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IMDbPro

La fin de Madame Cheyney

Original title: The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
  • 1929
  • Passed
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
638
YOUR RATING
Basil Rathbone and Norma Shearer in La fin de Madame Cheyney (1929)
ComedyDrama

At an elegant gathering of English nobility, young widow Fay Cheyney wins with her beauty, musicality and clever repartee. Cheyney, however, is not who she claims to be.At an elegant gathering of English nobility, young widow Fay Cheyney wins with her beauty, musicality and clever repartee. Cheyney, however, is not who she claims to be.At an elegant gathering of English nobility, young widow Fay Cheyney wins with her beauty, musicality and clever repartee. Cheyney, however, is not who she claims to be.

  • Director
    • Sidney Franklin
  • Writers
    • Frederick Lonsdale
    • Hanns Kräly
    • Claudine West
  • Stars
    • Norma Shearer
    • Basil Rathbone
    • George Barraud
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    638
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Sidney Franklin
    • Writers
      • Frederick Lonsdale
      • Hanns Kräly
      • Claudine West
    • Stars
      • Norma Shearer
      • Basil Rathbone
      • George Barraud
    • 18User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination total

    Photos24

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    Top cast13

    Edit
    Norma Shearer
    Norma Shearer
    • Fay Cheyney
    Basil Rathbone
    Basil Rathbone
    • Lord Arthur Dilling
    George Barraud
    George Barraud
    • Charles
    Herbert Bunston
    Herbert Bunston
    • Lord Elton
    Hedda Hopper
    Hedda Hopper
    • Lady Maria
    Moon Carroll
    • Joan
    Madeline Seymour
    • Mrs. Wynton
    Cyril Chadwick
    Cyril Chadwick
    • Willie Wynton
    George K. Arthur
    George K. Arthur
    • George
    Frank Finch Smiles
    • William
    • (as Finch Smiles)
    Maude Turner Gordon
    Maude Turner Gordon
    • Mrs. Webley
    John Batten
    John Batten
    • Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Scott McKee
    Scott McKee
    • Chauffeur
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Sidney Franklin
    • Writers
      • Frederick Lonsdale
      • Hanns Kräly
      • Claudine West
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    6.0638
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    Featured reviews

    nickandrew

    Early talkie with MGM queen Norma Shearer

    Antiquated, early talkie curio from Frederick Lonsdale's hit play of chic American jewel thief (Shearer) residing among the gullible rich London aristocrats, and taking interest in dashing Rathbone. Like the 1937 version, it is dated now, but is quite interesting to watch thanks to the star chemistry
    5guswhovian

    You'll be glad when you see the last of Mrs. Cheyney...

    Dashing Lord Arthur Dilling (Basil Rathbone) and old Lord Elton (Herbert Bunston) compete for the affections of the lovely widow Fay Cheyney (Norma Shearer), who is secretly a jewel thief.

    Early sound films have a reputation for being badly made and boring, but I disagree. Some early sound films from 1929 and 1930 are exceedingly well made. However, for every film like Bulldog Drummond or The Love Parade, there's a film like The Last of Mrs. Cheyney.

    The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is clunky, badly acted, badly paced, badly written and badly directed. It's a mess. It lacks all the charm of the 1937 version. It's also much more stagier than the '37 version. This version doesn't even have the opening meeting on the ship between Mrs. Cheyney and Dilling (one of my favorite parts of that version), yet it still manages to be almost the same length as the latter film.

    Norma Shearer is an actress I like much more than most people, but she definitely doesn't have the charm or wit of Joan Crawford. Basil Rathbone turns in an terrible performance as Dilling, and Herbert Bunston's performance as Lord Elton is absolutely dreadful. I did like George Barraud's performance as Charles; he's easily the best actor in the film, and it's a shame he didn't have a bigger career.

    Overall, go watch the Joan Crawford version instead. You'll enjoy it a lot more.
    9holdencopywriting

    Much better than the 1937 version! Basil Rathbone and Norma Shearer are excellent

    This 1929 version has all the tight pacing and wit that the 1937 film lacks. It also doesn't have the tacked-on moralizing ending that so blights the 1937 version. Basil Rathbone (so young!) is charming and funny with that hint of edge that he could do so well. The two-part scene in which he invites Norma Shearer for a little supper at his apartment and is then verbally rebuffed by the "butler," only to return to kiss the hem of Norma's garment is priceless. I watched it four times. Basil Rathbone is believable as an English lord in ways that Robert Montgomery in the 1937 version is so painfully not believable. George Barraud as Charles effaces himself effectively in the beginning scenes as the butler, and his scenes with Rathbone are not marred by the hint of effeminacy Montgomery brings to his fraternization scenes with the butler when that is not called for in the script. As much as I love William Powell, and I think he's the only reason to see the 1937 version, he can't manage to efface himself effectively in the beginning scenes as the butler. He's always William Powell. As enjoyable as Powell is, when you see George Barraud move from effacement to boldness, you really see how it should be done.
    3Pat-54

    Norma Shearer in her second talkie!

    I found this early talkie difficult to watch and I'm a Norma Shearer fan! It's not her fault, but the primitive production values of this film would cause any viewer to become bored. 90% of the movie is filmed with "medium shots," and it's very similar to watching a dull play.
    6bkoganbing

    A Minority view

    I realize that this is a minority view, but I find the later version from the late Thirties of The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney superior to this one. I'm sure brickbats will follow.

    This is not choosing Joan Crawford over Norma Shearer's performance here. It's a question of the technical advancements made over a decade to a film that was one of MGM's first all talkie productions. This version quite frankly is a photographed stage play.

    The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney is a play not often revived I'm sure as it belongs to an era of fluff. Shearer is a con woman with a small entourage who pretends to be a wealthy widow from Australia. Actually she gets herself invited to the best homes in London, the better to scope them out for robberies which butler George Barraud does.

    However when at one party Shearer arouses the interest of Lord Basil Rathbone it's on several levels. He's smitten with her, but he knows something's afoot since he recognizes Barraud as a thief previously arrested. After that it's a game of cat and mouse.

    For reasons I can't explain The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney got a nomination for 'writing achievement' as it was phrased then. As this was just a photographed version of Frederick Lonsdale's play, then what was the achievement?

    The film is the second sound film for Norma Shearer and it was Basil Rathbone's debut in talkies. It has some witty dialog, but in the end it's entertaining fluff.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      First MGM film to use the sound on film process.
    • Quotes

      Lord Arthur Dilling: By marrying I can make only one woman miserable. By remaining single I can make so many happy.

    • Alternate versions
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures also released a silent version of this movie. Titles were written by Lucille Newmark and the film length was 1976.32 m.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Musings of the Classic Sherlock Holmes Actor: Basil Rathbone on Mrs. Cheyney (1929 Film) (2021)
    • Soundtracks
      Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 'Moonlight'
      (1802) (uncredited)

      Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

      Played on piano by Norma Shearer

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 10, 1930 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 34m(94 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.20 : 1

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