The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Richard Boleslawski

Writers:

Frederick Lonsdale (play)
Leon Gordon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 February 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

There is a big charity function at the house of Mrs. Cheyney and a lot of society is present. With her rich husband...

Plot Keywords:

Butler | Charity | Gang | Confidence Man | London England

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Mrs. Fay Cheyney
William Powell	...	Charles
Robert Montgomery	...	Lord Arthur Dilling
Frank Morgan	...	Lord Francis Kelton
Jessie Ralph	...	The Duchess of Ebley
Nigel Bruce	...	Lord Willie Winton
Colleen Clare	...	Joan
Benita Hume	...	Lady Kitty Winton
Ralph Forbes	...	Cousin John Clayborn
Aileen Pringle	...	Maria
Melville Cooper	...	William 'Bill'
Leonard Carey	...	Ames, the Duchess' butler
Sara Haden	...	Anna
Lumsden Hare	...	Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard
Wallis Clark	...	George

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #3058) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Dorothy Arzner was the third director for this film. George Fitzmaurice took over directing when Richard Boleslawski died suddenly. When Fitzmaurice became ill, Arzner finished directing it.

Goofs:

Continuity: As the ocean liner carrying the cast passes the Statue of Liberty, the name on the bow is "Rotterdam." Later, it's referred to as "the Northampton," and even later, as the "S.S. Britain."

Movie Connections:

Version of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)

Soundtrack:

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

Charming Tour-de-Force for the Stars

Many earlier reviewers have said the Crawford was "mis-cast" as Mrs. Cheyney. I have to disagree. It is not her best performance (for her best acting, see her small but scene-stealing role in The Women and for a Crawford feast, see her Oscar-winning turn in Mildred Pierce), but it is far from her worst. The blame cannot be entirely placed on Crawford either. Nor can it be placed on the director. It must be placed on the production code administrators who sheared Hollywood scripts after 1934, cutting out anything considered "risqué." The original play by Fredric Lonsdale is a surprisingly hilarious and fresh send-up of the class sytem in England. Butler and footmen who are actually thieves in disguise get to act veddy propper and then (when the guests leave) get to drop their phony apparel. Its really quite funny. In the play, when Crawford's would-be suitor catches her at robbery, he forces her to spend a night in the closet with him. This was wonderfully handled in the 1929 Norma Shearer original of this picture. But the production code said that thieves had to always be punished, and sexual actions could not be forced or blackmailed. Thus, this is an extremely bowdlerized version of the play. It is interesting to watch the stars interplay, and I'm a bit surprised that it flopped so largely in 1937. Seeing some of the junk that goes over big nowadays, one would think that with a cast like this and high production values, it would have at least made its mark. See the Norma Shearer version, if you can find it. Unfortunately, its very rare (there is a laser disc version of it on The Dawn of Sound Volume III), but totally worth it. It is risqué and hilarious. Or see Trouble In Paradise, another early pre-Code comedy about jewel thieves, who in that film, don't have to face punishment for their actions.