And Then There Were None

[smokingboot]

I recall reading the book when it had a very unPC title. It was the only thing that ever interested me among all that Agatha Christie wrote. Maybe I should try again with Poirot.

I recall the cute-not-cute of the rhyme, the little figures, the matching deaths (except Blore's. That bear-shaped clock struck me as hilarious and faintly desperate). It wasn't great writing but it was a fun story. The Beeb's series is a bit hmm, with some stuff pointlessly left out, some stuff pointlessly put in, and much power lost. My particular moment of mourning was the cutting of General MacArthur's crime; in the book, on learning that one of his officers is having an affair with his wife, he acts as though nothing has happened then sends the young man on a risky mission which sure enough turns out to be fatal. Here General MacArthur gets the news and just shoots the young man in the back of the head, all a bit trite. The spectral figure in the gas mask approaching him does not help. Something here just isn't working.

However, Charles Dance is Charles Dance in it, and that's got to be a plus. Was ever an actor so well graced by old age as this man? He was considered a sorta-hottie back in the day but I couldn't quite get that; I saw him on stage in Coriolanus and it left me with the conviction that while he had presence, I still didn't know if he could act or not. Coriolanus is a difficult play. The trouble with young Charles Dance was that his hair just sat lankly in custard coloured demi-curls on his head. Old Charles Dance doesn't have this issue. Now he's a wraith-king of balefully elegant malevolence. He wore Tywin Lannister like a well-fitting coat and is perfect for Wargrave, but whether that's enough to keep me watching is a different matter.