Synopsis
The new star-spangled M-G-M sensation!
A chic American jewel thief falls in love with one of her marks, an English lord.
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Cast
Joan Crawford William Powell Robert Montgomery Frank Morgan Jessie Ralph Nigel Bruce Colleen Clare Benita Hume Ralph Forbes Aileen Pringle Melville Cooper Leonard Carey Sara Haden Lumsden Hare Wallis Clark Barnett Parker William Bailey Wilson Benge Thomas Braidon Robert Cory Bess Flowers Eric Mayne Frank McClure Bert Moorhouse Vesey O'Davoren Manuel París Ellinor Vanderveer William Worthington
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Original Writer
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Cinematography
Assistant Director
Art Direction
Composer
Sound
Costume Design
Studio
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Language
Alternative Titles
Конец миссис Чейни, Eine Dame der Gesellschaft, 체이니 부인의 최후, La Fin de Mme Cheyney, La fine della signora Cheyney, Äventyr i societén
Genres
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Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USANR
Releases by Country
USA
19 Feb 1937
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Popular reviews
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"But he's a tricky sort of devil, always kissing the last person you'd expect."
Situated between alternating currents of two prevailing modes of 1930s Hollywood filmmaking (low-key screwball and amoral-woman-gone-straight schmaltz) is the elusive The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. The film is technically credited to the first of its three eventual directors, Richard Boleslawski. In fact, however, the forty-seven year old Boleslawski died suddenly amidst production (from causes I was unable to determine) and was replaced by George Fitzmaurice. His own subsequent illness necessitated yet another handoff, this time to the only female director active in Hollywood at the time, pioneering lesbian Dorothy Arzner.
The scenario by committee is based on Frederick Lonsdale's 1925 play of same name, revolving around…
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“I hear music in the streets and see flowers blooming in the gutter.”
robert montgomery lighting joan crawford’s cigarette and then bill powell’s and then his own and them all smoking together...the subtext of it all...just have a threesome already I’m dying over here.
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The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is one of those films that’s been floating around my periphery for years, but I’ve always resisted it because of my lack of affection for Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Frank Morgan. It involves jewel thieves, and Bill Powell is on board. How bad could it be? Well, I should have trusted my instincts. Richard Boleslawski, whose Theodora Goes Wild is one of my favorite films, died early in the production and was succeeded by George Fitzmaurice who became ill, and the film was finished by Dorothy Arzner. Perhaps these multiple directors, the last two of whom may not have had much commitment to the material, account for the lifelessness of the film. It’s a…
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“I thought this sort of thing was only done in French farces.”
As in, the thief is the guest of honor—victims of burglary having morning breakfast with the pearl poacher and inspecting officer, extending every courtesy to the crooks who played them for fools.
One of the films shot between Dancing Lady and Mannequin which Crawford called "formula" in her autobiography. According to biographer Fred Lawrence Guiles, critics were mixed about the film, and Joan herself was "unsure of what she had done, as her director, Richard Boleslavski, had died before the last scenes were shot." Joan recalled the film "had movie houses packed to the doors even though it was the remake of a so-so silent" (Crawford again playing…
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"I thought this sort of thing was only done in French farces!"
What I really enjoy about this type of movie is the thesis that human beings are complicated. There is no binary "good or evil" to be found here, but a conflict between the two playing out on an internal stage (all the better when that stage is Joan Crawford!). The ambiguity lends an authenticity to the characters that is recognizable and relatable even when the setting of a wealthy person's estate is so far outside personal experience for most of us.
This is a fairly typical narrative. Joan Crawford plays Fay Cheyney, a member of a band of criminals who infiltrates a wealthy family to steal some expensive…
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This movie should be re-named everybody's lurking.
I love the scene when Robert Montgomery lights the cigarettes for Joan Crawford and William Powell!
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It begins with a promise of a fun screwball romp - and delivers exactly that for a while - but then it gets only duller from there on, and by the third act it's all regressed into something very clunky.
Perhaps I've been a bit spoiled with my recent Lubitsch watches and therefore expected too much from this, but still, where did all the smoothness go? It also feels like the Hays Code screwed up this one's potential quite a lot.
Of course, Joan Crawford is Joan Crawford, and that always salvages something.
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ill never forget how ben mankiewicz once said in a tcm intro that william powell could’ve been cary grant except he wasn’t hot enough
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Robert Montgomery, Joan Crawford, and William Powell, the threesome I didn’t know I needed. Let’s just say the chemistry of these three was smokin!
Maybe I’m overrating this by half a star, but I’m a simple person, Powell and Montgomery in one movie just does it for me. I like this kind of role for Bill Powell, it’s nice to see him as the cunning criminal committing the crime instead of the one solving it. While Bob Montgomery cannot exactly pass for a British lord, he’s still pretty convincing as a suave womanizer turned lovesick romantic. Both men have great chemistry with their leading lady albeit having different dynamics. Crawford and Powell are better when they banter; they were cool…
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Lightening fast witty dialogue, dramaturgical cleverness, highly skilled acting - facetious twinkles in the strong performance of an intelligent aristocratic screwball (if there is such a thing). The morning after breakfast with an hilarious denouement furnishes a stylish Arzner touch.
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gosh, I've forgotten how much an eye-candy Joan Crawford was. the entirety of The Last of Mrs Cheyney not so. though the fancily wrapped premise fools you into thinking it can satisfy a cinematic craving, it only offers a generic, bland flavour. the film revolves around a band of crooks who suit up for their modus operandi much to the misfortune of obnoxious socialites (har-har). curiously begins and cheekily ends with mouthy exchanges, the middle is a forgettable, soporific swindle. Joanie is, of course, the main player with her tractable, fickle thievery. but she's only wholly in it for the social-climbing add-on. her attempt at pearl-stealing ultimately ends with her heart stolen. I mean, what's guaranteed to turn a bad,…
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