Can someone explain to me why in the movie, Lombard isn't really Lombard but Charles Morley? I didn't quite understand why they did this. I don't recall in the book Lombard confessing that his real name was Morley. Am I forgetting something? Thanks!
-Lisa
Just a special twist for the film, both to have some surprises left for those that already had read the book but also to establish that his character didn't really deserve to die as he had committed no crime.
shareIt was cut out of the DVD copy I just watched, but I remember something in the print I saw on TV years ago where he explained that he (CM) was Lombard's friend, and perhaps that Lombard was dead or something, and he decided to take his place to possibly find out what happened to him. Does anyone have a better print on DVD which has these details?
My life has major plot holes.
I just watched the film, and you are correct. Charles Morley explains that he was Lombard's friend, and that Lombard committed suicide, and that he (Morley) came to the island in his place because he wanted to find out if the letter Lombard was sent by Mr. Owen had anything to do with it. (Note that it is indeed plausible that Mr Owen's letter caused Lombard to commit suicide if Lombard suspected that whoever this Mr Owen was had found out that he was responsible for the deaths of those people that we learn about through the recorded message played early in the film.) So it seems like Morley does have a plausible reason to be on the island.
It also seems like there is a plausible reason to have added this "false identity" plot twist to the movie, even though it wasn't in the book. For one thing, although I hadn't thought of it myself, I like the other person's comment about how that means that Morley didn't really kill anyone, and so this gives a moral justification for why his character deserves to survive in the movie, rather than die like in the book. But the other thing that I thought of was that early in the movie there was a scene where the detective, Blore, noticed that "Lombard" was grabbing what might be the wrong suitcase -- because it had the initials "C. M." on it. "Lombard" says that he grabbed the correct suitcase; it's just that he borrowed his friend's clothes and suitcase to come to the island, and his friend's name was Charles Morley. Then, later in the film, it is suggested that one of the people in the house is actually "Mr. Owen" (which is obviously not his correct name), which means that one of the characters might be going by a phony name. Now, if the viewer remembers the earlier scene with the suitcase initials, this makes "Lombard" look like a good suspect. Maybe "Mr. Owen's" real name has initials C. M. When we hear late in the film that "Lombard" actually claims to be Lombard's friend, Charles Morley, this lets the viewer know that the suitcase initials clue might have just been a red herring. Either that, or "Lombard"/Mr. Owen is still lying. So, I think this is a nice additional "whodunnit" twist.
As the fake Lombard says to Vera, "you didn't kill your way into the house", from a written dialogue point of view, any set up to get a good line.
shareQuite simply, the movie was made while the Production Code was in full force under the auspices of Will Hays (the Hollywood censor) and Joe Breen (the enforcer). According to the code, any character who committed murder would have to suffer "compensating moral values." What this meant was that, if a character was a murderer, they would themselves be dead or in police custody by the fadeout. In other words, no one was EVER allowed to get away with murder. Period..no exceptions.
In order for June Duprez and Louis Hayward to walk away into the sunset, they both had to be innocent of the crimes of which they were accused. This is why the movie makes it very clear that Vera did not actually committ murder and that she was invited "by mistake." Lombards's line is something like "you don't belong here, you didn't kill your way in." In order for them both to be cleared for happiness, they invented "Charles Morley" as a stand-in for Lombard (who we must assume was actually guilty and paid his own "compensating moral values" by taking his own life--even off screen murderers had to be punished).
With both of them innocent, they were freed by the production code to survive until the fadeout and live happily ever after.
The movie is based on Agatha's own play. I think she would often add new twists when adapting her novels to the stage, to surprise even those who had read the novel. Appointment with Death the play has a completley diffrent end than the novel.
Now changing the tv adaptation drastically (like a certain "Marple") so it doesn't match either book or play - is just wrong.
What a dream I was having! Louis Armstrong was trying to kill me!
-ThrowMommaFromTheTrain