The Last of Sheila

The Last of Sheila
by Herbert Ross

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DVD details

Actor: Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, James Mason, Joan Hackett, Richard Benjamin
Director: Herbert Ross
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-20
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of The Last of Sheila

DVD Review: Great Mystery
Summary: 4 Stars

I loved this movie. It's an oldie but goodie. Very intricately woven story that takes numerous twists and turns as you unravel the mystery.

DVD Review: Review for The Last of Sheila
Summary: 4 Stars

One of the most cleverly crafted mysteries ever filmed. No one could possibly figure out all of who dun what and yet, when revealed, the explanation is perfectly believable! Also a vivid reminder of the way we were in the 1970's.

DVD Review: Clever, witty, mystery puzzle
Summary: 5 Stars

An arrogant, manipulative film producer, Clinton Green, invites a group of six under-employed Hollywood people to spend a week on his yacht in the South of France, hinting broadly he wants them for his next film. Clinton, an avid puzzle enthusiast, has devised an elaborate game which he believes will reveal one of the six to be the hit-and-run driver who killed his gossip-columnist wife, Sheila, one year before.

The ensemble cast does a fine job of playing Hollywood stereotypes convincingly without over playing them. James Mason plays a genteel, urbane director -- currently making dog food commercials, Richard Benjamin plays an intelligent writer doing mostly rewrites, Joan Hackett is the writer's wife (and daughter of a 40s-era producer), Dyan Cannon plays an aggressive agent, Raquel Welch plays an actress with a stalled career (none too bright, but open and honest), Ian McShane is her leachy hanger-on of a husband, and James Coburn is wonderful as the rude, arrogant Clinton.

Clinton has given each of the six a secret to be discovered by the others as they play the week-long game. The secrets are of a personal, embarrassing, perhaps illegal nature such as: shoplifter, alcoholic, or homosexual. Each evening the yacht stops at a different port where elaborate preparations have been made establishing clues for one of the secrets. The object of the game is to discover that day's secret and the identity of the person holding that secret. It isn't long before some of the players begin to suspect their made-up secrets are actually the real secrets of other players, mixed 'n matched by Clinton.

The game (and film) becomes a real-life puzzle when someone is found murdered. Clues from the game become actual clues as layer after layer of complexity is peeled away by the most detail-oriented of the film people: the writer and the director. As in any good mystery, clues to the murder are all shown to the audience clearly, usually more than once.

The film, written by puzzle enthusiasts Anthony Perkins and Steven Sondheim, can be enjoyed either as a simple murder mystery or as a complex puzzle in itself. There are mystery cliches and red herrings to confuse the viewer, along with numerous film references -- both obvious and subtle.

The film has a double twist ending (naturally), with a large dose of poetic justice for the villain. You can watch "The Last of Sheila" over and over, discovering new subtleties in this sly, witty film each time. Recommended.

The DVD has a clean enhanced transfer with good color and sound, though the contrast is a little flat.

DVD Review: Unforgettable - and very believable...
Summary: 5 Stars

even after 30 years this movie stands out in my memory as exceptional. By the end of it you will find yourself wondering, as I did: "Could it by any chance be TRUE?" Maybe...

DVD Review: A Near-Perfect Movie... A Flawed Commentary Track
Summary: 5 Stars

There are certain films that age like cinematic fine wine, slowly revealing themselves as consummate movie-movies. 1973's "The Last of Sheila" is one such.

Partly, this is because of the cast--and what a great ensemble cast is this: James Coburn employs his wickedly toothy grin to great effect as a vengeful Hollywood producer with a penchant for cruel games; James Mason, a real-life classy veteran of Golden Age Hollywood, brings a regal poignancy to the role of a world-weary, down-on-his-luck director with a devastating secret; Dyan Cannon, then last seen in the thankless "mistress" role in the Burt Reynolds actioner "Shamus", is a bawdy revelation in her (reportedly spot-on) impersonation of then Hollywood super-agent Sue Mengers; Richard Benjamin, at the time cast primarily in comic roles, brings subtlety and nuance to his portrayal of an affable, if frustrated, screenwriter who may not be what he seems, with the luminous Joan Hackett heartbreaking as his loving, tormented wife; and finally British actor Ian McShane (now best known for HBO's gritty "Deadwood") as the creepy, desperate manager-hubby of beauteous movie-star Raquel Welch, who does a respectable job playing... a beauteous movie-star. They mesh well, playing off and against each other with mostly spectacular skill, and you settle back on your sofa, watch these actors closely, and lament that Hollywood can't or won't make them like this (or 1970's "M*A*S*H", or 1974's "Murder on the Orient Express" or...) anymore.

The "Sheila" of the title is the tempestuous wife of Clinton Green (Coburn) who, in the sequence that kicks off the movie, storms out of her palatial Bel Air home following a noisy fight with her husband and is mowed down by a hit and run driver.

The rest of the film is an elegant, suspenseful and maliciously witty cat and mouse game orchestrated with sadistic relish by Green on his sleek, luxe, yacht and in glamorous Mediterranean ports of call, as he methodically attempts to flush out his wife's killer from among his six guests, all (or nearly all) of whom were at the party on the night Sheila was killed, all of whom have secret pasts they'd prefer stay secret and in the past.

Of course things don't quite go according to plan and therein hangs the tale; discerning audiences--and you do have to pay attention or you'll miss some significant bit of business--with a taste for mystery (and deliciously bitchy Hollywood references and in-jokes) will enjoy every moment of this movie, which was beautifully photographed, directed with verve by Herbert Ross (Play It Again, Sam; The Seven-Percent-Solution; The Sunshine Boys), and written by Anthony Perkins (yes, that Anthony Perkins) and Stephen Sondheim (yes, that Stephen Sondheim) who shared a love of elaborate, brain-teasing puzzles and games.

Included in the DVD release is the by now de rigueur original theatrical trailer, and a 2003 commentary track by Benjamin, Cannon and Welch that is by turns marvelous fun and weirdly distracting: apparently Welch taped her commentary alone and it was later spliced into the commentary done by Benjamin and Cannon, who obviously had fond memories of their cast mates and one another, and have such a blast talking about the making of the film that their enjoyment is downright infectious--Benjamin's dryly funny remarks and Cannon's wild belly-laughter (one of the distinctive joys of her performer persona) will make you smile and sometimes laugh out loud.

But the awkward insertion of Welch's solo remembrances leaves her at rather a disadvantage as she seems to "respond" to the comments of her fellow cast members by talking frequently about her image, career issues and wardrobe; this leaves the listener with the misleading and perhaps unfair impression that Raquel Welch's interest in "The Last of Sheila" does not much extend beyond herself, or that Dyan Cannon and Richard Benjamin disliked her and are ignoring her as they recollect, or both. I was initially disconcerted by the way they often seemed to be talking past one another; only later did I learn that all three were never in the same room together, which explains why at the end of the taping Richard affectionately thanks Dyan, and Dyan affectionately thanks Richard--and neither says a thing to Raquel!

Not everyone likes commentary tracks; for the most part I consider them a highlight of the DVD experience. The taped memories of key cast and crew can be illuminating and entertaining and this one should have been done with more care. How come Welch, Benjamin and Cannon couldn't do this commentary together? At the very least, couldn't Ian McShane have joined Raquel so that she didn't come off sounding so self-absorbed?

Description of The Last of Sheila

Thriller about a jet-setting game master who devises a deadly game of whodunit.

The Last of Sheila is one of the great underrated films of the '70s: a bitchy Hollywood whodunit and a clever parlor game (cowritten by Anthony Perkins and Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim). Several celebrity chums are invited aboard prankster James Coburn's yacht for a cruel game of "guess the deep, dark secret." Everyone has one; but naturally some are more wicked than others. Richard Benjamin, James Mason, Dyan Cannon, Joan Hackett, Raquel Welch, and Ian McShane are the odd cast of participants. However, the stakes are unexpectedly raised when murder gets added to the not-so-fun agenda. Plenty of inside jokes and red herrings in this nasty and unforgettable film. It's just what you'd expect from the twisted minds of Perkins and Sondheim. --Bill Desowitz

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