Joan Crawford plays the title character. She's a jewel thief and partner of William Powell. She cons her way into a rich society family and romances Robert Montgomery. But then she grows to like the people she's supposed to be stealing from so she has a crisis of conscience. With a cast like this (Crawford, Powell, Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Nigel Bruce), there really is no reason this shouldn't have worked. But it doesn't. It's a little stagey and dry. Powell is not in it enough. When he is on screen, the script doesn't give him a chance to shine. As a matter of fact, it seemed to me like he didn't even want to be there playing second fiddle to Robert Montgomery. Can't say that I blamed him, if that's the case. I like Montgomery alright in certain roles but these movies he did with Joan were not among them. See it for the cast but don't get your hopes up.

This is quite an enjoyable film. The cast is first rate. The comedic skills of the supporting players, Robert Montgomery's charm, Robert Powell's sophistication, and Joan Crawford's glamour really sparkle with the help of the polished MGM production, costumes, and 1930s elegance. The plot is tight, the dialog and social interactions are nuanced and consistently amusing. The themes of the story regarding social class and disillusion were relevant during the depression and still today. Crawford is especially effective in a role that allows her to be calculating, disillusioned, and ultimately sympathetic. Crawford was always strong when playing characters with an intense drive, but she also does surprisingly well in scenes that require her to demonstrate charm and wit, which up against pros of the genre like William Powell and Robert Montgomery is no small feat.

Well, there is often something in many MGM productions of the mid to late 1930's that really leave me cold. If I expand on that metaphor, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney has me shivering in a deep freeze. Filmed only eight years earlier as a Norma Shearer vehicle, this attempt to resurrect a modestly successful 1920's drama falls flat in a big way.The Last of Mrs. Cheyney plays like a strictly by-the-numbers film, obviously prepackaged and green lighted by complacent MGM executives who seemingly felt that they could combine some of their most likable and charming stars in a glossy remake like this, and the money would come pouring in from devoted fans. Um, wrong.Saddled with an awkward title, unfocused, preposterous, and exceedingly dull, the film wastes the considerable talents of all involved. Arguably a drawing-room comedy, the film has no "intentional" laughs, implausible character motivations, and a romantic triangle that leaves viewers nodding off into their popcorn. Unfortunately for him, director Richard Boleslawski dropped dead sometime during the filming, and the project was finished by two other uncredited directors. I suspect that his futile attempt to make this turkey fly may have contributed to his demise.The plot introduces us to a gang of con artists led by Powell and Crawford, who oh-so-easily infiltrate the highest rungs of wealthy and titled British society. They are intent on stealing the strand of pearls belonging to aristocratic dowager Jessie Ralph during the course of a weekend party at her country estate. Complications arise when love-struck Robert Montgomery's fixation on Joan leads him to ask too many questions.All the players involved try their best to enliven the proceedings with their own particular brand of appeal, and they are certainly photogenic. But their efforts are wasted on a talky and lackluster script that stretches credibility and makes little sense. The endless exchanges of dialog fail to deliver any punch or sparkle, although veteran character actors Jesse Ralph, Frank Morgan, Nigel Bruce and Sara Haden come off better than the leading players.The bottom line may be that this is another one only for "completists" of the stars, and all others shouldn't even take their first look at The Last of Mrs. Cheyney.** out of *****

THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY was not a very good film, though you probably wouldn't suspect that until the film was about half complete. That's because the basic premise and acting were very good. In fact, the film had a super-strong cast--with Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan and William Powell. It's obvious that this was a big-budget MGM film. However, towards the middle, the whole thing became a very stagy and dreadful film--with way too little action and way too much horrid dialog. By the end of the film, instead of improving, the film takes a nose-dive into wretchedness! If you don't believe me, then read on to find out about the terrible plot.Joan plays the title character. She is supposed to be a rich American but is actually a thief working with William Powell's gang. Her goal is to insinuate herself into rich society so she can steal some fancy jewels. However, along the way, she finds that not only are these people very welcoming but nice folks--so nice that it's obvious that she's having a hard time sticking with the plan. However, the gang members won't allow this--even if it's obvious that Powell cares about Joan and wouldn't hurt her himself. So far, this is great stuff and seeing love blossom between Joan and two nice guys (Montgomery and Morgan) made it all the better.Unfortunately, I assume the original writers must have died or suffered massive head injuries because the witty dialog and fascinating story completely lost its way midway through the film. It was as if they'd set up a good story and had no idea where to go. That, or the writers went on strike and were replaced by lemurs! At this point, the film didn't seem to know whether to have Joan prove herself to be decent or a crook--so they made her BOTH!! This made no sense, but what was worse was the reaction her new society friends had when her plan came to light. Now you'd THINK having a jewel thief lie and steal would cause a problem, but in a case of insane script writing, they had the rich folks not only agree to forgive and forget but try to pay her and Powell 10,000 pounds!!! What the heck was this?! No anger, no recriminations but everyone instead being happy and even talking about setting Joan up in business! This was just stupid and .000000003% believable. Talk about contrived and dopey. To make it worse, all they seemed to do for the last 30 minutes or so was talk, talk, talk and talk. It all seemed like mindless prattle after a while.I guess the worst part about all this for me was how utterly wasted William Powell was in the film. He is one of my very favorite actors of his age, yet here his performance is very muted and he's given a very bland part. It was as if he was sleepwalking through the film. As for Robert Montgomery, he was pretty typical of his usual devilish playboy character up until the end--where he was transformed by Joan's allure into a simpering wuss. Ugghh! While she was given crappy material to work with, Joan probably came off the best of the leads in the film---and this isn't saying much.Please understand that of all eras, 1930s films are my very favorite and I adore Hollywood's Golden Age. So my dislike for this film is not because I hate older films. It's just that with so many wonderful films out there (often starring these same actors), this is among the worst of the larger budget MGM films. This film is ONLY for devoted fans of the actors--and even then you might want to think twice about seeing this one.