Movies

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) Norma Shearer and Basil Rathbone in a stiff and stodgy drawing-room comedy of the sort Wodehouse lovingly satirized; country house, stolen pearls and all. This is a very archaic form of entertainment, but once the mind is slowed to its glacial pace, and it is accepted that one is really viewing a stage play, it eventually becomes rather entertaining. Rathbone is a dashing young scoundrel, and Shearer in deco pyjamas by Adrian is good for the eyes, though after half a dozen movies I am beginning to see that her acting is more in the silent film style; exaggerated rapidly changing facial expression with less natural line readings than a stage actress would have delivered. Supporting characters round out the story with some charm and laughs. Good for a trip back in time to a simpler age. Remade in 1937 with William Powell and Joan Crawford, which the latter must have seen as a feather in her cap, taking away some glory from one of her earliest rivals. 6/10