1973 - THE LAST OF SHEILA, puzzle film/murder mystery

 No lover of mysteries am I the most annoying thing about them is you really have to pay attention.  At what time did Colonel Mustard go into the library?  The least suspicious person in the room is always the guilty party.  Important information is always held back from the reader until the very end of the story etc.

With that in mind The Last of Sheila is an entertaining story.  The Last of Sheila has an all star 1970's cast and was filmed in the south of France which is not the worst way to spend time on a film location.   James Coburn is a movie producer who's wife is killed in a hit and run during one of those wild Hollywood parties they supposedly are always having.  There are 6 suspects, a talent agent played by Dyan Cannon, an actress played by Raquel Welch and her husband played by Ian McShane and a screenwriter and his wife played by Richard Benjamin and Joan Hackett and James Mason a washed up film director.

 

Coburn's character is a puzzle playing freak who has invited them to his yacht for a cruise where he has arranged a series of real life puzzles during the cruise which will ultimately reveal the killer of his wife.  As is to be expected things don't really go the way he planned, such is life in the movies.

The film was directed by Herbert Ross who usually filmed Neil Simon comedies.  But the real auteurs behind this film are the witty screenwriters, Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins.  They clearly must have enjoyed themselves developing the elaborate clues that they scattered throughout the film.  While The Last of Sheila is a murder mystery one of the bigger mysteries about the film are who these characters are actually based on.  Fans of this film have been speculating about that puzzle for some time.  After watching the film I would have to admit this is a very clever and entertaining film.

The film was written by award winning Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim along with mister "Norman Bates" himself, Anthony Perkins\.  The running time is 120 minutes.