What a great, classy find from 1973.
Actor Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates in Psycho) and composer Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd, Gypsy) teamed up to write their ONLY screenplay for murder mystery THE LAST OF SHIELA.
Millionaire Clinton Green (James Coburn) gathers a group of friends on his yacht one year after his wife is killed by a hit and run driver during a party at his home. Each of them attended the party that night and Coburn crafts a clever game to expose hidden secrets about each one of the friends.
A great cast knocks it out of the park as the friends: Richard Benjamin as Tom the frustrated writer who is successful crafting lowbrow films, Joan Hackett as his wife Lee, James Mason is brilliant as film director Philip, Ian McShane as playboy Anthony, Dyan Cannon in her seventies funny glory as agent Christine and beautiful (if dull) Raquel Welch as movie actress Alice.
The writing is clever, the game is intriguing and if you figure out whodunit before the end, you are smarter than me!
Classy, fun and intelligent, it makes me wish Perkins and Sondheim would have teamed up again as writers. It's our loss they didn't.
Check it out! There's no mystery why this gets an A from this corner.
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