The Anniversary (film)

:"This article is about a 1968 film. For other uses, see The Anniversary."

Infobox Film
name = The Anniversary


image_size = 135px
caption = DVD cover
director = Roy Ward Baker
producer = Jimmy Sangster
writer = Jimmy Sangster
Based on a play by Bill MacIlwraith
narrator =
starring = Bette Davis
Sheila Hancock
music = Philip Martell
cinematography = Harry Waxman
editing = Peter Weatherley
distributor = 20th Century Fox (USA)
Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK)
released = February 7, 1968 (USA)
February 18, 1968 (UK)
runtime = 95 minutes
country = United Kingdom
language = English
budget = $1,450,000 (estimated)
gross = $1,352,000 (US)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0062671

"The Anniversary" is a 1968 British black comedy film directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay by Jimmy Sangster is based on the play of the same title by Bill MacIlwraith.

Plot synopsis

One-eyed Mrs. Taggart is an emasculating woman whose husband, a successful building contractor, has been dead for ten years. Joining her for the traditional annual celebration of her wedding anniversary are her three sons: eldest Henry is a transvestite; middle son Terry is planning to emigrate to Canada with his shrewish wife Karen and their five children; and youngest Tom, a promiscuous philanderer whose many past relationships have ended at his mother's insistence, arrives with his pregnant girlfriend Shirley in tow. Throughout the day and evening, the domineering, evil, vindictive, manipulative matriarch does everything in her power to remind her children who controls the family finances and ultimately their futures.

Production notes

The play originally was produced in the West End with Mona Washbourne as Mrs. Taggart. Bette Davis initially turned down the role in the screen adaptation, but after Jimmy Sangster, who had scripted her 1965 film "The Nanny", rewrote the screenplay, she agreed to join the project. Sheila Hancock, Jack Hedley, and James Cossins were signed to reprise the roles they had played on stage. Original director Alvin Rakoff was replaced a week into filming after he clashed with Davis, who felt he "didn't have the first fundamental knowledge of making a motion picture, let alone what an actor was all about." ["Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis" by Whitney Stine with Bette Davis, Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 0-8015-5184-6, pp. 319-321] .

, 1981, ISBN 0-0255-1500-4, pp. 279-280]

The film was shot at the Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. Its estimated budget was $1,450,000. It grossed $1,352,000 in the US.

Principal cast

*Bette Davis ..... Mrs. Taggart
*James Cossins ..... Henry Taggart
*Jack Hedley ..... Terry Taggart
*Christian Roberts ..... Tom Taggart
*Sheila Hancock ..... Karen Taggart
*Elaine Taylor ..... Shirley Blair

Critical reception

In her review in the "New York Times", Renata Adler said the film "is not a distinguished example of the Terrifying Older Actress Filicidal Mummy genre, but it isn't too heavy. And the genre isn't that distinguished after all." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9905E0DE1131E034BC4951DFB5668383679EDE "New York Times" review] ]

"TV Guide" rates it three out of a possible four stars and comments, "Davis is great, but the film suffers from the staginess of the play on which it was based." [ [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/anniversary/review/114566 "TV Guide" review] ]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0062671|title=The Anniversary