Anastasia DVD

Anastasia
Anastasia is adapted from the popular stage play by Marcelle Maurette. The scene is Paris in the early 1920s. Ingrid Bergman plays a would-be suicide who is rescued by Russian expatriate Yul Brynner. Brynner's motives are far from altruistic; together with a group of Russian cohorts, he hopes to pass Bergman off as Princess Anastasia, the daughter of the late Czar Nicholas. If the conspirators are successful, they stand to collect the ten million pounds held in trust for Anastasia in the Bank of England. The biggest obstacle facing Brynner and company is the surviving Romanov empress (Helen Hayes), who must be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bergman is the genuine article. Anastasia represented Ingrid Bergman's return to Hollywood after several years' exile following her "scandalous" affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Ingrid Bergman as Anastasia Yul Brynner as General Bounine Helen Hayes as Empress Dowager Marie Fedorovna Akim Tamiroff as Chernov Martita Hunt as Baroness von Livenbaum Felix Aylmer as Russian Chamberlain Sacha Pitoeff as Petrovin Ivan Desny as Prince Paul Natalie Schafer as Lissenskaia Gregoire Gromoff as Stepan Karel Stepanek as Vlados Ina DeLa Haye as Marusia Hy Hazell as Blonde Olga Valery as Countess Baranova Tamara Shayne as Xenia Peter Sallis as Grischa

Crew André Andrejew - Art Director Bill Andrews - Art Director Rene Hubert - Costume Designer Anatole Litvak - Director Bert Bates - Editor Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score) Jack Hildyard - Cinematographer Buddy Adler - Producer Andrew Low - Set Designer Arthur Laurents - Screenwriter Marcelle Maurette - Play Author

Anastasia
The classic treatment of the popular story of Princess Anastasia is this 1956 Hollywood version by Soviet-born director Anatole Litvak, based on a play by Marcelle Maurette. The lustrous Ingrid Bergman won her second Academy Award for her finely modulated portrayal of an amnesia victim who is manipulated by an exiled Russian White general (Yul Brynner) into posing as the long-lost daughter of the late Czar Nicholas. Anastasia marked Bergman's Hollywood comeback from her own exile in Europe following an overplayed personal scandal with Italian director Roberto Rossellini. The skeptical Russian Grand Duchess is played by the reliable Helen Hayes. Highly theatrical in its structure, this Anastasia is slick and entertaining, if not particularly attentive to historical nuances. Litvak uses his own experiences of fleeing both Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union to fashion a thoughtful, sophisticated study about the intertwining of political and personal deception. After Bergman's exquisite portrayal, the character of Anastasia was fated to decline, through it was later attempted by Amy Irving in 1986 and in a Don Bluth animated version in 1997. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
 

Alfred Newman: Academy, Best Drama or Comedy Score (nominated) Helen Hayes: Golden Globe, Best Actress - Drama (nominated) Ingrid Bergman: Academy, Best Actress (winner) Ingrid Bergman: Golden Globe, Best Actress - Drama (winner) Ingrid Bergman: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actress (winner) Yul Brynner: National Board of Review, Best Actor (winner)

National Board of Review, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, Spanish, French Subtitle Options: English, Spanish Sound Processing: 1: PCM mono DS: Dolby Surround (4.0) Additional Features: cc Audio commentary by John Burlingame, Arthur Laurents, James MacArthus, and Sylvia Stoddard "Anastasia: Her True Story" as seen on Biography on the A&E Network Movietone newsreels (film premieres, award show clips, Romanov family footage) Restoration comparison Theatrical trailer Anamorphic widescreen (aspect ratio 2.35:1) Audio: English 4.0 surround, French mono, Spanish mono Subtitles: English, Spanish DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1: Cinemascope MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 105 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Main Titles [2:31] 2. Russian Easter [7:47] 3. Meeting Bounine [2:07] 4. Is She, Or Isn't She? [2:43] 5. Training [10:55] 6. Meeting the Committee [1:56] 7. More Training [1:36] 8. A Party [3:21] 9. The Dowager Empress [4:55] 10. At the Theatre [2:36] 11. Prince Paul [7:17] 12. Doubt [2:20] 13. The Meeting [6:45] 14. Back With the Gypsies [1:34] 15. A Press Conference [5:43] 16. A Presentation [5:26] 17. Anastasia and the Empress [:12] 18. She Is Gone [3:32]