The film begins as relatives and friends come to Lord Warbeck's family castle for
Christmas. Suddenly, during dinner, Robert Warbeck, the only son and heir of the old Lord, dies in front of the guests. Then Lord Warbeck himself dies. And then — one of the ladies guests in the house… Because of snow drifts police can not reach the house; the only police present is the Minister's guard, and not an investigator. Foreigner doctor Bottwink — a historian, invited by Lord Warbeck to work in his old library — is the only one who is able to understand what had happened. However, the investigation is complicated by the fact that almost all those present are connected with each other by strange, unpleasant and sometimes unexpected relationships.
Changes from the novel
Overall, the film closely follows the novel. The introduction is compressed. The excursion undertaken by Sir Julius to a nearby village (Chapter XIV in the novel) has been removed.
Noticeable changes were made to soften the political conflict depicted in the novel.[1][2]
In the novel, Doctor Wenceslaus Bottwink, Ph.D., professor of history, is said to be born in
Hungary, having
Jewish and
Russian blood. Fortunate to escape a
Nazi concentration camp, he found himself on the shores of
Great Britain. In the film, neither the first name nor ethnicity of Doctor Bottwink is revealed, although he is mentioned as a citizen of
Austria, then
Czechoslovakia, then
Germany as the
Second World War progressed.
In the novel, the League of Liberty and Justice, organized by Robert Warbeck, is a
fascist organization. In the film the League is described only as
extremist.
In the novel, Warbeck is clearly
antisemitic. Unable to contain his political leanings even when talking to Lady Camilla, he bursts, "Has your new Jew friend asked you to go back to
Palestine with him yet?" In the film this dialogue has been removed, although the nationalistic character of Robert's organization is established.
In the novel, Sergeant Rogers asks Bottwink whether the Doctor was in
Vienna during
Dolfussrégime, and Bottwink clarifies that he was anti-Dolfuss,
anti-clerical, and anti-Fascist. This dialog is removed from the film.
In the novel, Sir Julius identifies himself as
socialist. When thinking back about the murders that occurred in Warbeck Hall, he comes to a conclusion that it was him who was targeted, and he was spared only by chance. "Who are the real enemies of
communism today? Why, we are — the
democratic socialists of Western Europe!" exclaims Sir Julius, blaming Doctor Bottwink in the murders. This exchange is removed from the film, and Sir Julius is never called a socialist.
Like the novel, the film reveals that Doctor Bottwink is a communist sympathizer, but omits to mention his
anti-Stalinist stance.
In the novel, Sir Julius and Mrs. Carstairs argue about the looting of the
Winter Palace at Beijing and the suppression of the
Boxer revolt by
Eight-Nation Alliance. This argument is removed from the film.