Zia, vuoi fare parte della CIA?

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.

An unusual take on the spy / secret agent genre, Mrs. Pollifax represents a sideways look at what audiences had become accustomed to in the just-ended sixties, which were dominated by James Bond, his campy imitators and flashy, young femme fatales. The closest anyone came to this in the previous decade, in terms of a female spy, was probably "Fathom," starring a very young Raquel Welch. This one presents actress Russell in her final theatrical film, as a retired housewife and recent widow who strolls into C.I.A. headquarters and volunteers for the 'dirty tricks' business. There's a certain charm attached to this scenario and it continues throughout the film. Mrs. Pollifax, though entering her twilight years, is nowhere near senility, is very well spoken and seems sharper than most of the people around her. Her character was created in a series of mystery novels by Dorothy Gilman, kind of an American version of the British sleuth 'Miss Marple.' Russell also had a hand in the script, writing under a pseudonym. The tone of this film is kind of a cross between the tongue-in-cheek escapades of elderly adventurers and serious spy business, so it may strike some as a bit uneven. For example, even though Pollifax faces definite danger during the story, the filmmakers also throw in a sight gag referencing famous agent 007. In the plot, the C.I.A. rep expectedly dismisses Pollifax at first as a harmless eccentric, but there happens to be a simple courier job available in Mexico which the rep's boss (Elcar) thinks she is well suited for. And off we go.

I first saw this film only recently, having heard about it once or twice over the past 30 years. I was taken a bit by surprise as to the direction the story veers off to. Based on the rather bland atmosphere of the introduction and first few scenes at C.I.A. HQ, I expected Pollifax to have some sort of silly short adventure in Mexico, similar to a TV episode, and head back to the USA for more repartee with her supervisors and other agents. However, the courier job, which involved simply picking something up in a bookstore, does not go as planned: Pollifax finds herself leaving Mexico on an airplane heading to parts unknown with another captured agent, the seasoned & cynical Farrell (McGavin, just before "The Night Stalker"). After debarking the airplane at gunpoint, they're transported by automobile until the road runs out somewhere in the mountains and head further into the boonies via mule. By this point, I was thinking, what the hell is all this? They end up in the most isolated prison for spies imaginable, somewhere in Albania. Things looked very bleak but Pollifax is a 'never say die' type of dame and soon charms most of the guards and wardens (Persoff, Gould and John Beck in a very early role). The exception is Perdido (Paulsen), the one in charge, and it's clear that the two prisoners will eventually be executed. Pollifax soon takes charge of 'the mission' (mostly now an escape plan), despite Farrell's long experience in these matters. This kind of keeps you guessing most of the way, and, despite the slow spots in the early sections of the film, there's enough suspense to keep your attention to the very conclusion. Mrs. Pollifax would not return on film, as it happens, though there was a TV Movie in the nineties. Heroine:8 Villains:6 Male Fatales:7 Henchmen:5 Fights:4 Stunts/Chases:6 Gadgets:3 Auto:5 Locations:7 Pace:6 overall:6

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.

Odd but true, I missed seeing this film when it was new as I was a fairly busy man at the time. Little did I know at that time that this was to be the Roz's last major production. ........And because it was her last film, this is a shame that to my knowledge this has never seen the light of day since it first ran in theaters! What a crime, not only for Roz's fans but also to the fans of Mrs.Pollifax stories as well to be denied the pleasure of seeing the Roz in the Role of Mrs. Pollifax. So I am going to ask to whom it may concern: Please rescue the prints from the vault and put this out on DVD!! Heck, you don't even have to spend a ton of money to restore it to digital standards if you don't want to, just release it as a "budget special" for all I care!! I'd like to at least watch ANY VERSION of this before I check off for good!!!

So who cares if it isn't exactly Roz's greatest film? Who cares if this isn't the greatest filmed version of a Mrs. Pollifax story? What matters here is that this is Roz's LAST MOVIE and that alone makes it WORTH RELEASING TO DVD!!!