History Film / TheLastOfSheila

''The Last of Sheila'' was written by the oddball duo of Creator/AnthonyPerkins, best known as playing Norman Bates in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', and Music/StephenSondheim, world-famous as the creator of Broadway musicals like ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''. It is [[OneBookAuthor the only screenwriting credit]] either Perkins or Sondheim ever received.

* DecoyProtagonist: And how. [[spoiler: The entire first act of the movie sets up the film as Clinton's efforts to flush out the person who killed Sheila. We see the flashback to her death, he specifically invites (save for Lee, though she was invited, she just never showed up) people who were at the party he threw the night of Sheila's death, and every line he speaks is often dripping with innuendo. He's even played by Creator/JamesCoburn, who aside from Creator/JamesMason is arguably the biggest name in the film's cast. Clinton just screams that he's the film's protagonist. Then he gets killed at the halfway point of the movie, leaving the rest of the cast to sort out who killed him, and also seemingly determine who killed Sheila. This is even a further decoy when we find out that Clinton's purpose was to just be a jerk to his friends and he wasn't trying to flush out Sheila's killer at all. In fact, his death was more or less collateral damage so the killer could get rid of his wife.]]

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Starts out as a comedy about a complex ScavengerHunt-type game, then turns into a murder mystery, then turns into a mystery to unravel the seeming solution arrived at in the film's second act.

* NecroCam: Phillip explains the extremely complicated murder solution to Tom. The killer may have dropped the cigarette they found burned in the priest's box so Clinton would lean forward and they could stab him in the back of the neck with the ice pick, and see that transpire on screen.
* NeverOneMurder: [[spoiler: Tom murders Clinton, then murders Lee because it's convenient and he can get away with it.]]

* NiceToTheWaiter: Christine is very nice to Guido, the yacht's cabin boy. Granted, she's trying to get into his pants, but she's nice about it. [[spoiler: Eventually, she's even successful.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: One of the gags was how all the characters are modeled after real people. Philip Dexter, the once-great director now reduced to appearing in commercials, is Creator/OrsonWelles. Christine is actually RealLife agent Sue Mengers, who passed on playing an {{Expy}} of herself and gave the role to her client, Dyan Cannon. Tom Parkman is actually Creator/AnthonyPerkins himself, a closeted gay man married to a woman, whose career had stalled (Perkins's career had stalled due to {{typecasting}} after ''Film/{{Psycho}}''). Alice and Anthony Wood are actually based on Creator/RaquelWelch and her then-husband, producer Patrick Curtis. (Sondheim got Welch to play the part by lying and telling her that Alice and Anthony were based on Ann-Margaret and her husband.)

--->'''Clinton''': Tell us about the rewrite you did on "Fistful of Lasagna," or whatever the hell it was. You never talk about your work. Why is that?

--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: I've had the beginnings of an idea, too, for a scenario. It's about a middle-class writer who is married to a beautiful and wealthy young woman....After a few years, she begins to bore him. Not her money, she herself. And then, while rewriting a picture in Rome, he renews his acquaintance with a cheap, but...Not untalented young actress.]]

--->'''Tom''': [[spoiler: It's a mistake.]]
--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: Not Clinton's. I remember something else about the first day. You started to crumple your card. This one is smooth. That was dumb, Tom.]]

--->'''Lee''': [[spoiler: Darling. You're so smart. You didn't think it could be me. He kept whispering. He kept taunting me over and over again. Darling, he was so mean...]]

--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: Oh, well, actually, I'm keen on having the first draft done by a complete outsider. Someone who will bring a naivety to our little inbred circle. Of course, Tom will be needed as technical advisor. And just before shooting, for a few...]]
--->'''Tom''': [[spoiler: Rewrites.]]
--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: Rewrites. Exactly.]]

* GentlemanSnarker: Philip. He gets a golden moment after [[spoiler: they find that Clinton has apparently been killed by a falling piece of stonework at the monastary.]]
--->'''Philip''': Apparently, there is a God.

--->'''Tom''': [[spoiler: I don't have any gloves.]]
--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler:...Oh.]]

--->'''Clinton''': Come on, come on, squeeze in close or you'll be out of the picture...And I don't mean this one. Perfect! A study of six hungry failures. Just kidding, gang.

--->'''Tom''': [[spoiler: You know too much to live.]]

--->'''Tom''': [[spoiler: That gives us plenty of time, because the entire crew is happily celebrating the death of their master in the port.]]
--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: Aren't we lucky.]]

--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: Uh, now that the truths are known, we've begun to see this as a big, big project. There are gigantic themes here, worthy of Dostoyevsky. There's innocence, guilt, hatred...Loyalty. Lee's ambitions for Tom were such that we, as survivors, feel bound to tell Sheila's story in all its pitiless purity, sparing nothing.]]

--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: This photograph, showing the six of us, carefully posed under each of the initial letters of our assigned secrets. Something in plain view the whole week. Something he could lord over us Sunday morning. Shoplifter, Homosexual, Ex-Convict, Informer, Little Child Molester...Hit-and-run Killer? The last of "Sheila" should be an "A." "Hit-and-run" doesn't begin with an "A," does it, Tom.]]

--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: If you're thinking of setting up for another fake suicide sequence, I must warn you of the dangers of improvisation. This last exploit had far too many loose ends, even though you had four days to prepare it. You'd even planned for the obligatory confession scene the morning after the murder. You knew that she would need some fortification when you started turning the screws. You felt you were safe because no one else on-board drank bourbon. Which, incidentally, you don't pour out of a porthole and then toss the bottle overboard. You pour it down a drain. Unless there's something else you're anxious to get rid of like..SECONAL?]]

* NecroCam: Used when [[spoiler: Philip explains the extremely complicated murder solution to Tom.]]

* BlatantLies: [[spoiler: Tom's entire second act "deduction" is a complete fabrication to cover up that he himself murdered Clinton, framed Lee for it, and then later killed her and staged it as a suicide.]]

* Hollywood super-agent Christine (Dyan Cannon).

* SpottingTheThread: Phillip is not satisfied with the tidy solution. He ponders the card that says [[spoiler:"Little Child Molester", with the odd redundancy of "little". He realizes that the card secrets -- "shoplifter", "homosexual", "ex-convict", "informer", "little child molester", and "hit-and-run killer" -- are actually an acrostic that is supposed to spell out "SHEILA". The only problem is that they spell out "SHEILH" because there's no card that starts with A. Phillip realizes that "hit-and-run killer" doesn't fit... and that was Tom's card. Then he remembers Tom crumpled up his card, but the "hit-and-run killer" card is uncrumpled, and deduces the original card was "alcoholic," which is a secret that would fit Lee AND would make up the A in "Sheila"]]. He unravels the whole mystery from there.

* CrusadingWidower: [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}}! In the end, Clinton's game was related to Sheila's fate only in the most tangential way -- one which leaves the viewer in doubt about whether he even really cared about her death at all.]]

* {{Bathos}}: In the climax, Philip gives Tom a rundown on how Philip worked out [[spoiler:that Tom was the mastermind behind Clinton and Lee's deaths. The tension mounts as he tries to discreetly either summon help (unsuccessfully) or find a way out of the main saloon (also unsuccessfully). Tom then approaches Philip with deathly intent in his eyes, whips out his hands from behind his back... which are wearing the {{hand puppet}}s that Anthony was wearing earlier. Tom apologetically mutters that he 'didn't bring gloves', and then proceeds to strange Philip]].

** [[spoiler: Tom asking Lee if she remembers Alice being arrested for taking something from a shop. I.E., referencing the shoplifter secret card. It's because Tom wants to tip Lee off that the secret cards are all one of their own secrets, simply shuffled among themselves, and get her to panic and look at the false car he made up that says "YOU Are a Hit-And-Run Killer."]]

* HandPuppet: Anthony the weirdo brings his hand puppets on the trip. [[ChekhovsGun Later]], [[spoiler:Tom tries to use them to strangle Phillip]], muttering "I don't have any gloves."

** Also, Philip. [[spoiler: He does make an attempt on Clinton's life to keep the secrets from being revealed, but he demonstrates he's very close to the group outsider, Lee, and seems quite heartbroken at her death. He manages to out Tom as her killer, and punishes Tom in a way that is a personal Hell to Tom, while having the secondary outcome of allowing him to enrich himself.]]

* ThePerryMasonMethod: [[spoiler: Philip's breaking down of Tom's murderous shenanigans. Tom is quite forthcoming with answers to all of Philip's questions, in part because he also plans to murder Philip for knowing too much. He even lampshades Philip's summation by asking Philip if Philip believes he'll get away with all of it.]]

* TheReveal: Several! [[spoiler:Tom]] killed [[spoiler:both Clinton and Lee]]. Clinton's game wasn't about [[spoiler:his wife's death at all, it was just him screwing with his guests because he's a {{Jerkass}}. Lee's secret wasn't "Hit-and-run killer", even though she ''actually was'' the hit-and-run driver who killed Sheila, it was "Alcoholic". Tom changed the cards when he whipped up a spur-of-the-moment plan to kill Clinton and Lee, thus allowing him to make the script he sold to Clinton, with Lee's money]].

* ShoutOut: Clinton (Creator/JamesCoburn) mockingly refers to Tom's latest film as "A Fistful of Lasagne". This is obviously a jab at the SpaghettiWestern genre, namely, such films by Creator/SergioLeone as the pioneer ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' and ''Film/AFistfulOfDynamite''. The latter one, shot two years before ''The Last of Sheila'', featured Coburn himself in a leading role.

* VoiceChangeling: Tom's really good at imitating people. That's important.
* WhamLine: The one that begins unraveling the entire plot. [[spoiler: "Hit and run killer? The last of Sheila should be an A. Hit and run doesn't begin with an A, does it, Tom."]]

'''Alice''': Oh, to make up for the 25 minutes you spent on your back last night?

--->'''Philip''': [[spoiler: If you're thinking of setting up for another fake suicide sequence, I must warn you of the dangers of improvisation. This last exploit had far too many loose ends, even though you had four days to prepare it. You'd even planned for the obligatory confession scene the morning after the murder. You knew that she would need some fortification when you started turning the screws. You felt you were safe because no one else on-boar drank bourbon. Which, incidentally, you don't pour out of a porthole and then toss the bottle overboard. You pour it down a drain. Unless there's something else you're anxious to get rid of like..SECONAL?]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Clinton and Philip, to a tee.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Clinton's death at the film's halfway point. Not only does it happen off-screen, (And we only see the truth later, in flashbacks) the death is even set up as accidental from a falling stone until it's determined that he was actually murdered. Since the role is played by Creator/JamesCoburn, it's initially an anti-climactic stunner until we see the truth.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: While Philip is a bit of a JerkAss who attempted to kill Clinton over the secrets Clinton was revealing, he has a close relationship with Lee, figures out her husband's involvement in Lee's death, forces Tom to give up all of Lee's money to finance Clinton's "Last of Sheila" film, and guarantees himself a comeback as a prominent director, while giving Tom the CruelMercy of avoiding a life in prison but remaining a penniless has-been who is locked into doing rewrites likely for the rest of his career.]]

** [[spoiler: Anthony getting fed up with the guy at the airport trying to pawn off the bottle of liquor to Alice as they're trying to leave and knocking the guy down and breaking the bottle. (Ex-convict. Convicted of assault)]]

* InspectorLestrade: [[spoiler: Philip occasionally assumes this role during Tom's summation of Clinton's murder. Tom returns the favor as Philip starts to work out the REAL truth behind Clinton and Lee's deaths.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Clinton, who delights in embarrassing and humiliating his guests as he dangles the prospect of work in front of them. [[spoiler:Honestly, it's a little surprising that no one murdered him sooner, given that this is noted to be typical of his behavior.]]

** Also, Philip. [[spoiler: He does make an attempt on Clinton's life to keep the secrets from being revealed, but he demonstrates he's very close to the group outsider, Lee, and seems quite heartbroken at her death. He manages to out Tom as her killer, and punishes Tom in a way that also allows him to enrich himself.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: [[spoiler: Tom. Not only does he know Lee killed Sheila, he doesn't report it to the police, and ends up using it as a wedge to drive his wife to the breaking point by convincing her the entire purpose of the game Clinton invited them to is to flush her out as Sheila's killer. Not only does Tom murder Clinton, He allows Lee, who hit his corpse with a big floor candlestick, to believe that SHE was the one that killed Clinton. After she successfully makes his death look accidental by hitting the corpse's head with a falling stone from the monestary they're in, Tom muddies her efforts by swapping the stone with one from the bottom of the wall to make it look exactly like what Lee was trying to avoid. A cover up of a murder, because the stone was located too close to the ground to have fallen on Clinton's head. Tom then plays amateur detective when the group assembles to work out the mystery, "accidentally" revealing his wife as responsible for Sheila's death and as being Clinton's killer. Knowing she's an alcoholic, he drugs the yacht's bourbon, since she's the only one that drinks it, waits for her to pass out, then carries her to Clinton's cabin, drops her in the bathtub, and SLITS HER WRISTS to make it appear that she committed suicide out of guilt. He does all this because he had an affair with Alice and wants the affair to continue, and because he's bored of Lee and wants her $5 million net worth. Even worse, initially Tom was just going to frame Lee for Clinton's murder. After she blows up and believes she murdered Clinton herself, Tom takes the opportunity to simply kill her and fake it as a suicide rather than deal with an arrest and trial. Tom even attempts to kill Philip after Philip manages to figure out how Tom did it all, and is only saved because Christine remained on board to sleep with a cabin boy and is thus an eyewitness to Tom's crimes.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler: Lee does this after she seemingly kills Clinton, by dropping a heavy stone on Clinton's face and making it appear he was killed by the large falling stone from the crumbling stone monestary.]]

** [[spoiler: Tom asking Lee if she remembers Alice being arrested for taking something from a shop. I.E., the shoplifter secret card.]]

** [[spoiler: "She was in AA once." (Lee) Indicating that a card was replaced, likely a "YOU Are an Alcoholic" card which would be suitable for Lee.]]
** [[spoiler: Philip, observing Lee's bourbon bottle being tossed out of the porthole of Lee's cabin into the ocean, to hide that it was drugged by Tom. He references that Tom could have poured it down the drain, but he didn't, which makes the act all the more suspicious.]]

* CasualDangerDialogue: [[spoiler: When Philip realizes Tom doesn't intend to let him leave the main saloon alive, because Philip knows too much, Philip casually tries to talk Tom out of what he knows he's planning.]]

* Bookends: The main plot starts off with Clinton assembling the party under the "Sheila" nameplate on Clinton's yacht, and ends with a closeup of that same photo he took.

** Creator/JamesMason plays a director [[spoiler: who is also stated to have been a child molester. He played a similar role years earlier as Humbert Humbert in the film adaptation of "Lolita.]]

* WhamLine: The one that begins unraveling the entire plot. [[spoiler: "Hit and run killer? The last of Sheila should be an A. Hit and run doesn't begin with an A, does it, Tom."

** [[spoiler: Tom mimicking Clinton's voice, which is a key plot point later. "Well. Hi ho, gang. Going over your hand signals for the bridge tournament?"

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler: Lee does this after she seemingly kills Clinton, by dropping a heavy stone on Clinton's face and making it appear he was killed by the large falling stone from the crumbling stone church.]]

* NecroCam: Used when Philip explains the extremely complicated murder solution to Tom.
* NeverOneMurder: [[spoiler: Tom murders Clinton, then murders Lee because it's convenient.]]

* NiceToTheWaiter: Christine is very nice to Guido, the yacht's cabin boy. Granted, she's trying to get into his pants, but she's nice about it.

** [[spoiler: Clinton telling the group they don't have to do anything to play the game "You won't have to, IF you're smart enough." It's because the photo he took of all of them under the "Sheila's" nameplate has them posted under the initial letters of each of their secret cards. If they look at the photograph, they can deduce who has what card without having to leave the yacht.]]
** [[spoiler: Tom being the last person seen using the icepick before it disappears.]]
** [[spoiler: Tom while mimicking Clinton's voice, which is a key plot point later. "Well. Hi ho, gang. Going over your hand signals for the bridge tournament?"

** [[spoiler: Clinton's glassy-eyed reveal to Christine, which the audience discovers was a clue that Clinton was already dead even before Christine shows up.]]
** [[spoiler: Christine subtly reveals the former without realizing it, remarking about the glazed, far-away expression in his eyes.]]
** [[spoiler: "She was in AA once." (Lee)]]
** spoiler: [[spoiler: Philip, observing Lee's bourbon bottle being tossed out of the porthole in Lee's cabin into the ocean, to hide that it was drugged by Tom.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: [[spoiler: Tom. Not only does he know Lee killed Sheila, he doesn't report it to the police, and ends up using it as a wedge to drive his wife to the breaking point by convincing her the entire purpose of the game Clinton invited them to is to flush her out as Sheila's killer. Not only does Tom murder Clinton, He allows Lee, who hit his corpse with a big floor candlestick, to believe that SHE was the one that killed Clinton. After she successfully makes his death look accidental by hitting the corpse's head with a falling stone from the castle they're in, Tom muddies her efforts by swapping the stone with one from the bottom of the wall to make it look exactly like what Lee was trying to avoid. A cover up of a murder, because the stone was located too close to the ground to have fallen on Clinton's head. Tom then plays amateur detective when the group assembles to work out the mystery, "accidentally" revealing his wife as responsible for Sheila's death and as being Clinton's killer. Knowing she's an alcoholic, he drugs the yacht's bourbon, since she's the only one that drinks it, waits for her to pass out, then carries her to Clinton's cabin, drops her in the bathtub, and SLITS HER WRISTS to make it appear that she committed suicide out of guilt. He does all this because he had an affair with Alice and wants the affair to continue, and because he's bored of Lee and wants her $5 million net worth. Even worse, initially Tom was just going to frame Lee for Clinton's murder. After she blows up and believes she murdered Clinton herself, Tom takes the opportunity to simply kill her and fake it as a suicide rather than deal with an arrest and trial. Tom even attempts to kill Philip after Philip manages to figure out how Tom did it all, and is only saved because Christine remained on board to sleep with a cabin boy and is thus an eyewitness to Tom's crimes.]]
* KillTheCute: [[spoiler: While she did run over Sheila, Lee was drunk and it was purely an accident. Despite all of this, Lee is the most generous and sweet member of the group, never attempts to stab anyone in the back, and truly loves her husband, Tom. Tom rewards her for this by framing her for Clinton's murder, murdering Lee, and staging it as though she committed suicide.]]

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Philip and Lee. Lee thanks Philip for always being nice to her as a child. Philip lampshades this with a comment that he still remembers her sitting on Olivia De Havilland's lap. [[Though with the reveal that Philip's secret is that he was a "Little Child Molester," it does shed some questioning light on whether or not that was why Philip is so nice to her. However, Lee and Philip's friendship appears completely genuine, and there's no hint that Philip ever tried to do anything to Lee as a child.]]