Anastasia (1956)

ANASTASIA (U)
D: Anatole Litvak
20th Century Fox (Buddy Adler)
UK 🇬🇧 1956
105 mins

Drama/Historical

W: Arthur Laurents [based on the play by Marcelle Maurette & Guy Bolton]
DP: Jack Hildyard
Ed: Bert Bates
Mus: Alfred Newman
PD: Andrei Andreiev & Bill Andrews
Cos: Rene Hubert

Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia), Yul Brynner (Bounine), Helen Hayes (Empress), Martita Hunt (Baroness Von Livenbaum), Akim Tamiroff (Chernov), Felix Aylmer (Chamberlain), Ivan Desny (Prince Paul)

In 1920's Paris, a group of exiled Russians claim to have found the living daughter of Russia's last Czar, presumed executed in 1918, but the claimant is a fake.
Ingrid Bergman delivers one of her career best performances which saw her make a return to the screens of Hollywood following a scandal which saw her ostracised in the 1940's, eventually winning a deserved Oscar for her work (which also made her feel welcome in Hollywood again, following her affair with director Roberto Rossellini).
It's all quite schoolbook history, but it's one of them films from Hollywood's golden age which has to be watched, if only once.
7/10

Yul Brynner & Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia
Yul Brynner & Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia
Did You Know:
At the time of filming, the filmmakers were not aware that the real Anna Anderson was still alive. When this came to their attention, they flew straight to her home in Germany and asked permission to use her name.

Award Wins & Nominations:


MILSTEAD MOVIE AWARDS:

Wins: 1 (Best Actress in a Leading Role)

Nominations: 2 (Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Original Dramatic Score)


OSCARS:

Wins: 1 (Best Actress in a Leading Role)

Nominations: 1 (Best Original Score)


BAFTAS

Wins: none

Nominations: 1 (Best Screenplay)


OTHER WINS:

Golden Globes (Best Actress - Drama); Davids (Best Actress); National Board of Review (Best Actor, Top 10 Films of the Year); New York Film Critics (Best Actress)


See Also:
Anastasia (1997)