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View from the Couch: A review of The Millionairess

Maggie Smith as spoiled London heiress Epifania Ognissanti di Parerga, the richest woman in the world in this BBC film based on a Shaw play and also starring Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren
Donald Combe
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Maggie Smith stars in Shaw's 'The Millionairess', available on Netflix.Netflix

The Millionairess (YouTube, 1972) is Shaw at his most brilliant. This version of his play is a film staring the recently-deceased (Sept. 27) Maggie Smith performing at her best. I like this play very much and have seen several times on stage. Yet this film version seems to have captured perfectly what Shaw intended. The production seems so “modern,” even though it is old by today's standards. I fear 2024 audiences would not sit through a performance as there are too many “ideas” that seem illogical, yet are the opposite. I am grateful to Shaw and Smith for starting my week on such a “high.”