Mrs. Pollifax-Spy

Like so many of her contemporaries Rosalind Russell was finding it difficult to get work without having to resort to the horror genre. I give her credit she never did do that. For her last big screen release she chose a film that was about a middle aged woman who now that her kids are grown and she's a widow decides that espionage is the career for her. With the help of her US Senator she gets an introduction to a top CIA man and says she wants to become Mrs. Pollifax-Spy.

As guileless as Russell is Dana Elcar decides maybe she will do at least as a courier. But through a series of mixups and missed signals Russell whose assignment was in Mexico is whisked off to Albania where she's held prisoner with professional spy Darren McGavin. Their Albanian prison is in the hands of a "Red" Chinese general Albert Paulsen with his second being Albanian Nehemiah Persoff. Paulsen's occidental features are explained that he's off mixed racial origin.

Mrs. Pollifax-Spy has the charm of Rosalind Russell to carry it over the rough spots which are many. I find it hard to wrap myself around the concept that at my age which is older than Russell's was as presented I could just get my Senator to just arrange an appointment with the CIA so I could apply to be a spy. People for that agency are recruited in all kinds of ways, but I doubt they just take people who ask to work. Even Dana Elcar says we get a lot of screwballs.

For Roz Russell fans.

Why Rosalind Russell's greatness has been so little appreciated is beyond me. The marvelous grand dame Russell is the epitome of brilliance, vigor and poise, always larger than life, as her courageous return to the stage conquering arthritis well shows. In fact the only small problem with this fantastic lady playing Mrs. Pollifax, is that her elegance and power are a bit at odds with the sweet, bumbling nature of the novel's character.

I love the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries nearly as much as I do beloved Rosalind, having read them many times, and so can see the slight difficulty, but as wonderful as Mrs. Pollifax's character is, and as absolutely phenomenal as dear Rosalind always is, the difficulty of fit is easy to overlook for the sheer joy of seeing two of my very favorite ladies merged as one for the occasion. The fact that Rosalind wrote the thing as well as starring in it (the movie, not the book) proves her excellence as if it needed any proof.

One of the superior characteristics of this "Mrs. Pollifax - Spy," versus what I've heard of Angela Lansbury's "Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax" is that I seem to recall that this one more nearly follows the "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax" book, whereas the latter, despite having the same title, is a mixture of at least one more of the novels (one being "A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax" if the Swiss clinic is any clue), which helps to confuse the plot even more, as if Mrs. Pollifax weren't always inviting confusion just by being there! I'd probably love the latter too, so I don't mean too much criticism, but I much prefer having just one book's plot versus the confusion and dilution of piecing more than one book together, but most of all, as wonderful as dear, elegant Angela Lansbury is, there will never be another Rosalind Russell.

I have been searching for this film for some time, having enjoyed the novel on which it was based, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman. All book-to-film adaptations require changes being made, but as the script was written by the star herself - Rosalind Russell - it is surprising so many of these changes were badly thought out, even pointless on occasion. The rapport and camaraderie between Mrs. Pollifax and her co-agent Farrell is totally missing - in fact he is downright rude and hostile towards her for most of the film. Likewise, her boss Carstairs has little regard for Mrs. P. and scant concern for her wellbeing. For no good reason we get a scene in which Mrs. P.'s son is informed that his mother has become a CIA agent. The middle of the film drags, the ending is muddled, and the overall look is relentlessly drab.

And in stark contrast to the matronly Mrs. P. who does precious little spying or cloak and dagger stuff, the januty animated opening credits feature a tall, slender, sexy Mati Hari type spy who could not be further removed from Rosalind Russell c. 1970. It is a shame this was a missed opportunity for Ms. Russell to shine in what would sadly be her last feature film, however as other reviewers have commented it is not an embarrassment nor a cheap horror film. Roz went out a star, but unfortunately of a film that could have been so much better.

In her final theatrical film (there would be a TV movie in 1972), Rosalind Russell plays novelist Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax in "Mrs. Pollifax, Spy." This 1971 film also stars Darren McGavin, Nehemiah Piersoff, Albert Paulson, Harold Gould, John Beck and Dana Elcar. The script is written by Russell under a pseudonym. Mrs. Pollifax is an elderly woman who after being widowed volunteers to be a spy for the CIA. Since she looks so un-spylike, one of the people at the CIA (Elcar) decides to try her out on a mission. She is to go to Mexico, head for a bookstore, watch for The Tale of Two Cities in the window, enter the bookstore when she sees the book has been placed in the window, exchange some code sentences with the owner, get the book and leave. Except it doesn't go that way. Before Mrs. Pollifax knows what hit her, she's en route to an Albanian fortress with a man, John Sebastian Farrell (McGavin). They share a cell. Mrs. Pollifax goes to work plotting their escape as Farrell recovers from a bullet wound.

The Mrs. Pollifax books make for light, fun reading, and this pleasant story is along the same benign lines. Some of the elements of the books are disregarded - for instance, Mrs. Pollifax's children never were told she was a spy as they are here. Rosalind Russell does an excellent job, and she looks wonderful, particularly when one remembers how blown up the poor woman was from steroids due to her rheumatoid arthritis later on. She was such a striking woman with a strong presence in the films she made over her career. Darren McGavin isn't Gilman's Farrell, but his dry humor is effective just the same - another actor who, like Russell, is sorely missed.

This movie doesn't move very quickly; in fact, it's slow in parts, but there are some good scenes, particularly the Christmas party that Mrs. Pollifax talks her jailers into throwing. You can really admire her charm and cleverness.

"Mrs. Pollifax, Spy" is one of those comfortable movies where one sees a lot of familiar faces and an okay story. You'll see worse, you'll see better - but seeing Russell and McGavin more than makes up for the script's shortcomings.

Recently widowed empty-nester Mrs. Pollifax (Rosalind Russell) needs something to do and decides to seek gainful employment. So, she marches into the CIA and offers her services as a spy. Being an unassuming, older woman, one of the CIA bigwigs thinks she's perfect for simple courier missions. But when her first assignment to Mexico goes horribly wrong, Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in a world of trouble inside an Albaian prison.

Mrs. Pollifax-Spy isn't a bad movie by any means, it's just that it's not very good either. One of my main issues is the pacing. The film gets off to a fantastic start, complete with vibrant, interesting Mexican locations. These scenes have a real sense of fun and life to them. But, things change dramatically once Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in Albania. The pace slows to a crawl and it seems to take forever for much of anything to happen. Plus, the Albanian scenes are just so drab looking. I never knew there were that many shades of brown.

Russell's on-screen pairing with Darren McGavin took a while to grow on me. I"ve never seen him as the leading man type. But by the end, I was on board with their relationship. I suppose that is one bright spot from the movie's second half.

5/10