Play of the Month

The Millionairess (1x4)

: 25, 1972

Fast-paced despite a 100-minute running time, The Millionairess is perfectly suited to the unique talents of Maggie Smith, even if the political moralizing of the final act, combined with the somewhat sentimental take on marriage make for a sticky union. The first act of The Millionairess is Maggie Smith in her prime, raging and preening at the same time as she deliciously spits out the Shavian insults to the amused Barkworth. Throughout the play, the ping-ponging Shavian word play is deftly knocked about by Smith, who clearly relishes the chance to exercise her quick wits and flash-powder, pyrotechnical flourishes. Barkworth, a marvelous supporting player always seen in the background of British films (who also had a solid theatrical career), is every bit as engaging as the sanguine Sagamore, so much so that I missed their repartee throughout the rest of the film. Charles Gray, playing the type of role he often was stuck with, is amusing as always (looking like the Cheshire Cat when he sticks that square jaw out of his and slits up his sardonic eyes), while Tom Baker (famous for playing Doctor Who) does at times bring Dr. el Kabir off more like his Rasputin turn in Nicholas and Alexandria rather than as a typically Shavian male jouster. Directed by William Slater, The Millionairess does takes some missteps when it tries to "open up" the play, particularly an ill-advised photo montage sequence (set to supposedly "madcap" jazz) that's intended to bridge the time between Epifania's acceptance of Dr. Ahmed's challenge, and her completion of the task (I've seen these photo montages in other BBC productions from this period, and I suspect they were considered convenient cost-cutter solutions for dramatic problems). But overall, it's an agreeably feisty romp with Smith at the top of her game, even though admittedly it's not top-flight Shaw (nobody who's ever been married buys Shaw's defense of the institution at the end of the play). Based on the George Bernard Shaw