Mr. Movie: Maggie Smith

Dame Maggie Smith left us recently at age 89. My goodness! I have 33 good movies from this wonderful lady. This does not include TV shows or made for TV movies. Where to even start?
 

Well, let’s start at the start, of course. You may be used to seeing her as a titled woman of advanced age, but Google her and you’ll see she was quite a dish!

For her first appearance of note we have to go back 66 years to 1958. She was  24 at the time, having already charted a brilliant stage career. Nowhere To Go is a pretty good crime story with George Nader as a resourceful thief who breaks out of jail and heads for his hidden stolen loot. Things go badly and there’s a death that sends him even more on the run. Socialite Bridget Howard (Smith) falls hard for him and tries to help him find a way to stay free. Maggie sells Bridget, making us believe this upper class woman could act this way.

The Pumpkin Eater (1964) with a screenplay by Harold Pinter, no less, is the story of a very troubled marriage of Jake Armitrage (Peter Finch) and Jo Armitrage (Anne Bancroft). The main trouble is Jake’s numerous affairs and Jo’s seemingly endless pregnancies. Jake’s first noticeable fling is with the sultry Philpot, played winningly by Smith. Not a big part but she nails it.

Next came a juicy classical part most actresses would kill for. Smith landed the part of Desdemona, star-crossed wife of insanely jealous moor Othello (1965). This version is the filmed National Theater Company’s stage play, and stars Lawrence Olivier in the title role. There was a lot of criticism of how dark his character is portrayed. One critic compared him to Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. Pauline Kael adored the movie and lauded Smith’s performance as the doomed wife. This is one of many Othello films. It is perhaps the truest to Shakespeare’s play.

Chronologically next is Smith’s first Oscar win for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). She is the title figure, a somewhat creepy teacher in a girls’ school. She tends to corral a certain group of girls into her orbit, not entirely to their benefit. “Give me a girl of an impressionable age and she is mine for life.” Yikes! This is a very difficult part and few actors would be up to it. Maggie is.

Travels With My Aunt (1972) gives us a completely different Smith as she enchants us as the world-weary Aunt Augusta. She is involved in a complicated plot involving stolen money and a portrait of herself she swears was painted by Modigliani. Her travels take her to Turkey, where her money is confiscated, but she does not give up and attempts to sell the “Modigliani” to raise the money she needs. 

Smith was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to Liza Minelli for Cabaret.

All of these films are available somewhere, probably for a price. All are for grown ups. 

Next time: More Maggie, of course.