newspaper with tomorrow’s news. This unusual event allows Stevens to write stories, scooping the other reporters and newspapers. Along the way, he meets Oscar Smith (Oakie) and Sylvia Smith (Darnell) an uncle and niece clairvoyant act.

At first, knowing future events is exciting and helps move Stevens along in his career. But as time goes by, he discovers knowing the future isn’t what’s cracked up to be.

Dick Powell and Linda Darnell

Rene Clair (1898 - 1981) was a French film director and writer. He directed silent films in his native France but was lured to Hollywood where he directed five films. His first American film was The Flame of New Orleans (1941) starring Marlene Dietrich. The film was not a success and it would be a year before he made another American film. His most popular American film was And Then There Were None (1945) based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name. After World War II, Clair returned to France where he was considered one of that country’s best film directors.

Dick Powell (1904 - 1963) was an American actor, singer, producer, and director. He began his movie career in musicals and comedies but eventually toughened up his image in the mid-1940s where he became a popular star of films noir. He was the first actor to portray Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet (1944). After appearing in his last film, Susan Slept Here, Powell started directing. In the 1950s he was one of the founders of Four Star Television along with Charles Boyer, David Niven, and Ida Lupino. Some popular films starring Powell include 42nd Street (1933), A Midsummer's Night Dream (1935), Christmas in July (1940), Pitfall (1948), and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).

Linda Darnell (1923 – 1965) was an American film actress. She signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox at age 15 and became a star almost overnight. She was immediately cast opposite Tyrone Power in Day-Time Wife (1939). She made two films with Power in 1940: Brigham Young and The Mark of Zorro. In 1941, she was again paired with Power in Blood and Sand, which also starred an up-and-coming Rita Hayworth. Darnell’s most famous role was that of Amber St. Clair in Forever Amber (1946), which turned out the be the biggest hit of the year. The role of Amber was the most sought-after female role since the casting of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). Other important films she starred in include Unfaithfully Yours (1948), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), and No Way Out (1950). She died tragically at age 41 in a fire while visiting friends in Glenview, Illinois.

Jack Oakie (1903 - 1978) was an American film actor who also appeared on the stage and radio. He is probably most famous for portraying Napaloni in Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940). Oakie began his film career during the silent era but had no problem when sound was introduced. After fulfilling his seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures in 1934, Oakie decided to freelance, not being attached to any one studio. He was very successful as a freelancer appearing in popular films like The Call of the Wild (1935), The Toast of New York (1937), Tin Pan Alley (1940), Hello Frisco, Hello (1943), Thieves Highway (1949), and Around the World in 80 Days (1959).

It Happened Tomorrow trivia

• Frank Capra owned the rights to the film but sold them to producer Arnold Pressburger when he entered the U.S. Army during World War II.
• Jack Oakie reworked his dialogue throughout the film which didn’t bother director Clair at all.
• Cary Grant was originally considered for the role of Lawrence Stevens.
• The opera singer alluded to in the film is most likely Nellie Melba; Peach Melba and Melba toast are named for her.
• Inspiration for the television show Early Edition.

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

Why watch this film?

• It features Dick Powell in a non-singing role before he turned “touch guy” as Philip Marlow in Murder, My Sweet the same year.
• We have another fantasy film from Clair, two years after I Married a Witch (1942).
• The film features the popular and busy character actors working in Hollywood Jack Oakie and Edgar Kennedy.
• Linda Darnell has a fairly good role as Sylvia Smith on loan out from her home studio, 20th Century-Fox.

To join the discussion on Monday, November 1, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will get an invitation and link to the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:

1. Do you think this lighthearted film has a serious message? If so, what is it?
2. What did you think of Dick Powell’s performance in the lead? Do you think his casting was a good choice?
3. How do you think this film compares to Clair’s I Married a Witch?
4. Did you have a favorite character and/or scene from the movie?
5. Did you have a problem with Oakie’s portrayal as “The Great Gigolini”

Fredric March and Veronic Lake in Rene Clair’s “I Married a Witch”

I Married a Witch (1942) is a romantic comedy fantasy directed by Rene Clair and starring Fredric March and Veronica Lake. The cinematography is by Ted Tetzlaff, music by Roy Webb, and costumes by Edith Head.

The plot concerns two witches in colonial Salem, Jennifer (Lake) and her father Daniel (Cecil Kellaway) burned at the stake because of the testimony of Puritan Jonathan Wooley. 

Their spirits, imprisoned by a tree, are released when the tree is struck by lightning. Vowing revenge on Wallace Wooley (March), a descendent of Jonathan Wooley, who is running for governor and engaged to Estelle Masterson (Susan Hayward), the spoiled daughter of Dr. Dudley White (Robert Benchley) a friend and political supporter of Wallace, Jennifer comes up with a devious plot to destroy him.

Through a strange twist of fate, Jennifer’s affections change toward Wooley, much to the dismay of her father who is determined to seek revenge.

Will Jennifer have the strength to defy her father and let love triumph over witchcraft?

Veronica Lake and Fredric March

Rene Clair (1898 - 1981) was a French film director and writer. He directed silent films in his native France, but was lured to Hollywood where he directed five films. His first American film was The Flame of New Orleans (1941) starring Marlene Dietrich. The film was not a success and it would be a year before he made another American film. His most popular American film was And Then There Were None (1945) based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name. After World War II, Clair returned to France where he was considered one of the that country’s best film directors.

Fredric March (1897 - 1975) was an American actor and two-time Best Actor Academy Award winner. Also a famous stage actor, March won two Tony Awards as well and is one of a few actors to have won both the Academy Award and the Tony Award twice. March was an immediate success in films receiving his first Best Actor nomination in 1930. He won his first Best Actor Oscar for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) and his second for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). During the 1930s and 1940s, March was a popular leading man starring opposite Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Janet Gaynor, Norma Shearer, Katharine Hepburn, and Carole Lombard. March continued acting on stage and in films until 1973, two years before his death from cancer.

Veronica Lake (1922 - 1973) was an American film, stage, and television actress. She was a popular star of film noirs, often paired with Alan Ladd in the 1940s. She was also famous for her peek-a-boo hairstyle. Her home studio, Paramount, dubbed her the peek-a-boo girl. Women and girls all over the world copied her hair-over-one-eye hairstyle. Lake became an overnight sensation with her role in I Wanted Wings (1940). During the height of her career, Lake was making $4,500 a week. Some of her popular films include Sullivan’s Travels (1941),  This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), So Proudly We Hail! (1943), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Lake’s career declined due to her struggle with alcoholism. She died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1973. She was 50 years old.

I Married a Witch trivia:

• Veronica Lake and Fredric March did not get along at all during filming. Before production, March said that Lake was “a brainless little blonde sexpot, void of any acting ability.” Lake got back at him by playing practical jokes like hiding a 40-pound weight under her dress for a scene where March had to carry her.
• Sol Saks, creator of Bewitch considered this film as inspiration for the classic television series.
• Veronica Lake and costar Susan Hayward, were both born in Brooklyn.
• Preston Sturges was the original producer but quit the film over differences with Rene Clair.
• The film was made at Paramount and sold to United Artists.

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

Why watch this film?

• It is one of the few American films directed by Rene Clair.
• The supporting cast boasts some of the best actors working in Hollywood at the time.
• Veronica Lake was a national sensation due to her cool persona and peek-a-boo hairstyle.
• Although Lake and Fredric March didn’t like each other, you would never know it do to their believable performances on screen.
• This film influence other fantasy films to come including Bell, Book, and Candle (1958).

To join the discussion on October 11, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation with a link to the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:

1. Do you think the film would have been the same had the director been American?
2. Did you think that Lake was untalented as Fredric March supposedly said?
3. What was your favorite scene, piece of dialogue, and so on, from the film?
4. Did you have a favorite character?
5. Did anything about the film surprise you?

Girls at a military academy dance trying to look like Veronica Lake in
director Billy Wilder’s film The Major and the Minor

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