Anastasia 1956

     This film is based upon a play by Marcelle Maurette.  Russian exiles in Paris persuade a destitute and suicidal woman to pose as the heir to the Russian throne.  The plotters hope to collect ten million pounds from the Bank of England.  There is a problem with their plan when the woman begins to believe she is really Anastasia? 

     I always thought it was an interesting mystery about Anastasia.  Could it actually be possible that she survived the attempt to destroy the entire family of the Tsar Nicolas II?  He was the last emperor of Russia, crowned in 1896 and there had been three centuries of rule by the Romanov dynasty.  The meaning of her name is resurrection and it is of Greek origin.  The family was killed by members of the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police at Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918.  Anastasia was 17 years old and she was born in 1901.   The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 was lead by Vladimir LLich Ulanvo known as Lenin and he was the founder of the Russian Communist Party.  He was the first head of the Soviet Union and he spent the years leading up to 1917 in exile within Russia and abroad.  Analysis by DNA testing of bone fragments put solved the mystery that any of the royal family escaped execution.  3* (this movie is OK)

105 min, Bio directed by Anatole Litvak with Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Akim Tamiroff, Martita Hunt, Felix Aylmer, Sacha Pitoeff, Ivan Desny, Natalie Schafer, Gregorie Gromoff, Karel Stepanek, Ina De La Haye.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 90% critic 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* out of 4* average user review 3.4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 168 reviews,

Special Note:  Filmed in Copenhagen, Denmark; Hertfordshire, England, UK; Paris, France.  Ingrid Bergman’s was blacklisted in 1949 because of her affair with director Roberto Rossellini.  She had a child out of marriage and this is her comeback film.  This movie is also based on the story of Anna Anderson.  She was a woman who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia.  At the time of filming, the production team was not aware that the real Anna Anderson was still alive.  Later, a team flew to Germany and asked permission to use her name.  Ingrid Bergman won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Anastasia.  Yul Brynner also won a Best Actor Oscar but his award was for King Mongkut in The King and I also of 1956.  There is another film with the same title from 1997.