Michael_Elliott Anniversary, The (1968) ** (out of 4) Bette Davis made her second and final appearance in a Hammer film with this dark comedy that certainly gives the actress a memorable role. In the film she plays a mother from hell who invites her sons and their families back to her mansion to celebrate her wedding anniversary. Once the sons get there, mommy goes to work by ruining their relationships with their women and really sets her eyes on her youngest son's fiancé (Elaine Taylor). This black comedy has a lot going for it except the laughs. I really found most of the humor to be too dry to really work and in the end I can't help but be disappointed in this film even though we get Davis eating as much scenery as anytime in her career. Whether she's wearing her red or black eye-patch, she gives it her all in creating a woman you can't help but hate not only because of how mean she is but because of how cocky, arrogant and just downright vicious she is. Davis chews up one scene after another and really controls and punishes the rest of the actors in her way. The only one of the supporting cast that really stands a chance is Taylor who is quite easy on the eyes and comes off pretty good. Her character is the one who fights back at Davis and the young actress makes you believe her toughness. The screenplay is fairly straight in terms of it trying to get humor. There's really no slapstick or any physical laughs but instead it's mostly dialogue driven. The dialogue itself isn't the greatest and a lot of it focuses on meanness rather than anything else. One of the sons enjoys dressing in women's clothing, which is another easy gag that never really provides any laughs.

kerrison-philips It's highly unlikely that anyone nowadays would remember seeing the original London stage play with Mona Washbourne in the Bette Davis part. However, those who did so will tell you that Mona was far more effective in the main role than Bette, who just flew over to the UK to do her Big Hollywood Movie Star thing. Most of the rest of the cast were in the original stage production so just give their theatre performances. Indeed, the play's origins are emphasised throughout by the lack of any background music. This, plus the lack of any kind of filmic "style", makes for a disappointing movie, though Bette's fans will doubtless relish her occasional bravura moments.

dbdumonteil "Whatever happened to baby Jane" was a turning point in Bette Davis's career."Hush hush sweet Charlotte "was almost as good ,and she got first-class support from De Havilland,Cotten and Moorehead.With "the nanny" ,and without a Robert Aldrich to direct,the formula began to wear thin."The nanny" is an interesting work for fantasy and horror buffs though.I expected much of "the anniversary" probably too much.This movie comes one or two decades too late.All we see on the screen ,Tennessee Williams had invented it long before ,with his classy plays such as "the cat on the hot tin roof" and "suddenly last Summer" .Is there only a director here?It's so talky that it looks like a bad filmed stage production.One-eyed Davis overacts (why do you suppose she's like that?don't worry,you will find out) and as she has no Crawford or De Havilland to counterbalance ,she becomes a caricature of herself.There are so many films where Davis is brilliant! Why would you chose this one among all her awesome filmography?

The_Void Hammer studios are, of course, most famous for their horror productions; but the studio also gave us a number of films from other genres, and The Anniversary is a huge non-horror highlight! This camp and perfectly pitched black comedy is directed by one of the studio's heavyweight directors, Roy Ward Baker and is probably most famous for the fact that it stars the great Bette Davis in the sort of role that made her famous. However, the positive elements don't end there as The Anniversary benefits from a strong script and a varied array of characters that ensure the action is always entertaining and filled with tension. The film is an obvious inspiration for modern hits such as the Danish 'Festen', and works due its claustrophobic setting and well drawn characters. The central plot is brilliantly simple, and follows a family gathering for the anniversary of an overbearing mother and her late husband. She demands the presence of her three sons; a shy cross-dresser, a henpecked father of five and a careless youth who brings a different fiancé to meet his mother every year - and proceeds to rip them to pieces.Bette Davis is undoubtedly the lead star of this production, and she completely controls every scene she's in; thus giving a huge compliment to the support cast, who all give realistic and interesting performances. Sheila Hancock, Jack Hedley, James Cossins, Christian Roberts and Elaine Taylor provide perfect support for Davis, and the combined cast give credibility to a script that could have ended up giving way to a comical film. The film is based on a stage play by Bill MacIlwraith, and perhaps the best thing about his writing is the way he manages to bring out traits from the vindictive matriarch in all three of her sons. As you'd expect, it's Bette Davis who gets the best lines and seeing the great actress have fun delivering them is brilliantly entertaining and ensures that the black comedy elements always shine through. The central setting - the parental home - makes up the backbone of the story and is an ingenious place for the story to take place, as we're always aware that the support characters are very much in Davis' domain and the fact that most of the action takes place under one roof means that claustrophobia is a big part of the story. This film may be avoided by some Hammer fans who are only interested in the horror - but it really shouldn't be. I don't hesitate to name this as one of the very best films Hammer ever made and it comes highly recommended to all!