When mobster Victor Mature declares, "I need a nanny!", he doesn't expect Mary Poppins to drop in at that minute, but she does in the form of Lynn Redgrave's Miss Poole, the proprietor of a charm school that Mature has just evicted from one of his buildings. She demands the money so she can reopen it elsewhere, but instead, ends up being hired as the nanny to his bratty son Phillip Graves. Along with boyfriend Paul Sand and piano player Austin Pendleton (stealing every moment he's 9n screen), she arranges for Graves to be kidnapped so she can get the money, while Mature and his wife Maggie Blye are off on a European vacation. John Astin and Dom de Luise add more comedy as Mature's buffoonish cohorts, and Minna Kolb and Louise Sorel (looking hot in a mini-skirt) are added for feminine cgarm, although Kolb is a rather tough cookie. Phil Foster ("Laverne and Shirley") is funny as a local cop, and Pat Morita ("Happy Days") pops in as well.
The ensemble of this droll comedy of mobsters and manners is terrific, with Redgrave very funny as a very Tweed consumed lady who is rather sexual in nature, giving her character some sparkle. Sorel's secretary gets to take dictation in bed, giving the future daytime diva an alluring character to play (opposite Astin) long before she buried people alive on "Days of Our Lives". Graves is also funny as the kidnapping victim, and by the time it's all ovrr, his kidnappers will be really glad to get rid of him. This is a delightful black comedy, perhaps a bit dated, but deliciously tart in its script and filled with lots of interesting characters, even with the minor ones. I love the mod colors of the sets and costumes, and the bits of slapstick, especially one involving a piano heading down a flight of stairs.
The ensemble of this droll comedy of mobsters and manners is terrific, with Redgrave very funny as a very Tweed consumed lady who is rather sexual in nature, giving her character some sparkle. Sorel's secretary gets to take dictation in bed, giving the future daytime diva an alluring character to play (opposite Astin) long before she buried people alive on "Days of Our Lives". Graves is also funny as the kidnapping victim, and by the time it's all ovrr, his kidnappers will be really glad to get rid of him. This is a delightful black comedy, perhaps a bit dated, but deliciously tart in its script and filled with lots of interesting characters, even with the minor ones. I love the mod colors of the sets and costumes, and the bits of slapstick, especially one involving a piano heading down a flight of stairs.