Anna to the Infinite Power
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Anna to the Infinite Power
Plot
A bratty but brilliant preteen girl discovers that she's the clone of a long-dead scientist in this story of self-discovery and adventure, which appeared on HBO in the early '80s. Anna Hart (Martha Byrne) gets top grades at her elite private school, but she lies, steals, and bad-mouths her parents, much to the consternation of her father, Graham (Jack Ryland). Anna's mother, Sarah (Dina Merrill), is more indulgent of her daughter, for she knows that the girl is one of a series of clones created to uncover the scientific secrets of Anna Zimmerman, who was close to conquering world hunger when she died in an accident years ago. Although Anna is unaware of her origins, she is plagued by dreams of the years the original Anna spent in a concentration camp, and she suffers from severe headaches whenever she sees flashing lights. Memories of a haunting melody called "Reverie" also plague the girl's imagination. Although Anna's brother, Rowann (Mark Patton), seems smitten by the family's new neighbor, Michaela Dupont (Donna Mitchell), the woman creeps Anna out with her quiet intensity. Nevertheless, Graham forces his daughter to accept piano lessons from Michaela in hopes of unlocking Anna's artistic side and her less offensive personality traits. Soon, though, Anna accidentally sees one of her sister clones on a TV newscast, leading to revelations that threaten to destroy her family and possibly the youngster's very life. Anna to the Infinite Power is based on the novel by Mildred Aimes. Patton's brief movie career would also encompass the lead role in Nightmare on Elm Street 2, while Byrne, who previously appeared on Broadway in Annie, would go on to star for many years as Lily on the perennial CBS soap As the World Turns. Loretta Devine, who would go on to star in the TV series Boston Public, made her film debut here playing Anna's schoolteacher. The song "Anna's Reverie" was written by composer Paul Baillargeon, who also portrays Rowann's music instructor. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviReview
A thought-provoking premise, a coolly intellectual script, haunting music, and a strong lead performance distinguish this junior high thriller despite its flat direction and sometimes forgettable supporting cast. There's quite a bit of pseudo-science in the script's depiction of clones who dream about one another's actions and share their prototype's memories, but underneath there are also very well-written conflicts between nature/nurture, reason/passion, and past/future. Writer/director Robert Weimer couldn't frame a decent action sequence if his life depended on it, while his expository dialogue scenes resort to static talking heads. Yet he does prove capable of cool suspense, gauzy melancholy, and haunting dream sequences, thanks in part to future soap star Martha Byrne's likable prepubescent vitriol and the haunting refrain of Paul Baillargeon's recurring song, "Anna's Reverie." Tortured by concentration camp nightmares in which the mournful tune figures heavily, Byrne's Anna becomes an existential heroine in pigtails: Anne Frank as science fiction survivor. As she taps away at her primitive CompuServe terminal, filches baubles from family friends, and patronizes grown-ups with mathematical precision, Anna personifies the pent-up frustration of every smart kid who's ever had to take orders from an obviously fallible grown-up. Her ultimate journey to self-realization may seem more than a little sentimental, but it's also filled with fertile subtext. Unfortunately, Donna Mitchell seems more somnambulant than enigmatic as mystery woman Michaela Dupont, and Mark Patton seems geekier and less sure of himself than he would as the tortured alterna-teen of Nightmare on Elm Street 2. Yet Dina Merrill proves coolly regal as Anna's science-obsessed mother, while Jack Gilford has fun as a kindly yet sinister scientist. The script's ominously uncertain ending typifies Anna to the Infinite Power: grown-up philosophizing dressed up in comic book clothes. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviCast
- Martha Byrne - Anna Hart
- Dina Merrill - Sarah Hart
- Jack Gilford - Dr. Jelliff
- Mark Patton - Rowann Hart
- Jack Ryland - Graham Hart
- Donna Mitchell - Michaela Dupont
- Loretta Devine - Mrs. Brown
Credit
Shela Oakey - Art Director, Dale F. Glickman - Associate Producer, Robert Wiemer - Director, Peter Hammer - Editor, Paule Baillargeon - Composer (Music Score), Glenn Kershaw - Cinematographer, Bruce Graham - Producer, Robert Wiemer - Screenwriter, Mildred Ames - Book Author| Anna the Adventuress (1920 Film), Anna of Rhodes (1950 Film) | |
| Anna und Elisabeth (1933 Film), Anna's Dream (2002 Film) |
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Anna to the Infinite Power
| Anna to the Infinite Power | |
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| Directed by | Robert Wiemer |
| Produced by | Bruce Graham Ned Kandel (Executive Producer) Robert Wiemer |
| Written by | Robert Wiemer Mildred Ames |
| Starring | Martha Byrne Dina Merrill Mark Patton Donna Mitchell Jack Gilford |
| Music by | Paul Baillargeon |
| Cinematography | Glenn Kershaw |
| Editing by | Peter Hammer |
| Release date(s) | 1983 |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $425,000.00 |
Anna to the Infinite Power is a 1983 science fiction/thriller film about a young teenager who learns that she was the product of a cloning experiment. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Mildred Ames. It was produced by Kandell Enterprises & Film Gallery, previously responsible for the popular American syndicated kids' series Big Blue Marble, and many alumni from that program worked on the film. The film was never released theatrically, but was shown on pay cable, and later appeared on home video. The film's signature score "Anna's Reverie" was composed by Paul Baillargeon, who wrote the music for the film and has a cameo scene in which he plays the music teacher of Anna's brother Rowan.
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Contents
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Synopsis
Anna Hart was always an odd child—a genius desperately afraid of flickering lights, hair parted perfectly down the middle, and with strange prophetic dreams. Simultaneously, several strange things begin to happen. A mysterious neighbor named Michaela Dupont (a piano teacher who has been watching Anna, and has kept photos of her and of another girl taken in 1970 who much resembles Anna) moves in next door to the Harts. And, most frightening of all, Anna sees her exact double on television one night (and learns that her double has the same family setting as hers).
As her investigation of the other Anna—Anna Smithson—progresses, she begins to learn the truth: the truth about a woman named Anna Zimmerman who has been dead for twenty years, and most important, the truth about herself: that she was part of a cloning experiment by Zimmerman to create the perfect girl, one who would grow into a duplicate of Zimmerman herself, right down to the traits that Anna indeed shares with her. It also turns out that her mother volunteered for the cloning project but the father wanted nothing to do with it. We also learn, through Anna's dreams, of Zimmerman's past; growing up during World War II as a Jew in Nazi-controlled Germany, where she, like the present Anna, was a pianist and child prodigy who would play a part in the Nazis' plans for the genetic engineering of humans.
But, just as the current Anna is beginning to act normal and learn more about her background—thanks in part to her brother Rowan and to secret assistance from Micheala—we also learn of six other Annas, this after her mother told her that they (the people involved with the cloning project) wanted to re-evaluate Anna for a few days at a facility at Albacore Island. While there, Anna becomes suspicious when the phone in her room is blocked. Also, as she snoops around she notices the experiments they are performing. When Rowan has not heard from Anna, he sneaks into the facility to see his sister. Anna and Rowan confront Dr. Henry Jelliff, the person who kept Zimmerman's genetic cloning experiments alive at Albacore Island, who tells her that she is now a 'normal' person and suggests that she should change her name as a way to start a new life. But, after Anna and her brother were free to go, Jelliff reveals to Michaela, whom he suspected was not following her assignments, that he is secretly grooming yet another Anna to grow up to become the future Zimmerman; they plan to kill the remaining five Annas, including Hart and her family, shortly.
Jelliff's plans to eliminate the girls backfire when Michaela reveals herself to him as Anna Parkhurst, the original product of Zimmerman's cloning experiment (she was the other girl that resembled Anna in the 1970 photo from the beginning of the film); and, like her Mother/Creator, she knows how to create the replicator. Because Jelliff had her parents killed and because she is enraged by the experiments, the adult Anna turns the table on him by offering him the plans for the replicator in return for the safety of all of the Annas. The film ends with Jeliff considering Michaela/Anna's offer.
Connections
The opening credits of the television series Big Blue Marble can also be seen in the film; the show's production company also co-produced this film.
In popular culture
The rock band AnnAtotheInfinitePower took their name from the book. They played and recorded music in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from 1995 to 2000 and were best known for their song "When the World Ends".[citation needed]
DVD releases
In 1986, RCA/Columbia Pictures secured home video rights and released the film on VHS.
On April 27, 2010, Scorpion Releasing released the fim on DVD, with an interview with Martha Byrne.
Cast
- Dina Merrill - Sarah Hart
- Martha Byrne - Anna Hart
- Mark Patton - Rowan Hart
- Donna Mitchell - Michaela Dupont/Anna Parkhurst
- Jack Ryland - Graham Hart
- Loretta Devine - Ms. Benson (Schoolteacher)
- Jack Gilford - Dr. Henry Jelliff
- Gail Weed - Clara
- Virginia Stevens - Nurse Grap
- Marilyn Rockafellow - Mrs. Smithson
- John Wardwell - Farmer
- Susan Lowden - TV Newscaster
- Warren Watson - Dr. Barrett
- James Louis Fleming - Dr. Randall
- Julie Araskog - Nurse
- Kent Cottingham - Furniture Mover
- Stuart Cole - Albacore Security Guard
- Paul Baillargeon - Music teacher
External links
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