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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 engaging dark comedy stars the incomparable Bette Davis in one of her best latter-day screen roles as a merciless one-eyed mother who uses wedding anniversary(although her husband has been dead for quite some time) as an excuse to lure her spineless sons into her lair and demonstrate her strange hold over them. This year is a particular feast for the mother when the youngest, a somewhat promiscuous chap, announces that he's going to settle down and get married. And better yet, the eldest and most spineless of the brood discloses that he will be moving out of the country so mumsy will leave him alone once and for all. Will things turn out as planned? You"ll just have to find out yourself when you watch this stylish, darkly witty, and perversely entertaining tale that could have been written especially for its star.

On the celebration of the anniversary of Mrs. Taggart (Bette Davis), her three dominated sons come to her house for the dinner party. Terry (Jack Hedley), Henry (James Cossins) and Tom Taggart (Christian Roberts) work in construction, in a business that belonged to their father and is presently managed by their manipulative mother. Tom brings his pregnant fiancée Shirley Blair (Elaine Taylor) to tell his mother that they will marry each other; Terry brings his wife Karen Taggart (Sheila Hancock) and they secretly intend to emigrate to Canada; and Henry is gay and loves to wear women's underwear. During the night, the mean Mrs. Taggart uses the most despicable means and tricks to get rid off Shirley and Terry and keep her sons close to her.

The theatrical "The Anniversary" is certainly among the darkest comedies I have ever seen. This is the first time I see this movie, and I immediately recalled the polemic "Festen" that now I can see was visibly inspired in the idea of "The Anniversary". Bette Davis is awesome, giving another stunning performance in the role of the wicked Mrs. Taggart. Her witty lines are cruel, manipulating her sons as if they were puppets. The rest of the cast is also excellent, giving the necessary support to highlight the presence of Mrs. Davis. If the viewer likes black humor, he or she will certainly love this little gem. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Aniversário" ("The Anniversary")

This 1968 black comedy was the last film in which Davis dominated with her legendary persona. In a sense it is the last "Bette Davis" film. Whales of August, Burnt Offerings, and Death on the Nile followed, but the part of Mrs Taggart, a domineering widow complete with eye-patch, is pure Davis and she has a field day, making this film an absolute must for her fans. Though it's stage origins show, and the film doesn't really begin until Davis makes her entrance, it is an entertaining comedy with an excellent supporting cast, funny, bitchy, dialog, absurdest humor and a tone similar to Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? and The Lion in Winter both of which began as plays. The prolific Roy Ward Baker who directed everything from a Night to Remember(1958) to The Vampire Lovers (1970) is not a visionary; the direction, editing, camera placement and set design are all adequate, but just imagine what Almodovar would do with this material!

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!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

A family gather for the anniversary of their father's death and is led by their cruel and domineering one eyed mother (Bette Davis) who constantly gets pleasure in emotionally blackmailing her children.

Written and produced by Jimmy Sangster from a play by Bill McIlwraith, this film is part thriller drama and part black comedy in yet another post-WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1963) thriller that Davis seemed to be mostly be landing through the 1960s. Indeed, Davis is fantastic and once again seems to be relishing her role in her second film for Hammer (the first being THE NANNY, 1965) while everyone else other than the excellent Sheila Hancock seem to play second fiddle to Davis. James Cossins is also funny as the cross dressing perverted son.

I only gave this one star because the star is for me somehow managing to sit through this film. Where does one even begin? Crappy set design, unbearable dialogue, outrageous situations, and to top it all off, Bette Davis showing exactly why I don't like her.

It's supposed to be a black comedy, but instead it was a bloated spectacle of bad, bad camp. Evidently the screenwriters took a small part of the story from Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You In The Closet And I'm Feeling So Sad in that the father is a large part of the story, but he's dead. Although in Oh Dad, Poor Dad..., the father is an angel and narrates the story. Here, Bette Davis uses the dead father as a sort of looming figure to make the children feel guilty (among other things).

There are three children: Henry, the gay cross dresser who likes to steal women's undergarments, Tom, who's brought his fiancée Shirley home to his mommie, and Terry, who's planning to move to Canada with his ever-pregnant wife Karen. Their mother (er, mommie, if you will) has all of the children by strings- she knows everything about them and all the secrets they're trying to hide. They have all been brought together to celebrate the wedding anniversary of their mother and the dead father, but the mother decides to play psychological games with them and verbally and psychologically abuse them.

There is only one funny scene in this film, and that's Bette Davis's entrance. She sashays down the stairs, wearing what could best be described as a bright red tent, only to trip on the stairs, then right herself. She crosses the room and admires the flowers her son Henry has bought her, then asks very seriously if someone died. From then on, it's an uncomfortable watch, unless you like Bette Davis speaking in her annoying high voice register, squashing everyone under her thumb.

Davis (as Mrs. Taggart) camps it up to the max, and not in a fun way like she did in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane or Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte. In those films, as another reviewer pointed out, she had a Crawford or de Havilland to distill her camp, but here it's all Bette. She seems to be trying to out-camp even herself. For some reason, she reminds me of late-career Joan Crawford in this role. Not because she plays a domineering, controlling, abusive mother, but take a look at her makeup. Her eyebrows are much thicker than usual, her mouth is a red slash, and she's wearing long false eyelashes. Ring a bell? Thought so. She's allowed to run loose, all the Bette mannerisms in full swing, her seeming more like a drag queen than a woman.

There are some firecrackers, too, and they are very nice, but not nice enough to make me add stars.

Everyone else holds their own in the background...if holding their own means screeching over each other as much as possible. The worst offender is probably Elaine Taylor (Shirley), but everyone else gets some bad dialogue to spout. This film is clearly based off of a stage play (I've read that it's a reworking of The Silver Cord, another domineering mommie story, which was made into a movie starring Irene Dunne), but it must not have been a very good stage play.

And get a load of that awful title song. Gack.

I'm not sure why this film is on lists of Bette Davis's best films/performances. I was never a fan to begin with, but this film makes me especially not like her. If you like Bette Davis when she's in this mode, you'll love this film, but anyone else, even some Bette fans, will want to steer far away from this one. Movies that make you feel uncomfortable within the first few minutes are usually not a good sign.

Wish I'd listened to the other one-star reviewers. You won't be able to unsee this if you decide to watch it, and I don't mean that in a good way. 😬😬

Today this movie would never be made, simply cause there is no star that can handle it. Its a shame, really. Its not that the movie is so magnificent or anything, its just so dominated by the leading lady that you can't imagine how it would be done today, if at all, and with who? Faye Dunaway? She's still living down "Mommie Dearest", twenty years later. Anne Bancroft? She's not hateful and lovable at the same time and not an icon. Davis could play a monster yet keep her fans and probably gain more as a result of playful movies like this.

All the real stars are gone, and watching this makes that painfully obvious.

Bette Davis devours the rest of the cast, and doesn't even bother spitting them out. And all we can do it watch and enjoy. No true fan of hers can do without this.

This film adapts one of those "family members at each others' throats" stage plays. One can compare it with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" - but it doesn't have the tragic depth that "Woolf" has. But it's enjoyable on a sort of cathartic level. Most of us have, I think, had to stifle many unpleasant and devastating (so we imagine they would be) insults, verbal attacks, and nastier pranks and threats that we imagine hurling at our family members in response to their perceived offenses against us, which we cannot launch because we are too decent or too inhibited to do so. Well, none of these characters are; in particular, the matriarch, Mrs. Taggart, played by Bette Davis as sort of a cousin of the Snow Queen in Narnia, but with much more of a sense that she is enjoying herself immensely. Really I think Davis was consciously trying to set a benchmark against which all other narcissistic tyrant moms in the later history of the cinema must be compared.

Mrs. Taggart has not so much raised as trained her three now-adult sons to play the roles she wants them to play in her construction business and in the family. I use the word "trained" in the animal- training sense, or perhaps in the sense one uses to describe the way that ivy is induced to grow on a trellis, or bonsai trees are constrained to grow in a little twisted way. Today they come to the house, per annual ritual, in observance of the anniversary of her marriage to her long-deceased husband. But it is just another way of it being "her day". As if any of the other days of the year belonged anyone else in the family.

One has brought his wife, and another a new fiancée, who may be of help in plans or fantasies of escape or rebellion. The eldest son is unmarried, subject to "perversion" - this 1968 portrayal is far from what we would want written today, and yet the ways he chooses to enact his preferences are so risky and transgressive that they make me wonder if on some level he isn't trying to go to prison to get away from Mother.

The thing that makes this farce rather than tragedy, I think, is that the level of witty verbal bloodshed is so extreme that we are spared the duty of suspension of disbelief. We don't believe that this is a movie about real people with a history. It is more like a Punch and Judy show, or like some "Twilight Zone" episodes you can think of with twisted patriarchs. And that in turn puts us off from wondering how it is that after years of this nobody has actually left. Anyway, I don't think this movie actually leaves us with a lot of new wisdom about dysfunctional families, but not every movie has to be a classic in that sense. It does what it is trying to do very well.

Trust Hammer to make one of their most ghastly movies a black comedy with not a trace of horror in sight. This entire production is centred around a ghoulish performance from a barnstorming Bette Davis as the matriarch of a rich family. The family are brought together to celebrate the wedding anniversary between Davis and her late husband, and as the night goes on everybody's dark secrets are gradually revealed with skeletons dropping out of closets all over the place.

Roy Ward Baker's superior direction keeps what is in essence a single location film moving along nicely. This would have worked well as a stage play as for 90% of the running time we get Davis going around and dominating the screen in being absolutely horrible to everybody. As such, few of the other cast members get much of a look in, but nobody puts a foot wrong here. There are many genuinely funny moments throughout, particularly in Davis's put-downs, and a darkness of touch which is surprising given that this is a family friendly production.

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.

A friend of mine recommended this. His taste in movies is, let's say, controversial, so my expectations were kinda low. Indeed, this is not amongst the best dark comedy movies i have ever watched. I didn't mind it was far fetched, this is the "nature" of dark comedies, everything is a bit exaggerated. Problem is, it feels forced. Actors' lines don't seem natural, this was too theatrical, it was like the actors screaming their lines waiting applause from the audience.

Having said that, this was still a delight. Davis was magnetic, Elaine Taylor was beautiful and the other actors were good. I enjoyed every second of it, there were some nice twists and turns, nothing mindblowing though. For sure, i have watched far better dark comedies than this, however i am glad i watched it, too. Every fan of this genre should not miss it.

I have been aware of this film for many years, an image Bette Davis wearing an eye patch being burned into my memory. As she was the star I was surprised that the film was not set in the USA but in the UK, I try to avoid reading about a film before I have seen it. I'm glad that I finally got around to watching it, although it's very much of its time most should enjoy it even now.

Widowed construction czar keeps her three grown sons (one a husband and father, another recently engaged, and the third a cross-dresser) squirming under her thumb--but on the anniversary of her marriage to their father, the daughter-in-law and the fiancée attempt to trump the queen bee. Well-produced and directed adaptation of Bill MacIlwraith's play is predictably stagy but also quite lively, with claws out. Bette Davis (in an eyepatch!) was poised to tear down the scenery in the leading role, yet she's more than just a camp monstrosity here. One would be hard-pressed to say that Davis brings dimension and shading to her domineering tyrant, however she does give us a maniacally clever, tightly-wound woman, and it's a memorable portrait. The supporting cast is equally good, and some of the dialogue has bite, however these selfish, repulsive people eventually wear out their welcome. ** from ****

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The blackest of comedies, this really can't be classified under any specific category because of its stepping into every genre now and then. It's a drama one minute, a comedy the next, with some pieces of horror and mystery thrown in. Usually it's found in the classics section or the horror section, but it can't be put in any specific genre.

Bette Davis is Mrs. Taggart, a one-eyed society matron who keeps a firm grip on her three sons and their lives. Henry (James Cossins), the oldest, has a strong fixation with his mother and does whatever she asks him to do. Terry (Jack Hedley), the middle son, is the one who managed to marry Karen (Sheila Hancock) and have 5 children. Tom (Christian Roberts), the youngest, is secretly engaged to Shirley (Elaine Taylor), a blonde beauty. On each wedding anniversary of her and her late husband, Mrs. Taggart commands that her three sons and their families attend. On every wedding anniversary, it is an endurance test to see who can stand the wraith of the woman This anniversary, Shirley is subjected to what could be the oddest family in all of England.

All of the actors are amazing in their roles. Bette Davis gives what could be her best role after Margot Channing in ALL ABOUT EVE! Jack Hedley, familiar as the police inspector in Lucio Fulci's gory NEW YORK RIPPER, is younger and has his original British voice (dubbed in RIPPER). THE ANNIVERSARY is a wonder to watch. Intelligently written, with enough twists and turns in the plot to give one whiplash, Davis delivers so much venomous dialogue it's a wonder that her co-stars didn't die from poisoning! Every character has secrets that are used as blackmail by Mrs. Taggart, who wouldn't think much of putting her sons in jail.

THE ANNIVERSARY is too much fun to explain in a simple review, so find a copy of this gem and find out for yourself!