Name: The Last of Sheila (1973) selected by Ambler Member John Hersker
Start: 2026-04-01T19:00:00-04:00
Location: The Ambler Theater

The Last of Sheila (1973) selected by Ambler Member John Hersker

Our My Favorite Film Series returns this spring with a pick from Ambler Angel Member and Flashback Cinema Curator John Hersker! We'll be showing the 1973 murder-mystery THE LAST OF SHEILA on April 1st. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 at amblertheater.org/specials
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺: I was a teenager working in my family-owned movie theatre in northeastern Pennsylvania when The Last of Sheila was released in 1973. I fell in love with the film the first time I saw it. As a child of the movies, I was interested in everything related to the business, and while I appreciated that The Last of Sheila was a clever and wildly entertaining whodunit, I was more drawn to the fact that it seemed to pull back the curtain on how Hollywood players interacted with each other behind the scenes. To me it was a deliciously cynical look at the hidden side of Hollywood—or what I imagined that to be—and the fact that it was written by actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim added to my feeling that I was getting the “inside scoop.”
Flash forward to years later when I was working at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. On separate occasions I got the chance to meet Dyan Cannon, Richard Benjamin and James Coburn. They each had an impressive body of work, but there was only one
movie I wanted to talk to them about: The Last of Sheila. I was on the inside at last!
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲: In this rarely screened ‘70s murder mystery, a film producer invites six acquaintances aboard his yacht for a Mediterranean cruise. The guests are unaware they are all suspects in the hit-and-run murder of his late wife Sheila. With a script penned by composer Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins (star of Psycho). This whodunit is a blast to watch on the big screen and features a star-studded cast, including James Coburn, Richard Benjamin, James Mason, Raquel Welch and Dyan Cannon.