GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

kurt-2000 OK...like any red blooded American male, I could watch, Welch and Cannon all day long doing above average film and TV projects, but this film isn't interesting in the 21st century, even if it was moderately interesting in '73. If you like murder mysteries, then you might find it interesting. But don't most films today require solving a mystery? The comments made by the characters might have seemed intelligent and witty in '73, but I found this film boring. I was interested in seeing it, since Welch was recently bragging about this film being shown at a west coast theater that shows old films and discussion later. That still doesn't make it great, even if some film buffs liked it.Impressive cast, and two of the actors in this film would later co- star in one of my favorite mini-series for television: 'Jesus of Nazareth'.But I can't ethically recommend that someone invest their time watching it.

overthetopandhappybso I saw this film many years ago and have waited so long for it to be repeated, but last night was my lucky night, and I am watching as I type. Wonderful seventies nostalgia and a great little thriller to boot!It would be great if I couldn't remember the twist and the ending, but who wouldn't enjoy watching James Coburn, James Mason and ummm... Ian McShane in the same movie. Mr Coburn definitely carries off white flares with panache, and for the men, there is Raquel Welch looking equally as splendid in her bikini. Apparently Dyan Cannon put on 30lbs to make this film. Two questions, why and where was she hiding the extra poundage?? Not that it matters to the story.This is a good little 'whodunnit', with enjoyable scenery, good actors hamming it up somewhat, and a surprise ending. All the ingredients for 2 hours of enjoyable TV in my opinion, and don't forget the popcorn - with a big pinch of salt of course :)

sol ***SPOILERS*** Obsessed in finding his wife Shelia's, Yvonne Romain, killer big time Hollywood film producer Clinton Green, James Coburn, concocts this game that he plans to invite all those, at the party that he threw a years ago in Bel Air, to play whom he suspects, in a drunken hit-and-run accident, killed his wife Shelia. Shelia was killed walking home when she left the party after a fight with her husband Clinton.Invited on Clinton's yacht the "Shelia" on a cruse in the Mediterranean the six guests are given slips of paper that has something that they did in the past that they would rather forget about. One of those slips identifies the person who ran down Shelia, Hit-and-Run Driver, but it's up to the game that Clinton dreamed up to find out which one of the six that person is! Clinton's game does uncover a shoplifter in the bunch in sexy B-movie actress Alice Green, Raquel Welsh, which has the person who killed Shilia start to get nervous in that the cagey and clever that Clinton eventually will expose her or him by the time the one week cruse is over.***SPOILERS*** It's when the yacht docks at the deserted Catholic Church on the Isle of Saint Pierre that this seemingly harmless parlor game turns deadly for Clinton who up until then thought he was in control of events in the movie. It's then that we in the audience as well as Clinton realize that he totally miscalculated in exposing Sheila's killer by setting himself up to be murdered by someone who had nothing at all to do with her death. But in fact had it in for him for years and used Clinton's birdbrain game of whodunit as cover in order to, with an icepick, ice him!Released over year before the very similar and far more popular "Murder on the Orient Express" the movie "The Last of Shelia" is far more interesting in the many twists and turns in it that not only uncover the hit-and-run killer but activate an entire out of blue murder that really, if you think about it, had nothing to do with Clinton Green's plans. Being the egomaniac that he was Clinton overlooked that unlike his wife Shelia who was accidentally killed by a drunk driver he was targeted right from the start by one of his guests to be murdered whom, unlike the person who killed his wife, was just itching for the chance to do him in! And it was the clueless Clinton Green who gave that person all the rope he needed to do it with!

jzappa The Last of Sheila, a star-packed murder mystery written by Broadway legends, really doesn't start or even progress with much momentum at all, but when the true wheels of the actual murder puzzle start turning, it pulls a lot of palpable tension and sharp dialogue out of nowhere and does the job. It doesn't help that first half that I was tempted to turn it off, but the fact that the intrigue ratcheted up at the precise moment when I was going to is what saved it by a hair's breadth. And I'm glad I stuck it out. It proved itself worthwhile.The movie comes out of a fine heritage of murder puzzles from such as Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith. In fact, it's a little rare to see this material showing up first as a movie. It feels like the sort of story that would start life as a play. Bringing seven people together and then doing the old "one of the people sitting here amongst us is a murderer" schtick is inherently stagy. Nevertheless, it functions well as a movie, perhaps since the screenplay has as much to do with characters as with crime. The movie was written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, and they flaunt an apparent sense of showbiz manners and dialogue. They've also play Name That Tune with us: We can enjoy speculating who the bitchy agent was motivated by, or the director on the skids, or the centerfold, each played respectively by Dyan Cannon, James Mason and Raquel Welch, two out of three of whom kept me watching purely just to watch.I like the concept of a murder mystery set among showbiz types because Hollywood is often thought to be shy about death and shrink from it. Genuine sorrow seems quite rare. The movie opens as a watchful-waiting stratagem concerning Coburn and the killer, which is latently intriguing though it rambles too far away from the point of tension and plays more like a '60s romp than an expository double-blind. Yet it makes a striking hairpin halfway through. And it actually is a game to them; they don't spend time mourning when somebody dies, just clean up the blood and tally one more loser against their competition for a win. And yet it's barely started until just two of these characters spend a great deal of time deliberately hammering out the true significance of the clues, a scene so tight, well-acted, well-written and loaded with sharp wit that it makes the whole package worth it.A better part of the performances are pointed and mercenary, and very good, particularly James Mason with his typical cultured obstinacy. Dyan Cannon as the agent. Joan Hackett is beautiful and tender, and Richard Benjamin treads a fine line between voice of reason and a screenwriter trying to think in formulas. Coburn is always entertaining owing to his sheer presence and it's interesting watching an Ian McShane so much younger than anyone my age is aware he ever was. Welch is quite wooden by comparison, but as I said before