Anastasia (1956 film)

Anastasia
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anatole Litvak
Produced by	Buddy Adler
Written by	Guy Bolton Arthur Laurents Marcelle Maurette (play)
Starring	Ingrid Bergman Yul Brynner Helen Hayes
Music by	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	Jack Hildyard
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 13, 1956 (1956-12-13)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English French

Anastasia is a 1956 American historical drama film directed by Anatole Litvak for 20th Century Fox. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, and Helen Hayes. Supporting players include Akim Tamiroff, Martita Hunt, and, in a small role, Natalie Schafer. The film tells the story of a young, confused woman in 1920s France (Ingrid Bergman), who is picked up and influenced by a group of Russian expatriates, led by Yul Brynner, into passing herself off as Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the daughter of the murdered Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. However, the ultimate test for her is to convince the Dowager Empress, Maria Feodorovna (Helen Hayes), of her authenticity.

Plot

The film was loosely based on the true story of a former inmate in a German asylum who became known as 'Anna Anderson' and whose story made headlines for decades. However, the Russian monarchist movement never backed Ms. Anderson, nor did she ever meet with the Dowager Empress, played by Hayes. The script plays with the question of Anna/Anastasia's identity.

Ten years of turmoil have passed since the teenage Anastasia and her sisters and brother were presumably killed. Does the refugee Anna who has turned up in Paris have the bearing, speech, and intimate knowledge of the imperial family that the real grand duchess would have? Or is she merely an apt pupil of General Bounine (Brynner), a recovering amnesiac with a striking resemblance who has been cleverly groomed by the émigré general to stake a claim to 10 million pounds left by the Tsar in an English bank? In a series of encounters with former familiars and members of the imperial court, Anna begins to display a confidence and style that astonish her skeptical interlocutors, yet retains our sympathy by seeming more interested in recovering her own identity than the imperial bank account. In a tour de force climactic meeting with the Empress in Copenhagen, Bergman and Hayes take the measure of each other, alternately projecting imperial self-possession and the anguish of family longing. Meanwhile Bounine has become increasingly jealous of the attentions the fortune-hunting Prince Paul pays to Anna. At a grand ball at which her engagement with Paul is to be announced, the Empress has a private word with Anna/Anastasia, who subsequently elopes with Bounine.

While the film does not reveal whether Anna really is the Romanov princess, a series of subtle hints throughout appear to suggest that she is. The gradual realisation of her true identity is juxtaposed upon the romantic interest that develops within Bounine, who in one of his speeches declares to Anna / Anastasia that he cares for who she is and not what her name is.

Hayes summons all her stage experience to deliver the celebrated last line, summing up the film's poignant exploration of identity and role-playing. Asked how she will explain the vanishing of her supposed granddaughter to a ballroom full of expectant guests, she declares, "I will tell them that the play is over, go home!" The film closes with the regal figure of the Dowager Empress on the arm of Prince Paul, descending the grand staircase.

Production

The movie was adapted by Guy Bolton and Arthur Laurents from the play by Bolton and Marcelle Maurette. The structure of the play can still be detected in the static settings and theatrical "scenes" of the cinematic version, which has additional, essentially decorative ball scenes.

The film marked Bergman's return to Hollywood after several years working with her then-husband, Roberto Rossellini, in Italy. Anastasia won her an Academy Award for Best Actress, the second of three Oscars she would receive. The musical score from the film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score and was popular after the film's release.

Animated feature

• An animated musical version of Anastasia was made in 1997 by Fox Animation Studios; however, the stories have few similarities. See: Anastasia (1997 film).

External links

• Anastasia at the Internet Movie Database
• Anastasia at the TCM Movie Database
• Anastasia at AllRovi
• Anastasia at Rotten Tomatoes