Anastasia

"The most amazing conspiracy the world has ever known... and love as it never happened to a man and woman before!"

1956 1h 45m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 193

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Russian exiles in Paris plot to collect ten million pounds from the Bank of England by grooming a destitute, suicidal girl to pose as heir to the Russian throne. While Bounin is coaching her, he comes to believe that she is really Anastasia. In the end, the Empress must decide her claim.

“The most amazing conspiracy the world has ever known... and love as it never happened to a man and woman before!”

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Cast

Ingrid Bergman
Anna Koreff / Anastasia
Yul Brynner
General Sergei Pavlovich Bounine
Helen Hayes
Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna
Akim Tamiroff
Boris Adreivich Chernov
Martita Hunt
Baroness Elena von Livenbaum
Felix Aylmer
Chamberlain
Sacha Pitoëff
Piotr Ivanovich Petrovin
Ivan Desny
Prince Paul von Haraldberg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Anatole Litvak
Writers: Arthur Laurents
Languages: English, French
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

70 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Anatole Litvak, shot by Jack Hildyard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Bert Bates shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The most amazing conspiracy the world has ever known... and love as it never happened to a man and woman before!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Anatole Litvak directs. Jack Hildyard behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. Bert Bates cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
270 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4Directed by Anatole Litvak, shot by Jack Hildyard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Bert Bates shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The most amazing conspiracy the world has ever known... and love as it never happened to a man and woman before!".
9IMDB entry: tt0048947 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "princess", "amnesia", "identity", "exile".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Original score: Alfred Newman
Editing: Bert Bates
Costume design: René Hubert
Makeup / hair: David Aylott
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,520,000
Box office: $4,300,000
Return: 122% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Anastasia (1956)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Anatole Litvak

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-11-09
★ 6/10
Whilst this is certainly a lavish and luxuriant production, somehow the sum of the parts just don't add up to much of an whole. Yul Brynner is the ambitious, former general-turned-restauranteur "Bounine" who has been, for many a year, convincing his financial backers that he has discovered the last surviving child of the assassinated Czar Nicholas II. He has discovered the sickly and troubled "Anna" (Ingrid Bergman) and hopes that with some grooming, training and furs she might be able to convince the Dowager Empress (Helen Hayes) that she is, indeed, her granddaughter. It also turns out that should she endorse the identity of the young woman, the enormous sum of £10 million will be released to her by the Bank of England. Bergman is strong as the initially vulnerable, amnesiac girl who has no real idea who she is, or where she comes from - and that performance contributes very plausibly as the story gathers momentum and her persona becomes much better established (real or not!). Hayes - aided by the scene stealing Martita Hunt's "Baroness von Livenbaum" - also plays her part well, an imperious woman who is cynical but harbours an optimistic desire that hopes against hope. Brynner isn't up to very much, though. He doesn't quite cut it as the scheming manipulator and as the story progresses his character, already pretty unlikeable, doesn't really develop until a rather weak and underwhelming denouement (historical truth notwithstanding). When this was made, there was a chance that one of the Grand Duchesses had survived, and the colourful and stylish look of this film tries hard to capitalise on those intriguing rumours. Sadly, though, here the dialogue is wordy and there is little by way of on-screen chemistry to distinguish this disappointingly episodic and plodding historical drama.

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