the last of sheila: a stylish whodunnit

Fans of games, puzzles and mysteries will enjoy the 1973 film The Last of Sheila. Written by the dynamic duo of composer Stephen Sondheim and actor Anthony Perkins, the film features an all celebrity cast trying to conceal their most scandalous secrets from one another as they play a high-stakes murder mystery game.

Pre cruise, L-R: Philip (James Mason), Alice (Raquel Welch), Lee (Joan Hackett), Anthony (Ian McShane), Christine (Dyan Cannon) and Tom (Richard Benjamin)

Movie producer Clinton (James Coburn) is well-known for his love of parlor games and his wicked sense of humor. A year after the hit-and-run death of his gossip columnist wife Sheila he invites a selection of friends to join him on his yacht in the South of France to cruise and play games. At least, that's what he tells them. Most of the attendees also happened to be present at a house party on the night of Sheila's death: actress Alice (Raquel Welch) and her manager/husband Anthony (Ian McShane), Director Philip (James Mason), talent agent Christine (Dyan Cannon) and writer Tom (Richard Benjamin) and his heiress wife Lee (Joan Hackett). When they all arrive dockside they are eager to check out the luxuriously appointed yacht and its well-supplied liquor cabinet.

Their enjoyment is short-lived, however. Almost immediately the first game has begun and it's a doozy - a game of secrets. Clinton gives each of his guests a typed index card with a secret ("You are a Shoplifter," "You are a Homosexual," etc). Each night they will embark on a scavenger hunt in some gorgeous port of call to hunt for clues to their assigned secret's identity. The object of the game is to find out what everyone else's secret is, while keeping your own peccadillo hidden. It doesn't take long for the players to figure out that these secrets aren't just made up by Clinton for a random parlor game - they are real. And one of the group will do anything to protect their particular secret, even murder.

Clinton (James Coburn) loves to play games

It is no surprise that the dialogue by Sondheim and Perkins is witty and fun. In the 1960s the pair used to stage their own elaborate scavenger hunts with friends, one of whom was Herbert Ross (The Goodbye Girl, Play it Again, Sam), who directs the film. The French Riviera locations are gorgeous, as are the cast, who look especially great in the cruisewear costumes designed by Joel Schumacher (yes, that Joel Schumacher). As lovely as Raquel Welch always is, it is Dyan Cannon who really steals every scene she is in. She is vibrant and radiant, playing a brassy but lovably irrepressible casting agent. Viewers of The Last of Sheila will not only enjoy the mystery at its core, but the subtle skewering of Hollywood and its denizens that permeates every scene.

Christine (Dyan Cannon)plotting her next move in the game

The Last of Shelia is the granddaddy of classic mystery films like Clue, Deathtrap and most recently, Knives Out. Sondheim and Perkins had planned to do some other mystery films together, but unfortunately none of those projects were ever completed. That's Hollywood.

Specs:

The Last of Shelia is now part of the Warner Brothers archive collection, made from a 4K scan of the original camera negative. The picture is terrific. Sharp and colorful details in foreground and background shots. 

1080p High Definition master from 4K scan of the original camera negative. 

Color. 16x9. Aspect ratio 1.85:1 (original aspect ratio 1.85:1). 

Widescreen.

Sound: 

DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, English. Subtitles, English SDH.

119 minutes. Rated PG.

Extras:

Original trailer

Audio commentary with Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, and Raquel Welch. The audio commentary is actually fun to listen to, with primarily Cannon and Benjamin together reminiscing about their filming experiences as they watch the film. Raquel Welch provides her personal memories as well, but is clearly spliced in from a separate location.

Originally published on Cinema Sentries 

favorite movie #12: the last of sheila

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #12 - The Last of Sheila (1973) - A murder game/scavenger hunt set on a yacht vacation in the Mediterranean. What could go wrong? With James Coburn, Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Raquel Welch, Ian McShane, and Joan Hackett as the players. Written by Anthony Perkins and Truman Capote.

forget you

Article first published as Forget You on Blogcritics.

A recent article by New York Times music critic Jon Pareles, "From Cee Lo Green to Pink, Speaking the Unspeakable", had me shocked at how out of touch he must be. It was all about the F word and his apparent dismay at how prevalent it is in recent music. I know the Times insists in staying firmly entrenched in its mid-19th century stylistic roots by calling people "Mr." And "Ms." in its articles — most of the time — Cee Lo was addressed as "Mr. Green" in the article, but Pink was just "Pink." Hmmm. Anyway, the fact that in 2011 a music critic is put off by a bunch of hit songs with "fuck" in the title just tells me he needs to get out of his office and take a walk around the block. Not a walk on the wild side, Mr. Pareles, but just a stroll through the world we live in. I guarantee he would hear quite a few "fucks", a couple of "shits" and a few other choice words from George Carlin's top seven just on the way to the local deli.

Folks may lament how our spoken language has declined. I have been known to do so myself at times. I wasn't thrilled the other day when a couple of young dudes were cursing loudly in the vicinity of my kid. But she's heard the words before, even from me. (I was driving, the jerk cut me off.) I could try and blame my occasionally colorful speech to my dad, who used to curse when he got angry, or an ex-boyfriend, who taught me some colorful phrases, or my years living in metropolitan areas, where spicing up the speech can help a girl cope with fear and danger in a tough town. Obscenity-peppered speech could be a result of all of those things. Or it could just be another evolution of the English language, which never stops growing and changing.

"Fuck" is no longer the ultimate curse word. It has become a versatile noun, verb, and adverb. "Fuck" is no longer the "f-bomb," as Pareles quaintly refers to it. It's just a word. Pareles suggests that rap music and The Sopranos may have contributed to this social decline. He holds pop music up as the last bastion of musical lyrical propriety. I'm not so sure about that, and he even admits that musicians have been sneaking in curse words forever (Prince, The Who).

Cee Lo is not using "fuck" in the lyrics as a gimmick. Has Pareles even seen the video for the song? Cee Lo has a wicked sense of humor. People aren't downloading his song or turning it up on the radio because of that word. Maybe in spite of it. It's hardly the first time Cee Lo has used the word in one of his songs and it's naive of Pareles to suggest so. Cee Lo's "Fuck You" is so good that it is just as enjoyable in its radio "Forget You" version. Yes, the savvy listener has probably downloaded the original and is singing along with those lyrics. But maybe not. It's a fucking good song, whatever version, one of the best out there. Cee Lo is just singing in the vernacular.

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