The Anniversary

It's my favorite Davis performance post-BABY JANE among her horror films. THE ANNIVERSARY, with Bette as the evil but grand Mrs. Taggert. From the moment the film begins she is constantly in control, even in those scenes where she is not physically appearing.

It is her wedding anniversary, and her three sons and the wife of one and the current girlfriend of another are in attendance. And in the course of the ninety minutes of the film, no matter what attempts to put Mrs. Taggart into her place or at least into a more reasonable frame of mind, she comes up trumps in making them feel like garbage. To be fair Mrs. Taggart has some grounds to be so vile - her missing eye is due to the antics of her sons. But even so, she takes bad behavior to a new level.

I have a sneaking suspicion, giving the devilish charm she brought to the role, Davis enjoyed this film. She was (despite her denials) a very difficult woman to get along with, and probably enjoyed how her character totally dominates this film. But it's done with such panache. Look at how she notes her youngest son's girlfriend (a cute looking blonde) has a secret physical defect that she uses her hair to hide. And she does so accidentally reveal it to the entire family.

Nobody escapes her witchery. In the course of the film she is getting some tiresome phone calls from one of her tenants about the work she did in constructing his house. She is as sweet as molasses in calming him down, but once she has hung up she tells her oldest son that they use a third rate repairman to fix the tenant's problem. Indeed, the last sequence in the film, when Bette passes a fountain that is of a male figure who shoots out water in a "unique" manner shows Mrs. Taggert's view of how the world should be treated.

plays Mrs. Taggart, the controlling and manipulative mother to three sons. She oversees every aspect of their lives, the family business - which she owns outright - employs them and she works hard at scaring away any woman they bring into the family.

The Anniversary is the annual celebration of Mrs. Taggart's wedding anniversary to the boys' dead father. A macabre event in itself it is made more horrendous by her constant belittling of her sons, their women and her grandchildren. They are all targets of her caustic wit and cruelty.

Bette Davis is her usual glorious self in the starring role. Wonderfully gowned and housed with a matching eye-patch, she steals every scene she is in with flair and drawl, withering all including her grandchildren - all mere fodder for her verbal cannonballs.

And the ending is quite a surprise. Wait for it! 7 out of 10.

This is probably one of the all-time BEST performances by Bette Davis you will ever see. As I understand it, this is not easy to find and if you are a true Bette Davis fan, you simply MUST have this! The simple plot revolves around Ms Taggert's (Bette Davis) yearly tradition of celebrating her wedding anniversary even though her husband has been dead quite some time. Not only does she insist on commemorating the occasion but DEMANDS that her sons, ALL of whom have their own issues with Mother Dear, attend along with their respective families. Then Bette proceeds to tear into them unmercifully because she knows they will put up with it all for the sake of good ol' moola! Knowing this, Bette pulls no punches and delivers one of the funniest, most brutal, scathing, lowdown, and over-the-top CLASSIC performances in film history.

This is vintage Bette. Trust me. No Bull. You simply MUST see this! It is just a stitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!

Even though her husband popped his clogs some ten years before, Mrs Taggart still makes an occasion of her wedding anniversary to him by making sure that her sons join her at the family home so they can celebrate together.

The build up to the event sees her sons describing her as akin to a force of nature that can't be controlled and as a fierce matriarch. This seems fitting when she finally makes her entrance on screen as she is played by none other than Bette Davis who is on flying form and attacks her role with relish. Not just that but she has a fantastic wardrobe topped off with an eye patch!

It's obvious that Mrs Taggart will keep her boys in place by means necessary whether it be manipulation, knowing secrets that her sons would rather be kept private to be used at any given moment like some kind of trump card that she keeps up her sequinned sleeves and by finding any weaknesses that her sons or their partners possess.

It's fitting that this film was made by Hammer Films as whilst on the surface it's a very black comedy, it also works as a horror film with Davis demolishing all around her like a very stylish and catty version of Godzilla.

The tone here is high camp which is why it works so well. If this was presented as more serious it wouldn't have been half as much fun and Davis would have been wasted.

Davis didn't want to take the role but only changed her mind when her friend Jimmy Sangster rewrote the script for the screen from the stage version. Sangster had penned the excellent screenplay for Davis' earlier film, The Nanny (also highly recommended).

There was also animosity between cast members with 'serious stage actress' Sheila Hancock witnessing the way Davis was pampered over and given the attention deserving of a star of her stature and being utterly alienated by it. C'est la vie.