The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

I do not like Joan Crawford in light comedy fare. I am one of her biggest fans, and I don't miss anything she does, but whenever she's in one of those fast-talking comedies, her voice seems to become forced and unnatural, and her smile looks faked. She is best when she is serious, and especially when slipping one of those little pistols into her handbag -with gloved hand- to eliminate a cheating husband or some other louse. And when she is weeping and involved in something sorrowful or tragic, then she is at her best. She is just so good at getting a raw deal, and then coming back to triumph. This movie was not bad; at least, I got a chance to see Joan in a movie I never knew existed. And she never looked better. It was nice to see how handsome Robert Montgomery used to be. All in all, it was entertaining, especially if you like attractive homes and scenery. It did highlight that the very rich are silly and really don't have much of interest to do other than entertain each other all the time.

Many earlier reviewers have said the Crawford was "mis-cast" as Mrs. Cheyney. I have to disagree. It is not her best performance (for her best acting, see her small but scene-stealing role in The Women and for a Crawford feast, see her Oscar-winning turn in Mildred Pierce), but it is far from her worst. The blame cannot be entirely placed on Crawford either. Nor can it be placed on the director. It must be placed on the production code administrators who sheared Hollywood scripts after 1934, cutting out anything considered "risqué." The original play by Fredric Lonsdale is a surprisingly hilarious and fresh send-up of the class sytem in England. Butler and footmen who are actually thieves in disguise get to act veddy propper and then (when the guests leave) get to drop their phony apparel. Its really quite funny. In the play, when Crawford's would-be suitor catches her at robbery, he forces her to spend a night in the closet with him. This was wonderfully handled in the 1929 Norma Shearer original of this picture. But the production code said that thieves had to always be punished, and sexual actions could not be forced or blackmailed. Thus, this is an extremely bowdlerized version of the play. It is interesting to watch the stars interplay, and I'm a bit surprised that it flopped so largely in 1937. Seeing some of the junk that goes over big nowadays, one would think that with a cast like this and high production values, it would have at least made its mark. See the Norma Shearer version, if you can find it. Unfortunately, its very rare (there is a laser disc version of it on The Dawn of Sound Volume III), but totally worth it. It is risqué and hilarious. Or see Trouble In Paradise, another early pre-Code comedy about jewel thieves, who in that film, don't have to face punishment for their actions.

There is a lot of criticism, mostly negative, on this board about this film, which I can't understand. I have never seen the original film version with Norma Shearer, but it appears not to be bowdlerized like this one. But bowdlerized or not, this is a very good film.

It has a first rate cast led by Crawford (who was capable of comedy but opted for dramatic intense roles like Mildred Pierce). As the role calls for her to be compromised by her actions (she has masqueraded as a socialite to be accepted by the jaded aristocrats in order to pull off a jewel robbery) the role is not a slap happy funny part like say Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson, but a tonier style of sophisticated comedy. As such it is perfectly fitted to Crawford's screen persona.

As for the jaded aristocrats: Frank Morgan may not do a British accent at all, but his fumbling is pretty good here - he is the richest man in England, and could give an intelligent talk on industrial output or tariffs, but cannot open up his heart to Crawford; Nigel Bruce is another nobleman, who has a randy set of eyes for pretty ladies, and cannot see his wife (Benita Hume) is far too close to her "cousin" (Ralph Forbes). The splendid Jessie Ralph is an aging dowager who befriends Crawford (it is her pearl necklace that Crawford is seeking to steal). She is a lively and likable old lady, and one with a scandalous past (as we eventually learn). But if none of the aristocrats are spotless in character (except possibly the boring Morgan), the other members of the gang are not wonderful. Melville Cooper (pretending to be Crawford's chauffeur) is constantly ready to whip out his handy knife and cut the throat of anyone he thinks is double crossing them.

But the most interesting thing about the casting were the two leading men: Robert Montgomery and William Powell. The two most sophisticated and suave leading men of the golden age of movies only appeared in this one film together. They share only four scenes, but it is remarkable about how smooth the scenes are - like a perfect set of volleyball games with no shots and counter shots missed by either party (and when Crawford joins them she is equally smooth in responding to both her leading men). She had made other films with Montgomery but there were no others after this one. As for Powell, this was there only film together. As such it should be seen for the bright chemistry between the three leads alone, but it is a good comedy on its own.

Joan Crawford is a jewel thief trying to break into society in "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney," a 1937 film from MGM also starring William Powell, Robert Montgomery, Nigel Bruce, Frank Morgan, and Jessie Ralph. It's a remake of a 1929 film which starred Norma Shearer. Crawford is a sophisticated and glamorous woman we first meet on board ship as she's maneuvering and flirting her way into the company of a society crowd. While doing so, she meets Lord Arthur Dilling (Robert Montgomery). He and Lord Kelton (Morgan) pursue her. Once in London, she wangles the one thing that she and her gang of thieves (led by William Powell as her butler) have been waiting for - an invitation to Lady Ebley's country home, and a crack at Lady Ebley's fabulous pearl necklace. All doesn't go as planned.

Given the star power, the film has some interesting moments, but for the most part, it's played too straight. A lighter touch was needed. This is perhaps a directorial problem (there were several) or the fact that Joan Crawford was better at drama than at comedy, and William Powell better at comedy than at drama. Powell does a great job, but it isn't much of a role. Audiences probably left the theater disappointed - perhaps part of the reason the film flopped at the box office. He doesn't have a lot to play off of, and no chemistry with Crawford. Robert Montgomery is his usual self in one of those roles that fit him like a glove, but the star trio is too somber.

Joan Crawford looks fabulous, and with a strong director who had a concept of the script, she would have been fine. She didn't have a grasp of playing comedy, but she was a hard worker who seemingly took direction well. It's a shame MGM spent all that money on what was a first-class production only to have it just lay an egg. Apparently some of the racier parts of the play version had to be left out due to the code. At times, the film drags.

Several of the comments blamed Crawford, some the script, but I do believe with the right director, "The Last of Mrs. Cheney" could have been a lot better.

Joan Crawford in doing The Last of Mrs. Cheyney had to stand comparison with not one, but two previous actresses who essayed the part of a crooked adventuress who discovers she has a chance at love.

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney was first presented on Broadway as a play by Frederick Lonsdale in the 1925-1926 season and it ran 385 performances with Ina Claire in the lead. Then it was done as an early sound feature film for Norma Shearer who got rave reviews.

Not having seen Claire or Shearer in the part I only have Crawford to judge and she doesn't do badly at all in the part. Of course she and the film are helped greatly by the fact William Powell and Robert Montgomery are in the film and both can and have played this kind of light comedy in their sleep.

Crawford is the shill, the come-on, for a gang of thieves of which William Powell is one of the members. She's taken on the identity of wealthy sophisticated American widow Faye Cheyney who ingratiates herself with the rich and famous and gets in their homes to rob them. We find her first working her wiles on shipboard with Frank Morgan, playing the usual befuddled Frank Morgan part. Powell serves as her 'butler'. But she also meets wealthy young Lord, Robert Montgomery and through him gets invited to old dowager Duchess Jessie Ralph's for the weekend.

Jessie's got a big rock there that the gang would like to get a hold of. But Montgomery is offering Crawford a chance to break away from that life and it puts her in a dilemma. Since Powell's kind of stuck on her too, she's got another problem.

I think Crawford carried off the part quite well. But the best one in the film is Jessie Ralph. Seems as though the old duchess married into the aristocracy and she spots that Crawford is not all she claims she is. But she likes her nonetheless. Very similar to the part Florence Bates played in Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman. Ralph steals every scene she's in.

One of these days I met get to see the Shearer version. Till then I'll recommend this version of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney without hesitation.