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IMDbPro

Mrs. Pollifax-Spy

  • 19711971
  • GG
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
516
YOUR RATING
Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
AdventureComedy
A widowed New Jerseyan woman volunteers for spy duty at the CIA, being in her own opinion, expendable now that the children are grown, and is assigned to pick up a book in Mexico City, while... Read allA widowed New Jerseyan woman volunteers for spy duty at the CIA, being in her own opinion, expendable now that the children are grown, and is assigned to pick up a book in Mexico City, while finding out that it is easier said than done.A widowed New Jerseyan woman volunteers for spy duty at the CIA, being in her own opinion, expendable now that the children are grown, and is assigned to pick up a book in Mexico City, while finding out that it is easier said than done.
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
516
YOUR RATING
    • Leslie H. Martinson
    • Rosalind Russell(screenplay)
    • Dorothy Gilman(book "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax")
  • Stars
    • Rosalind Russell
    • Darren McGavin
    • Nehemiah Persoff
    • Leslie H. Martinson
    • Rosalind Russell(screenplay)
    • Dorothy Gilman(book "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax")
  • Stars
    • Rosalind Russell
    • Darren McGavin
    • Nehemiah Persoff
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos24

    Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Tom Hallick in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Harold Gould and Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Harold Gould and Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Harold Gould and Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Rosalind Russell in Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)
    Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Rosalind Russell
    Rosalind Russell
    • Mrs. Pollifax
    Darren McGavin
    Darren McGavin
    • Farrell
    Nehemiah Persoff
    Nehemiah Persoff
    • Berisha
    Harold Gould
    Harold Gould
    • Nexdhet
    Albert Paulsen
    Albert Paulsen
    • Perdido
    John Beck
    John Beck
    • Lulash
    Dana Elcar
    Dana Elcar
    • Carstairs
    James Wellman
    • Mason
    Dennis Cross
    • Bishop
    Nick Katurich
    • Stefan
    Don Diamond
    Don Diamond
    • DeGamez
    Robert Donner
    Robert Donner
    • Larrabee
    Tom Hallick
    Tom Hallick
    • Roger
    Abejin Ajeti
    • Folk Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Patrick Dennis
    • Tourist
    • (uncredited)
    Adian Gola
    • Folk Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Bill Landrum
    • Folk Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Vassily Sulich
    • Albanian Private
    • (uncredited)
      • Leslie H. Martinson
      • Rosalind Russell(screenplay)
      • Dorothy Gilman(book "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Final film of Rosalind Russell.
    • Goofs
      When Mrs. Pollifax looks in the mirror at the reflection of her hotel door, the digits of her hotel room number (700) should all be mirror images, including the "7" digit, but although the digits are correctly reversed in their order (007), the "7" is NOT reversed, as its mirror image actually would be. This is presumably because the film-makers didn't want the audience to miss the allusion to James Bond's number, 007.
    • Quotes

      Farrell: Cut the bells off the donkeys.

      Mrs. Pollifax: The what?

      Farrell: The bells!

    • Crazy credits
      Closing credits epilogue: Research for this film was done from a documentary picture-"The Three Faces of Communism" which was filmed in present day occupied Albania.
    • Alternate versions
      CBS edited 28 minutes from this film for its 1975 network television premiere.
    • Connections
      Version of The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1999)

    User reviews20

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Rosalind Russell takes on Emily Pollifax
    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.
    helpful•16
    3
    • blanche-2
    • Sep 11, 2007

    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 17, 1971 (United Kingdom)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
    • Production companies
      • United Artists
      • Meteor Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 50 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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