The Millionairess

Excellent production

This is an excellent production. If you are at all interested in this, I recommend getting "The Shaw Collection" DVD set instead. These are a series of televised BBC "Play of the Month". The production values aren't always top-notch, but the acting is typically quite good. The direction and sets are very stage-like as opposed to a TV or cinema movie.
This would be more enjoyable for Shaw, literature, or theater fans than your average public. Maggie Smith does a fantastic job. The rest of the cast is excellent. I haven't read the play so I don't know if anything was changed. The first time I tried watching it, I fell asleep several times. The next time I watched it I was glued to the screen.
September 6, 2008

The Millionairess-less is better !

"The Milionairess" is a stage play that did not translate well onto the silver screen. The filming was done many years ago and the acting is "over-the-top" to the point of haming-it-up. The story line is good, but presented in a somewhat hysterical and at times almost frenzied style. As a stage play it would have been good, but as a film, I do not recommend unless you are interested in the history of theatre and acting. I do not think G.B. Shaw would have been pleased with this production. The typical British humour seems lost in the frenzy of the acting. April 9, 2008

Poorly written play

I order two copies of The Millionairess - one for myself and one for a gift. After watching it, I was too embarassed to give it as a gift. The play is simply poorly written and not up to the standard I've come to expect from English comedy. There are a couple of clever lines here and there but it drags on and on. Maggie Smith is a brilliant actress but even she couldn't save it. November 21, 2007

Maggie steals the show

The Millionairess has always been one of my favorite plays by Bernard Shaw (along with Pygmalion and Caesar and Cleopatra) and this BBC production of it is definitely worth your money.

Dame Maggie Smith is absolutely perfect as Epifania and, as expected, steals the show and runs away with it. The rest of the cast is perfect as well, with the possible exception of Charles Gray as Adrian, who didn't really fulfil my expectations of the character. July 30, 2007

The Millionairess; incredible beyond words

Shaw's writing with Maggie Smith's performance makes for a most incredible play. England, oh how we love England! January 17, 2007

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