Though the last
Tsar
of
Imperial Russia
,
Nicholas II
, and
his family
were
executed
in July 1918, rumors spread that Nicholas's youngest daughter,
Grand Duchess Anastasia
, somehow escaped and survived.
During 1928, in
Paris
,
France
, an ailing woman named
Anna Anderson
, who resembles Anastasia, is brought to the attention of a former
White Russian
, General Sergei Bounine, the proprietor of a successful Russian-themed
nightclub
. Bounine knows that, while in a
mental asylum
being treated for
amnesia
, Anna had told a
nun
there that she is Anastasia. Terrified after being approached by Bounine and addressed as the
Grand Duchess
, Anna flees to the
River Seine
and attempts to throw herself in, though she is stopped.
Bounine then meets with his associates, Boris Andreevich Chernov and Poitr Ivanovich Petrovin; he had already repeatedly raised funds from
English
stockholders
, eager to obtain a £10 million
inheritance
that belonged to Anastasia held by the
Bank of England
-based on Bounine's claim that he had found her, which he privately admits is a lie. Frustrated by the delays, the stockholders have lost their patience with Bounine and has given him eight days to produce Anastasia.
Bounine arranges for Anna to be intensively trained to pass as Anastasia. During this time, the pair begin to develop feelings for each other. Later, in a series of carefully arranged encounters with former familiars and members of the Imperial court, Anna begins to display a sense of confidence and style that astonish people who doubt her. However, they do not receive enough confirmations from people that recognized Anna and Bounine comes up with another plan.
Shortly afterwards, Anna and Bounine arrive in
Copenhagen
,
Denmark
, to convince the skeptical
Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna
, the Grand Duchess's paternal grandmother, of Anna being Anastasia, as no one would question her decision. Meanwhile, Bounine becomes jealous of how much attention Prince Paul von Haraldberg, another
fortune hunter
and the Dowager Empress's nephew, pays Anna. Initially thinking that Anna was going to be just another
imposter
, the Dowager Empress is persuaded into believing that Anna is Anastasia.
Later, at a
ball
in which the Dowager Empress was to present her granddaughter, presumbly to announce Anna's and Prince Paul's
engagement
as well, the Dowager Empress has a final private conversation with her. Though she is aware of Bounine's intentions, the Dowager Empress tells Anna that she believes that she truly is Anastasia and the future was hers to decide. Upon realizing that Anna and Bounine were in love, the Dowager Empress allows them to run away together. When told that she and Bounine and Anna had left, Paul explains to the others that the young woman wasn't Anastasia after all. But the Dowager Empress replies, "Wasn't she?" and goes to speak to the guests. When asked by Paul what she going to say to them, the Dowager Empress responds, "I will say, the play is over. Go home."
L-R:
Sacha Pitoeff
,
Ingrid Bergman
,
Akim Tamiroff
and
Yul Brynner
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
, on whom Anna's character is based
The film was adapted by
Guy Bolton
and
Arthur Laurents
from the play by Bolton and
Marcelle Maurette
. 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.
Though the film does not explicitly reveal whether Anna is or isn't Anastasia, it suggests through subtle hints that she is, such as frequently coughing when she was frightened, which the Dowager Empress says that Anastasia also did when she was a young girl. The gradual realization that Anna is the Grand Duchess is through Bounine's growing feelings for her.
The film was partially meant to mark Bergman's return to Hollywood after several years of working in
Italy
with her husband,
Roberto Rossellini
. Their marriage had caused a
scandal
, as he
divorced
his then current wife, Marcella DeMarchis, to be with her and Bergman had become pregnant with his
child
. The film was also a comeback for
Helen Hayes
. She had suspended her career for several years due to the death of her daughter, Mary, and her husband's failing health.
The film was shot on location in Copenhagen,
London
and Paris. Studio interiors were shot at
MGM-British Studios
at
Borehamwood
,
England
.
The
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral
in Paris, which was a center of worship for Russian aristocrats and other
emigres
from
St. Petersburg
in the city, is featured in one of the early scenes.
[4]
The theme song of the film, also titled "
Anastasia
", has been recorded by a number of artists. The most popular version was by
Pat Boone
, reaching number 3 (as a
double-A-side
with "
Don't Forbid Me
") on the
Billboard
Best Sellers in Stores chart for several weeks in early 1957.
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(
November 2023
)
|
Awards and nominations
edit
- ^
Solomon, Aubrey.
Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)
. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989.
ISBN
978-0-8108-4244-1
. p250
- ^
Cohn, Lawrence (October 15, 1990). "All-Time Film Rental Champs".
Variety
. p.?M144.
- ^
"Anastasia (1956)"
.
- ^
Anastasia