- This article is about a 1968 film. For other uses, see The Anniversary.
| The Anniversary |
DVD cover |
| Directed by |
Roy Ward Baker |
| Produced by |
Jimmy Sangster |
| Written by |
Jimmy Sangster
Based on a play by Bill MacIlwraith |
| Starring |
Bette Davis
Sheila Hancock |
| Music by |
Philip Martell |
| Cinematography |
Harry Waxman |
| Editing by |
Peter Weatherley |
| Distributed by |
20th Century Fox (USA)
Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK) |
| Release date(s) |
February 7, 1968 (USA)
February 18, 1968 (UK) |
| Running time |
95 minutes |
| Country |
United Kingdom |
| Language |
English |
| Budget |
$1,450,000 (estimated) |
| Gross revenue |
$1,352,000 (US) |
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." [1].
Bette Davis as Mrs. Taggart
Davis was required to wear self-adhesive eye patches for her role, which not only proved to be a constant irritant, [2] but affected her equilibrium as well. [1]
Shelia Hancock knew Davis had wanted Jill Bennett to replace her, but Bennett wasn't available. The concept of the Hollywood star system was foreign to Hancock, a veteran of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, and she resented the fawning attention paid to Davis based on her notable career. When everyone on the lot arrived to watch the star film her first scene, Hancock was "dumbfounded . . . It took me a while to realize this was the way Bette Davis was used to operating. She was a queen, after all." [2]
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." [3]
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." [4]
References
External links
