Dvd/150: The LAST OF SHEILA (Herbert Ross, 1973)

I first saw SHEILA in 1973 and immediately loved it's bitchy dialogue, intricate plot and in particular, the fabulous performances of Dyan Cannon and James Mason.

The thriller was written by friends, actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim, both keen parlour game fans which reflects in the twisting plot and betrays a heavy gay aesthetic too.

Gossip columnist Sheila Greene leaves a Hollywood party after a fight with her producer husband Clinton but is killed by a hit-and-run driver.

A year later, Clinton invites six friends for a Riviera cruise on his yacht named 'Sheila'; scriptwriter Tom and his socialite wife Lee (Richard Benjamin, Joan Hackett), agent Christine (Dyan Cannon), director Philip (James Mason) and actress Alice with her manager-husband Anthony (Raquel Welch, Ian McShane).

Clinton devises nightly scavenger hunts but is his motive to discover Sheila's killer?

44 years on and I still love it...

Shelf or charity shop?  One of my all-time favourites... what do YOU think?

Dvd/150: FOLLIES IN CONCERT (Michael Houldey, 1986, tv)

Originally shown on the BBC's Omnibus, this documentary covers the lead-up to two concert performances of Stephen Sondheim's musical FOLLIES at New York's Lincoln Center with the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sondheim and record producer Thomas Z. Shepherd were unhappy that the 1971 cast recording of FOLLIES was severely edited to fit on one album so in 1985 they had the opportunity to record two semi-staged concert performances of the full score.

It stars Lee Remick, Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin and George Hearn with remarkable supporting performances from Elaine Stritch, Carol Burnett, Phyllis Newman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Liliane Montevecchi, André Gregory and Licia Albanese among others.

We see them nervously rehearsing quickly-learnt songs in the few days leading up to the concerts and sharing their thoughts on the resonance of the material as they are all contemporaries.

A touching, entertaining tribute to the show and it's cast.

Shelf or charity shop? You're kidding right?