Anastasia (1956 Film)
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''Anastasia'' is a 1956
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed by
Anatole Litvak Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (10 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), commonly known as Anatole Litvak, was a Russian-American filmmaker. Born to Jewish parents in Kiev, he began his theatrical training at age 13 in Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, ...
and starring
Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...
,
Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner (), was a Russian-born actor. He was known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical ''The King and I'' (19 ...
and
Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...
. The screenplay written by
Arthur Laurents Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. With a career spanning seven decades he received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, ...
is adapted from a 1952 play of the same title by French dramatist Marcelle Maurette, which is in turn inspired by the story of Anna Anderson, the best known of the many Anastasia impostors who emerged after the Imperial family were murdered in July 1918. Set in
interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
France, the film follows a plot related to rumors that the
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (; – 17 July 1918) was the youngest daughter of Nicholas II of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse), Tsarina Alexandr ...
, the youngest daughter of the late
Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...
and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, survived the execution of her family in 1918. Russian General Bounine (Brynner), former leader of the
White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...
during the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
, along with his associates plot to swindle an inheritance of £10 million from the Grand Duchess using an amnesiac (Bergman) who looks remarkably like the missing Anastasia. The exiled émigrés of the Russian aristocracy, in particular the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna (Hayes), must be convinced that their handpicked claimant is legitimate if the plotters are to get her money. The film represented a Hollywood comeback for its star Ingrid Bergman, after several years working exclusively in Europe following her much-publicized affair with
Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...
. She won the
Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...
, the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama is a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single aw ...
, and the
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in film-making. Winners 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 20 ...
for her performance.


Plot

Though the last Russian Tsar and his family were executed in 1918, rumors persisted that his youngest daughter, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, somehow survived. In 1928 Paris, Anna Koreff, an ailing woman resembling Anastasia, is brought to the attention of former White Russian General Bounine, now the proprietor of a successful Russian-themed nightclub. Bounine knows that while Anna was in a
mental asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...
being treated for
amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...
, she told a nun that she was Anastasia. When approached by Bounine and addressed as the grand duchess, she refuses to have anything to do with him. She flees and tries to throw herself into the
River Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres p ...
, but is stopped. Bounine meets with his associates Boris Chernov and Piotr Petrovin. Bounine has already repeatedly raised funds from stockholders (eager to gain a share of £10 million belonging to Czar Nicholas held by a British bank) based on his claim that he had found Anastasia. Privately he admits it is a scam. But the stockholders have lost patience and given him eight days to produce her. Bounine arranges to coach Anna to pass as Anastasia. During this time, she and Bounine begin to develop feelings for one another. Later, in a series of carefully arranged encounters with former familiars and members of the imperial court, Anna begins to display confidence and style that astonish many skeptical interlocutors. While a few accept Anna as Anastasia, no relative with any credibility will endorse her. With time running out, Bounine takes Anna to
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
to convince the highly skeptical dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Anastasia's grandmother. Meanwhile, Bounine becomes increasingly jealous of the attentions that Prince Paul, another fortune hunter, pays to Anna. The Empress initially refuses to receive Anna; however, after seeing her at a
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
ballet, the resemblance to Anastasia piques her curiosity. Unannounced, the Empress visits; at first she declares Anna a well-trained actress, skilled in melodrama. She is unmoved by details generally known to courtiers. When Anna refers to her nickname as
Malenkaya" (Little)
and then begins to cough, declaring that she always coughs when she is frightened, the empress becomes convinced that Anna is her granddaughter. Nevertheless, she exclaims, “You have come back, Anastasia!… but, oh please, if it should not be you, don’t ever tell me.” At a press conference presenting Anna as Anastasia, Mikhail Vlados, who met Anna at a hospital in Bucharest in 1920 and then took her home with him, accuses her of being Anna Koreff, a fraud. Anna acknowledges that she has used that name, unsure of who she was. Vlados accuses her of having sustained head wounds in a train explosion outside Bucharest, not in a Russian assassination attempt. Anna replies that she remembers being in a train explosion and that it is possible to have been wounded twice in a revolution. Bounine expresses disapproval that Anna now wants to marry Prince Paul, have the money, and the nobility, whereas originally she just wanted to know who she really was. She points out that a month ago he wanted the same thing. He scornfully tells her to marry Paul, a man who would not go near her if she weren’t an heiress. At a grand ball in Copenhagen at which Anna/Anastasia's engagement to Paul is to be announced, the dowager Empress has a private conversation with Bounine in which he comes close to admitting feelings for Anna. The Empress sends him to the Green Room. In a conversation with Anna, the Empress realizes that Anna has fallen in love with Bounine; she also sends Anna to the Green Room, staging an encounter between them. When it is time to announce Anastasia at the ball, an attendant announces that Anastasia is nowhere to be found. The Empress asks whether he has checked the Green Room. When told yes, she then states decisively that Anastasia and Bounine have both gone. Prince Paul then asks, "You mean the others were right, she was not Anastasia after all?" The Empress responds, "Wasn't she?" When Paul asks what she will announce to the courtiers, the Empress responds, "I will say the play is over, go home" (the final words of dialog). The film leaves it ambiguous whether "Anastasia" is real.


Cast

Credits from the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
: *
Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...
as Anna Koreff / Anastasia *
Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner (), was a Russian-born actor. He was known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical ''The King and I'' (19 ...
as General Bounine *
Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...
as the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna *
Akim Tamiroff Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a pr ...
as Boris Andreevich Chernov *
Martita Hunt Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havis ...
as Baroness Elena von Livenbaum *
Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early life ...
as Chamberlain * Sacha Pitoëff as Piotr Ivanovich Petrovin *
Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitsky; , 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a French actor of Russian Chinese origin. He had a lengthy career in French and German cinema, appearing in over 200 film and television roles over 50 year ...
as Prince Paul von Haraldberg *
Natalie Schafer Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom '' Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967). Early life and career Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, ...
as Irina Lissemskaia * Grégoire Gromoff as Stepan *
Karel Štěpánek Karel Štěpánek (29 October 189925 December 1980) was a Czech actor who spent many years in Austria and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he moved to the UK and spent much of the rest of his career acting there. Partial filmogra ...
as Mikhail Vlados * Ina De La Haye as Marusia *
Katherine Kath Katherine Kath (born Rose Marie Lily Faess; 11 August 1920 – 17 November 2012) was a French prima ballerina at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, who became an actress after suffering from an injury which destroyed her chances of continuing her ...
as Maxime *
Eric Pohlmann Eric Pohlmann (; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the primary antagonist of t ...
as Von Drivnitz *
Olaf Pooley Oloe Krohn "Olaf" Pooley (13 March 1914 – 14 July 2015) was an English actor, screenwriter and painter. As an actor, he appeared as Professor Stahlman in the seven-part ''Doctor Who'' serial '' Inferno'' (1970). Early life Pooley was born to ...
as Zhadanov *
Peter Sallis Peter John Sallis (1 February 1921 – 2 June 2017) was an English actor. He was the original voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning '' Wallace & Gromit'' films and played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from its 1 ...
as Grischa * Tamara Shayne as Zenia * Nora Nicholson as Lady-in-Waiting * George Pravda as Danish Customs Officer


Background


Historical basis

The play and film are both inspired by the phenomenon of Anastasia impostors, who appeared in the years following the Russian Imperial Romanov family's death in July 1918. Due to the disposal method of the remains and later Soviet government attempts to downplay the killings, claims of surviving Romanov family members would percolate for years to come. The location of Anastasia's remains would not be confirmed until 2007. Anna Anderson (born: Franziska Schanzkowska) was arguably the best known of the Anastasia impersonators. In February 1920 she was institutionalized in a
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
mental hospital after a suicide attempt. She initially refused to identify herself, later going by "Anna Tchaikowsky". Over the next few years, the woman was identified by several White Russian émigrés as Anastasia. She lived with a succession of émigrés and exiled White Russian nobles, with varying degrees of belief or skepticism in her identity as Anastasia. She eventually died in the United States in 1984.


Literary and stage adaptation

Anderson's supposed identity was a popular sensation from the early-to-mid 1920s, with various books and pamphlets repeating her claims published throughout the years. Two such books, the pro-Anderson Harriet von Rathlef's ''Anastasia, ein Frauenschicksal als Spiegel der Weltkatastrophe'' (''Anastasia, a Woman's Fate as Mirror of the World Catastrophe'') and the anti-Anderson Pierre Gilliard and Constantin Savitch's ''La Fausse Anastasie'' (''The False Anastasia'') were adapted into a play by French dramatist Marcelle Maurette, which toured Europe and America with Viveca Lindfors in the title role. While the play and film depict Tsarina Maria Feodorovna as privately accepting Anna's legitimacy, the actual Tsarina publicly denounced the Anderson as an imposter in 1928. The Copenhagen Statement, as it would come to be known, explained: "Our sense of duty compels us to state that the story is only a fairy tale. The memory of our dear departed would be tarnished if we allowed this fantastic story to spread and gain any credence." The play and film do not reveal whether Anna is the Romanov princess, but suggests through subtle hints that she is. The gradual realization of her true identity is juxtaposed against Bounine's growing romantic interest in Anna. In one speech, he says to Anna/Anastasia that he cares for who she is and not what her name is.


Production


Casting

The film marked Bergman's return to working for a Hollywood studio after several years of working in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
with her husband,
Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...
. (Their marriage had caused a scandal, as he divorced his then current wife, Marcella DeMarchis to be with her.) The film was also a comeback for
Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...
. She had suspended her career for several years due to the death of her daughter Mary, and her husband's failing health.


Filming

''Anastasia'' was primarily filmed on-location in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, with a
second unit A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...
capturing location footage of
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. The studio interiors were shot at
MGM-British Studios MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired ...
at
Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...
, England. The Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Paris, which was a center of worship for Russian aristocrats and other émigrés from
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
in the city, is featured in one of the early scenes.
Knebworth House Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Register of Historic Parks and Gar ...
was used to represent the Empress Marie’s palace.


Reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The
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website
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reported that 93% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 15 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 61 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Mae Tinee of the ''Chicago Tribune'' called the film "Beautifully balanced with history and fantasy woven into a background of searing sorrow and royal pomp, this is one of the year's most enjoyable films. It is presented with wit, warmth, delicacy, and skill." Many critics emphasized the film's status as Ingrid Bergman's comeback vehicle. Jean Yothers of the ''Orlando Sentinel'' wrote "After an absence of seven years from American-made films, beauteous Ingrid Bergman returns triumphantly." Moira Walsh of ''America'' wrote "Given a chance, Miss Bergman looks as lovely as ever and gives an effective high-tension performance." Some critics believed the film was bound too much to the static settings and theatrical "scenes" of the play, but additional, essentially decorative, ball scenes were added to open up the action.


Awards and nominations


Twin film

A West German film based on Anna Anderson, ''The Story of Anastasia'' (German: ''Anastasia, die letzte Zarentochter'') was released the same year."The Problem of Anastasia: Two films on a single pitiful theme", ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' (February 20, 1957), p. 11
Both films star
Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitsky; , 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a French actor of Russian Chinese origin. He had a lengthy career in French and German cinema, appearing in over 200 film and television roles over 50 year ...
. (see: twin films)


See also

* List of American films of 1956 * ''The Story of Anastasia'' * '' Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna'' * ''Anastasia'' (1997 film) *
Romanov impostors Members of the ruling Russian imperial family, the House of Romanov, were executed by a firing squad led by Yakov Yurovsky in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on July 17, 1918, during both the Russian Civil War and near the end of the First World War. Af ...


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasia (1956 Film) 1956 films 1956 drama films 20th Century Fox films American drama films 1950s English-language films American films based on plays Cultural depictions of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Films about amnesia Films directed by Anatole Litvak Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award–winning performance Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe–winning performance Films scored by Alfred Newman Films set in Copenhagen Films set in France Films set in 1928 CinemaScope films Films shot at MGM-British Studios Films with screenplays by Arthur Laurents 1950s American films Films shot in Paris Films shot in Copenhagen Films shot in Hertfordshire