Movie Reviews

‘The Last Of Sheila’ Blu-Ray Review – Darkly Comedic Mystery Provides Satisfying Twists And Turns

By Dillon Gonzales
November 30, 2021
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The recent passing of creative genius Stephen Sondheim (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street) left a great void in the entertainment community. While primarily known as one of the greatest composers and lyricists to ever shape the American musical theater scene, there is an additional credit of which many casual fans may not be aware. In 1973, Sondheim co-wrote the mystery film The Last Of Sheila with actor Anthony Perkins (Psycho) which would serve as his sole feature film credit. While a bit of a detour to be sure, the film is one that was inspired by real life elaborate scavenger hunts that the two engaged in with some of their show business friends. The pair used some of these friends as inspiration for a twisted story that would gain a significant cult following over the years, even serving as inspiration for Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. The new release of the film is bittersweet with the loss of Sondheim, but now is the perfect time to get yet another representation of his classic wit.

The film begins with the mysterious hit-and-run death of gossip columnist Sheila Greene (a cameo performance by Yvonne Romain) outside of a Hollywood party hosted by her husband, movie producer Clinton Greene (James Coburn, Major Dundee). While not strictly a Hollywood insider story, the heightened personalities that accompany these characters give a good sampling of some of the toxic personalities that exist within human nature. A year later and the crime has yet to be solved. Around this time Clinton invites a selection of friends to spend a week on a cruise of the Mediterranean on his yacht. Maybe not so conveniently, almost all of his guests were present at the party where his wife was killed. We have screenwriter Tom Parkman (Richard Benjamin, Diary Of A Mad Housewife) and his wife, Lee (Joan Hackett, Support Your Local Sheriff!), actress Alice Wood (Raquel Welch, Legally Blonde), her talent-manager husband Anthony (Ian McShane, Deadwood), secretary turned talent agent Christine (Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait), and film director Philip Dexter (James Mason, A Star Is Born).

The guise of this party is a week of fun and relaxation. Clinton is known to be something of an eccentric, so it is mostly accepted when he proposes “The Sheila Greene Memorial Gossip Game,” an extended parlor game in which the six guests are assigned a fabricated piece of gossip which you must hide from everyone else as you try to uncover what the other players are hiding. That game involves nightly scavenger hunts, and certain players soon begin to suspect that there is more to the game than Clinton is revealing – the gossip items may not be so fabricated and the perpetrator of the hit-and-run might be amongst them. The gossip items range from the minor (“You are a Shoplifter”) to the extreme (“You are the Hit-And-Run Killer”) to even the quaintly dated (“You are a Homosexual”). As games turn to something more sinister, the guests soon begin to unravel the secrets and expose the unseemly qualities they hold deep inside.

The screenplay from Sondheim and Perkins provides a darkly comedic canvas on which these talented performers get to indulge in their nastiest tendencies. Every single character has moments where they get to command the screen with some dramatic development. The greatest joy of this narrative is the nimble interplay between these characters, carefully guarding certain truths about themselves while attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible. Dyan Cannon is especially fun as the larger-than-life Christine who is the most forthright about her callous nature. The ending of the film is deliciously cynical as the cards are laid on the table and the characters must decide how to proceed with the knowledge they now possess. There is a curious lack of uproar when the owner of the “You are a Little Child Molester” card has to fess up, but other than this almost everything about the conclusion is satisfying. You can tell that these two screenwriters have brought their flair for the dramatic over to this winding tale of mystery and intrigue. It is a blast!

Video Quality

The Last Of Sheila debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p transfer sourced from a new 4K scan of the Original Camera Negative that is impeccable. The transfer maintains a lovely amount of natural film grain, which lends itself to detailed backgrounds and clothing. The image throughout the disc is free from dirt or print damage, as well as pesky digital anomalies such as compression artifacting or banding. Skin tones look natural throughout this transfer. The content that takes place at night is accompanied by deep black levels free of any crush. The transfer represents some of the beautiful locations in a way that is quite stunning. Warner Archive did not cut any corners with this transfer as it ranks as a top notch effort. I have not seen the ancient DVD, but I can only imagine that this new transfer completely blows that disc out of the water.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray release comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that sounds perfect for the story. The delivery of the occasionally overlapping dialogue always comes through crystal clear even when characters mumble. None of the sound effects or the memorable score from Billy Goldenberg ever overpowers the dialogue on this release. There are not a great number of sequences that are kinetic here, but there are environmental details that are appropriately lively in the speakers. There does not appear to be any damage or age related wear to the track. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles available on the disc for those who need it. Overall, this is an excellent audio presentation that suits the material really well.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Actors Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, and Raquel Welch provide a fun and informative commentary track in which they reflect upon their time shooting the film, memories of shooting with their co-stars, issues that arose during production, the costumes by Joel Schumacher, the burden that Welch faced with the “sex symbol” image and much more that makes for a worthy listen.

Theatrical Trailer: The three-minute trailer is provided for the film.

Final Thoughts

The Last Of Sheila is a darkly comedic mystery which gets more captivating the further you get into it. The screenplay from Sondheim and Perkins reveals a lot of the selfishness and baser nature of human beings while making you laugh at that same nature. The entire ensemble perfectly inhabits their characters in a way that makes for a very fun time. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a virtually flawless A/V presentation and a couple of special features. If you like a fun mystery, do yourself a favor and check this one out. Recommended

The Last Of Sheila can be purchased directly through the Warner Archive Amazon Store or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.