Deaths onscreen, in order--
1. Officer killed when he stands in front of a cannon in a battle.
2. A falcon turns on its falconer.
3. A mountain climber falls into the pit atop the mountain he's just conquered.
4. A naval officer is beaned by a bottle being used to christen a ship.
5. An officer is killed by an arrow piercing the bugle he's blowing to rally huis men during an attack.
6. A mine owner is killed in the collapse of a mine he claims is safe.
7. A hunter is killed by a rhino being closer than he thought.
8. Vyvyan Alistair Montague (Leonard Rossiter) is killed by the two duelists he is refereeing. (I wonder if they discovered he was the real cause of their dispute?)
9. Aging industrialist is pushed downhil in his wheelchair by a grandson eager to inherit it all.
10. Queen Victoria accidentally kills the man she's knighting.
((Sorry I don't have the names. Anyone TiVo this?))
My fave, at east the one that sticks out most in my memory, is #9.
The thing is, weren't there 20 boys in the tontine? I didn't have a chance to freezeframe and count them, but I recall each father gave 1,000 pounds for his son and the attorney refered to the sum of 20,000 pounds to be being invested. As there were two aged survivors when the film begins, I'm guessing the other 8 deaths were not comedic enough to show. For example all the onscreen members were shown surviving to adulthood. The filmmakers probably chose to skip showing the deaths of any kids or teens, since these might have soured the audience as the film is finally starting.
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Rosabel
11 years ago
There's also Ebenezer Hackett, whose death leaves only the two Finsbury brothers in the tontine. I don't suppose his death WAS very interesting - as Masterman says "Went to school with him. An unpleasant name for a dirty little boy and an even dirtier old man. Died of the pox, no doubt." We can't really count him as an onscreen death, though - the news of his death comes in a telegram. However, we do see his coffin in the chase to the cemetary.
There is also the Bournemouth Strangler. He dies in the train crash - not exactly onscreen either, but close.
Now, we could get technical and count the collateral deaths that take place too: the miners and Toomba.
Flat, drab passion meanders across the screen!
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