Last Of Sheila (DVD)
APPROX. 119 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1973 - MPA RATING: PG
" The Last of Sheila is a crackerjack brainteaser, even if you forget it two minutes after you see it.
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They say they don't make 'em like they used to. "The Last of Sheila," from 1973, had a big budget, a big-name cast, and location shooting in and around the south of France. But it did poorly at the box office, and producers have been wary of such productions ever since.
This should not put you off the movie, though. It's a topflight mystery that probably deserves more credit than it's gotten over the years. If you're the kind of person who likes Agatha Christie novels, this little Christie-like enterprise may be just the thing you're looking for. But like any good mystery, it requires some attention. Miss a word, and you miss half the story. The value of DVD or tape for these things is being able to put things in pause while you leave the room for a moment.
Interestingly, the movie was written by songwriter Stephen Sondheim (who also wrote "Sweeny Todd") and actor Anthony Perkins (who wrote only this single screenplay). The movie was directed by veteran filmmaker Herbert Ross ("The Sunshine Boys," "The Seven Per Cent Solution," "The Goodbye Girl," "California Suite," "Pennies from Heaven," "Steel Magnolias"). Right away, you know you're not dealing with the ordinary here.
"The Last of Sheila" is one, big, two-hour puzzle. We know it's supposed to be a puzzle from the very outset when not moments into the film we see one of the main characters surrounded by games and puzzles. He loves them, and he creates one for the rest of the movie's characters to solve, a puzzle that turns out to have deadly consequences.
Obviously, I can't say too much about the film's plot, but I will give you an idea of the setup. The wife (Sheila) of a big-time movie producer is killed by a hit-and-run driver one evening after a party at her house. The culprit is never found. One year later, the widower, Clinton Green (James Coburn), invites the principal guests at the aforementioned party to spend a week on his yacht in the Mediterranean. The yacht's name is "Sheila." Once aboard, Green introduces his guests to a bizarre and intricate game, or puzzle, he's concocted. He calls it "The Sheila Green Memorial Guessing Game."
He gives each of his six guests a card, which they are to keep to themselves, with a secret written on each one: "You are a shoplifter," "You are an informer," "You are an ex-convict," etc. Then the guests are to stop at a different port each night, where they will look for clues in town that Green has planted in order to determine the identity of each secret.
It's obviously just an elaborate game, the guests think. But why does Green go to so much trouble with it, we ask. Before long, the game turns deadly with first an attempted murder and then a serious death. "Is this game only a game?" asks one of the guests. Whodunnit?
The fun of the movie is for the audience to try to piece together the clues along with the characters in the movie. And everything in the movie is a clue, including the title. It requires a bit of concentration on the viewer's part, but it's a worthwhile undertaking. The action may sometimes be slow, but the dialogue is witty, and puzzle fans will enjoy it.
Another part of the fun in 1973 when it was made was trying to guess what real-life people each of the movie's characters were based on. It's all very Hollywood inside stuff, written by Sondheim and Perkins as a gigantic in-joke. Today, however, most younger viewers probably wouldn't know who the real-life people were even if they were told, so much of the amusement of the game is lost.
The guests include, first, Tom (Richard Benjamin), a young screenwriter who is struggling to get a script sold so he can stop doing mere rewrites of other people's work. His current project is a story about Sheila's death. Next, there is Tom's wife, Lee (Joan Hackett), the daughter of wealthy parents with her very own trust fund. Third, there is Alice (Raquel Welch), a glamorous movie star now facing something of a down turn in her career. Fourth, there is Alice's husband, Anthony (Ian McShane), a fellow evidently living off his wife's money. Fifth, there is Christine (Dyan Cannon), a theatrical agent always on the lookout for a good client. And, sixth, there is Philip (James Mason), a second-rate movie director reduced to filming TV commercials. None of them likes Clinton Green, but they are all more than willing to accept his invitation for a week's luxury vacation. It's a bit like the old board game, "Clue," where everyone is a suspect.
