The Anniversary (1968 film)

Lore & Background

The play was first produced in the West End with Mona Washbourne as Mrs. Taggart. Bette Davis initially turned down the role in the screen adaptation, but after Jimmy Sangster, who had scripted her earlier film The Nanny (1965), rewrote the screenplay, she agreed to play the role. Sheila Hancock and Jack Hedley reprised their stage roles, while James Cossins was newly cast for the film. Original director Alvin Rakoff was replaced a week into filming after he clashed with Davis, who felt he 'didn't have the first fundamental knowledge of making a motion picture, let alone what an actor was all about'.

Reader's Guide

The Anniversary is notable as a Hammer Films foray into black comedy, showcasing Bette Davis in a role that required her to wear self-adhesive eye patches, which proved a constant irritant and affected her equilibrium. The production was marked by conflict between Davis and original director Alvin Rakoff, who was replaced after a week. Rakoff, an award-winning director, countered that Davis 'didn't want a director. She wanted someone enthralled to her.' Sheila Hancock, a veteran of the English Stage Company, was 'dumbfounded' by the fawning attention paid to Davis on set, noting that Davis 'was a queen, after all.' The film grossed $1,352,000 in the United States alone, against an estimated budget of $1,450,000. Critical reception was mixed: Renata Adler of The New York Times called it 'not a distinguished example of the Terrifying Older Actress Filicidal Mummy genre, but it isn't too heavy,' while TV Guide rated it three out of four stars, commenting that 'Davis is great, but the film suffers from the staginess of the play.'

Did You Know?

• Bette Davis initially turned down the role but agreed after Jimmy Sangster rewrote the screenplay.
• Sheila Hancock, who played Karen, knew Davis had wanted Jill Bennett for the role, but Bennett was unavailable.

Production Turmoil and the Queen of the Set

The making of The Anniversary was defined by a dramatic power struggle at the top. Original director Alvin Rakoff, a respected figure who had previously guided performances from Laurence Olivier and Peter Sellers, was removed just one week into principal photography. Bette Davis, who had already clashed with him, reportedly felt he lacked even basic knowledge of filmmaking and of what actors needed. Rakoff pushed back, calling Davis "not the most rational woman one can meet" while conceding she was "a great screen actress." He explained that she didn't want a director so much as someone "enthralled to her," and that the script remained "a wordy stage play" ill-suited to cinema. Roy Ward Baker stepped in to finish the shoot. Davis's one-eye role required self-adhesive patches that irritated her skin and disrupted her balance throughout long takes. Meanwhile, British stage veteran Sheila Hancock found the Hollywood machinery baffling. When the entire crew gathered to watch Davis film her opening scene, Hancock was "dumbfounded" by the spectacle, eventually concluding, "She was a queen, after all." The production was staged at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.

A Family Portrait in Black Comedy

At the heart of The Anniversary sits Mrs. Taggart, a one-eyed matriarch whose successful building-contractor husband has been dead for a decade. Each year she convenes her three sons for the traditional wedding-anniversary gathering, and the 1968 film follows one such day and evening. The eldest, Henry, is a transvestite; the middle son Terry is preparing to emigrate to Canada with his sharp-tongued wife Karen and their six children; and the youngest, Tom, is a serial philanderer whose numerous relationships have all been terminated at his mother's behest. This time he arrives with a pregnant girlfriend, Shirley, in tow. Across the course of the celebration, the domineering and vindictive Mrs. Taggart systematically reminds each child exactly who holds the purse strings and, by extension, who controls their futures. The screenplay, penned by Jimmy Sangster, was adapted from Bill MacIlwraith's 1966 stage play, and the film's darkly comic tone leans heavily on the matriarch's relentless manipulation as the engine of every scene.

From the West End to the Silver Screen

The Anniversary began its life on the London stage, where Bill MacIlwraith's 1966 play was first produced in the West End with Mona Washbourne in the title role. When Hammer Films and Seven Arts moved to adapt the material for the screen, Bette Davis initially declined the part. It was only after Jimmy Sangster, who had previously scripted her 1965 film The Nanny, rewrote the screenplay that she agreed to take on Mrs. Taggart. Notably, Davis had originally wanted Jill Bennett for the role, but Bennett was unavailable. To preserve continuity with the stage version, Sheila Hancock, Jack Hedley, and James Cossins were all signed to reprise the characters they had played in the West End production. For Hancock, a veteran of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, the Hollywood star system was an alien concept, and she openly resented the deference accorded to Davis based on her earlier fame. The film was shot at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, with an estimated production budget of $1,450,000.

Critical Response and Box Office Performance

The Anniversary received a mixed but generally respectful critical response upon its release. The British premiere took place at the Rialto cinema in London on 11 February 1968. In The New York Times, critic Renata Adler acknowledged the film's place within what she wryly termed the "Terrifying Older Actress Filicidal Mummy genre," noting that while it was "not a distinguished example" of that category, it "isn't too heavy," adding that the genre itself "isn't that distinguished after all." TV Guide awarded the picture three out of a possible four stars, praising Davis's performance as "great" while observing that the film "suffers from the staginess of the play on which it was based." At the box office, the film performed respectably for its scale. Fox records indicate U.S. box office sales of $1,450,000, while another figure places the American gross at $1,352,000. Against an estimated production budget of $1,450,000, these numbers suggest the picture roughly recouped its investment in the domestic market alone.

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