In 1917, the Romanoff dynasty - rulers of Imperial Russia - were overthrown by revolution... Some of the nobility and their followers fled to safety but the Czar, his wife Alexandra and his five children were imprisoned and then slaughtered in a cellar in 1918 by the Bolsheviks...
Shortly after, rumors started that the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolayevna had not been murdered with the rest of her family but had escaped and was still alive...
In the years that followed, the whisper grew louder and louder... Several women outside Russia claimed her identity... All were aware that l0 millions pounds were at stake left by the Czar in the Bank of England...
The film opens in Paris 1928 - Russian Easter...
An amnesic woman, using the name of Anna Corev (Ingrid Bergman), is about to commit suicide on the bank of the Seine... She is saved by a White Russian General, called Bounine (Yul Brynner).
With a face hint by fatigue and stress, lost and broken, frustrated and unhappy, and tired to argue, she accepts modestly to be taken under care and to be trained by the General and his business associates Boris Chernov (Akim Tamiroff) and Petrovin (Sasha Pitoeff) in order to be passed off as Princess Anastasia, the daughter of the Czar of Russia...
Bearing a strong resemblance to the Grand Duchess, the plan of the Russian group can succeed... There is an opportunity for them to share the inheritance, the fortune left by the Emperor...
After days of training, the unknown lady becomes another woman... Elegant, radiant and healthy, arousing profound solemnity, dignity and even royalty...
The Grand Duchess wins her first victory when 18 of the 25 individuals recognized her as 'Anastasia,' but the most significant victory is yet to come... She must be recognized by her grand mother, the Dowager Empress of Russia, who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark...
Helen Hayes is simply superb as the melancholic old Empress with a wistful desire to accept the vague truth...
Yul Brynner plays his role with enormous task...
The motion picture marks Ingrid Bergman's comeback to the Hollywood cinema after the European exile... She gives a gracious, confused, eloquent, moving performance, following back the progress of a woman, from the deepness of hopelessness and confusion, through strenuous efforts with uncertainty and disillusion, to a successful display of bravery, self-respect and love...
Directed with elegance by Anatole Litvak, and with a fascinating music score by Alfred Newman, "Anastasia" is a combination of mystery and romance, a compelling drama with quite considerable charm which persuade without projecting any flame on history...
Shortly after, rumors started that the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolayevna had not been murdered with the rest of her family but had escaped and was still alive...
In the years that followed, the whisper grew louder and louder... Several women outside Russia claimed her identity... All were aware that l0 millions pounds were at stake left by the Czar in the Bank of England...
The film opens in Paris 1928 - Russian Easter...
An amnesic woman, using the name of Anna Corev (Ingrid Bergman), is about to commit suicide on the bank of the Seine... She is saved by a White Russian General, called Bounine (Yul Brynner).
With a face hint by fatigue and stress, lost and broken, frustrated and unhappy, and tired to argue, she accepts modestly to be taken under care and to be trained by the General and his business associates Boris Chernov (Akim Tamiroff) and Petrovin (Sasha Pitoeff) in order to be passed off as Princess Anastasia, the daughter of the Czar of Russia...
Bearing a strong resemblance to the Grand Duchess, the plan of the Russian group can succeed... There is an opportunity for them to share the inheritance, the fortune left by the Emperor...
After days of training, the unknown lady becomes another woman... Elegant, radiant and healthy, arousing profound solemnity, dignity and even royalty...
The Grand Duchess wins her first victory when 18 of the 25 individuals recognized her as 'Anastasia,' but the most significant victory is yet to come... She must be recognized by her grand mother, the Dowager Empress of Russia, who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark...
Helen Hayes is simply superb as the melancholic old Empress with a wistful desire to accept the vague truth...
Yul Brynner plays his role with enormous task...
The motion picture marks Ingrid Bergman's comeback to the Hollywood cinema after the European exile... She gives a gracious, confused, eloquent, moving performance, following back the progress of a woman, from the deepness of hopelessness and confusion, through strenuous efforts with uncertainty and disillusion, to a successful display of bravery, self-respect and love...
Directed with elegance by Anatole Litvak, and with a fascinating music score by Alfred Newman, "Anastasia" is a combination of mystery and romance, a compelling drama with quite considerable charm which persuade without projecting any flame on history...