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The Last of Sheila (1973) More at IMDb Pro »

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A classy puzzle, 8 May 2004
10/10
Author: rickglasgow from Scotland

This is not a movie for those who like their fare to be obvious. Coming from the pens of Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, it is a witty, erudite little puzzle that expects you to pay attention and work with it. It's also a delightfully acerbic look at the Industry and those who work in it.

The cast in the main rises to the challenge Coburn is in fine form as the manipulative Clinton; the late Joan Hackett reminds you, what we lost as an actress in the part of Lee and James Mason, exudes charm as Phillip. Raquel Welch is perhaps at sea a bit in some of the scenes compared to Ian McShane as her husband and the wonderful Dyan Cannon and Richard Benjamin. Herbert Ross directs what is a complex story with a deft touch right up to the denoument - which is brilliant and has a great pay-off line.

The dvd version has a commentary with Cannon, Benjamin and Welch. However, Welch sounds as though she recorded alone and really doesn't offer much insight into the whole project except for comments about her wardrobe and the fact that she didn't understand the plot, but that was ok as she says because her character had little understanding of what was going on either.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
You don't have to move......if you're smart enough, 14 January 2001
9/10
Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

Superb whodunit with all the pieces right there for you to place: James Coburn is wicked as the cunning gamester inviting to his yacht the failed screenwriter (Richard Benjamin), his alcoholic wife (Joan Hackett, in a sympathetic performance), the catty agent (Dyan Cannon, more wired than ever before), the starlet (Raquel Welch, looking a little out-of-it), the starlet's husband (Ian McShane), and a director down-on-his-luck (James Mason, the calm-head who pays attention to the details). The only trouble with the film is that the first-half (involving a hilarious personality game) is SO good and clever that the murder-mystery second-half lets you down a bit. Still, these characters are a wonderfully tainted, self-absorbed lot and Dyan Cannon's breakdown after someone almost offs her is a wild bit of breakneck acting. I also admired Welch's scene at midnight on the top deck, talking about stealing a coat (she's very seductive and charming, though she continues to whisper her dialogue throughout the film and comes off as slightly dazed). The character conflicts and the reasoning behind who-does-what-to-whom doesn't bear a great deal of scrutiny (even after several viewings, I'm still not clear on that business regarding the cabin keys); still, the film is extremely entertaining, a verbally exciting match-of-wits by a group of Hollywood hopefuls and burn-outs. ***1/2 from ****

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Deliciously dark humour blends well with mystery, 7 March 2000
10/10
Author: Holly (aromatic-2) from usa

Great performances, marvelous dialogue and a deliciously dark sense of humour makes this one loads of fun for repeated viewings. The ensemble cast works very well together, and the brain candy never stops. And the payoff is well worth waiting for. Never has a song punctuated the final scene so well.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Best Who Dun It I Ever Saw, 13 July 2003
10/10
Author: John (irishcoffee630@aol.com) from Chicago, Il

I can not speak more highly of this movie as it has to be the best film who-dun-it ever conceived. James Coburn invites a group of Hollywood has been types on his yacht in the south of France to find out who killed his gossip columnist wife Sheila, a year before at a wild party. He sets up murder puzzle games, one every night, to find the culprit and to entertain the guests, but the games get out of control and real murders begin. The clues in this movie are really unique as you the viewer play along to find out the murderer. I have seen this film 3X and am still in awe that I missed so many clues....right before my eyes. Never guessed the killer either and I am a mystery buff and usually can. The cast is great.There are so many funny and bitchy lines in this movie they come from every direction. My favorite line: James Mason (a TV commercial director filming a dog food commercial) talking to his wife on phone "I am sorry dear but I must hang up a cast member is peeing on my leg." And he doesn't mean one of the pooches! Beautifully filmed and an all around A++++ film.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A Rare American Movie That Respects Viewer Thinking Ability, 27 February 2002
Author: (JOHN.BATES@SORRENTO.COM)

And there certainly aren't many - thinking American movies, that is. It must have taken some financial courage to make this one.

I saw this film at a drive-in when it was first released. While gulping mouthfuls of baked chicken, cheese bread and beer, I was dumbfounded to realize this was an honest-to-goodness quality, thinking movie made by my fellow Americans. I felt so proud tears almost started to come.

The film is a real delight with humor, intelligence and a solid murder mystery to figure out - 'if you're smart enough'.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Very entertaining., 13 November 2000
9/10
Author: philiponel

This very fun movie made me so nostalgic for the 70's. Excellent who-dunnit. Dyan Cannon is perfect as the brassy, free-wheeling wild blonde; I don't know why she was not more famous--good actress, excellent comedienne, beautiful. For the first time ever, Richard Benjamin actually acts. James Mason is wonderful. Many very very funny moments. Raquel Welch is terrible--all she can do is be pretty. James Coburn as the captain who plans the crafty game onboard ship is a wonderful diabolical schemer. Too bad Tony Perkins and Steven Sondheim didn't write some more sreenplays. I loved this to death.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Fascinating Murder Mystery, 17 March 2002
10/10
Author: Rob Barlow (rlamybarlow@yahoo.com) from San Gabriel, California

Very 70's film, but a very, very clever murder puzzle mystery. Familiar cast of faces, and lots of clues, games, questions, and red herrings. Like James Coburn says in the movie, you will be able to figure it out if you just stay put.

Fashions by Joel Schumacher too!!

An excellent choice for murder mystery fans.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant Whodunnit, 1 February 2005
10/10
Author: largo1965 from Vancouver, B.C.

James Coburn plays an arrogant film producer who invites six film industry colleagues to his yacht for a Mediterranean cruise. Saying any more than that would give the game away, as this is a brilliant whodunnit filled with great plot twists and lots of clues for the sharp-eyed, thinking viewer. Who would have known that two such inexperience screenwriters could have come up with something so brilliant. The best part about this movie is that compared to so many other whodunnits which often utilize phony plot contrivances in order to cheat the audiences with a solution they couldn't possibly have solved, this one is there for the viewer to figure out if they can - it's even better the second time around when you realise what's going on.

I thoroughly recommend this for all fans of great mystery stories.

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7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
murder mystery doesn't get any better than this!!!!, 20 June 2004
Author: darrenjarjar from bristol england

"the last of sheila" an amazing collaboration of two of entertainments finest .. anthony perkins ("psycho") and stephen sondheim (composer) this witty and very tongue in cheek homage to both the murder mystery genre and the cut throat world of movie making. the films looking a little dated but holds up even now as being one of (if not THE best) who done its ever filmed. a very clever story this one, with many plot twists and red hearings. keeps you guessing the whole time your watching and gives an amazing climax with some very unexpected conclusions (though on later viewings its hard to see how these clues were missed) filmed entirely on location in the south of France (including the studio stuff) and with a stellar cast of characters most notably Joan Hackett (a personal favourite in the acting cannon) this intelligent piece of filmaking will prove a very entertaining experience. the plot is clever, the script is genius, i wouldn't like to give too much of the story away, as you may not of seen this film. basically the story goes as follows: Clinton Green (Hollywood film producer) has invited 6 guests to join him aboard his luxury yacht in the south of France, a year after his wife was killed in a hit and run accident back in Hollywood. the guest include Joan Hackett as "Lee" wife of screenwriter "Tom" Richard Benjamin. English director "Philip" James Mason, actress "Alice" Raquel Welch and husband/manager "Anthony" Ian Mcshane and last but not least Dyan Cannon as Hollywood agent to the stars "Christine". all have been a big part of Clintons life and that of sheila his dead wife. Clinton a master game player has been planning some fun evenings for his 6 guests and its not long before the fun begins but someone is using the game to their own advantage and its not long before a death takes place...... if you've never seen this movie, then i strongly advise you to check it out next time its shown on TV or rent it on DVD or video. the cast is to die for ,plot is fantastic and the locations are a joy to see. Herbert Ross who has directed this amazing movie is also responsible for steel magnolias another movie favourite of mine. He is both stylish and very creative in his approach to directing and i believe "THE LAST OF SHEILA" to be one of his finest achievements.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Letter perfect..., 24 February 2005
10/10
Author: Merwyn Grote (majikstl@aol.com) from St. Louis, Missouri

THE LAST OF SHEILA is a brilliantly clever little thriller that tries and succeeds beautifully in combining the best of both the bitchy Hollywood self-satire and the traditional whodunit. Written by the unexpected pairing of actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim, the two apparently indulged their love of game playing while mining their obvious firsthand knowledge of backstage backstabbing too. The resulting film is cleverly glib in an ALL ABOUT EVE way, yet unfolds in a complex fashion that clearly shows us that the collaboration between Perkins and Sondheim was more than just a merry whim.

On the one hand, the film is an insightful, if cheerfully mean-spirited look at jet-setting Hollywood types for whom the social and the professional are as hopelessly intertwined as the noodles on a plate of spaghetti. SHEILA is about game playing, both as a social diversion and as means of manipulating and controlling other people's professional lives.

Even without the subsequent bloodletting, the film has a wonderful set up for smart, psychological entertainment. A film producer, played with marvelous malice by James Coburn, plans to celebrate the anniversary of his wife's untimely death by inviting a band of B-list Hollywood talent aboard his Mediterranean yacht for a week of parlor games which indulges both his desire to play master puppeteer and his need to find egos to crush. The ingredients of "The Sheila Greene Memorial Gossip Game" are simple: six players with six dirty little secrets to discover and the result is an elaborate port-hopping game of Clue.

Of course, somewhere along the line, someone rewrites the rules, gore results and the survivors are left to play murderous musical chairs in the proverbial drawing room. To say more would be strictly tabu. Suffice it to say that the film is one that warrants repeated viewing, even after -- especially after -- the revelation of who is the killer. For one thing the cast of suspects and/or victims has been nicely selected. There are Alice and Anthony (Raquel Welch and Ian McShane) as "a not untalented young actress" and her hustler husband, Philip (a world-weary James Mason) as a has-been director, Christine (a boisterous Dyan Cannon) as an ambitious agent and Tom and Lee (Richard Benjamin and Joan Hackett) as a hack writer and his socialite wife. But more than a wonderful cast, the film is generously packed with clues and strategic red herrings that demand repeated investigations by the discriminating viewer. Between the crisp and stylish direction of pro Herbert Ross and Sondheim and Perkins mischievous script, virtually every line of dialogue and visual reference is designed to help the viewer play detective. So, in the spirit of the movie -- and taking a clue from the film's title -- I have cleverly (I hope) hidden within this review the identity of the killer.

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