The film that restored Ingrid Bergman's credibility in the US, and won her her second Oscar. But she has to struggle with that period of CinemaScope where they're afraid to show any close ups for fear of alienating the audience.
Is she really the lost Anastasia, descendant of the family of Tsar Nicholas, or an imposter? We don't really know, but at the end her grandmother says 'the play's over. Tell them they can go home', which suggests not. Also the romance with Yul Brynner is kept at such arm's length that you're not sure it's happening. An unusually muffled story, in fact, adapted from a play by Marcelle Maurette, written for the screen by Arthur Laurents.
Enjoyed the production design by Andrej Andrejew and William C Andrews, filmed in Paris, Copenhagen and England by Jack Hildyard. Also enjoyed the performances of Akim Tamiroff, Helen Hayes and Martita Hunt, as well as Alfred Newman's music.
Didn't recognise Sacha Pitoeff, Edited by Bert Bates. Fox.
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