Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna | |
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DVD release cover | |
Written by | James Goldman |
Directed by | Marvin J. Chomsky |
Creative director(s) | Marvin J. Chomsky |
Starring |
Amy Irving Olivia de Havilland Rex Harrison Jan Niklas Omar Sharif |
Composer(s) | Laurence Rosenthal |
Country of origin |
United States Austria Italy |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 2 |
Production | |
Producer(s) |
Lance H. Robbins Cheryl Saban |
Cinematography | Thomas L. Callaway |
Running time | 195 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Telecom Entertainment Inc. Consolidated Entertainment Reteitalia |
Distributor |
NBC (1986) Sonar Entertainment (World-Wide) Bridge Entertainment Group (2006) (Netherlands) Dutch FilmWorks (Netherlands) Mill Creek Entertainment (USA, 2011) e-m-s the DVD-Company (Germany) |
Release | |
Original release |
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Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (Also titled Anastasia: The Story of Anna) is a 1986 television film directed by Marvin J. Chomsky,[1] starring Amy Irving, Rex Harrison (in his last performance), Olivia de Havilland, Omar Sharif, Christian Bale (in his first film) and Jan Niklas. The film was loosely based on the story of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia and the book The Riddle of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth. It was originally broadcast in two parts.
Plot
The film starts in December, 1916, at a lavish ballroom gathering just before the Russian Revolution, then moves to 1917's February Revolution, the family's forced move to Siberia in summer, 1917 after Nicholas II's forced abdication in March, the late-1917 Bolshevik takeover and start of the Russian Civil War and the July 1918 mass shooting of the Romanov family. Afterwards, it revolves around Anna Anderson, who believes that she is Anastasia Romanov, daughter of Nicholas II of Russia. Anna first tells her story in the 1920s when she is an inmate in a Berlin asylum after her suicide attempt. Her story of escaping from the Bolsheviks who killed the rest of her family in 1918 seems so vivid that many Russian expatriates are willing to believe her. She slowly gains more trust, but the Romanov family is very resistant to believe her tale and in 1928 the United States branches of the family publicly denounces her as an impostor. The movie culminates in 1938 with Anna deciding to sue the Romanovs in Germany's courts to force them to recognize her as Anastasia, but it never reveals if Anna really is Anastasia. The ending epilogue narration says that she eventually moved back to the U.S. and settled in Charlottesville, Virginia where she died in 1984.
Cast
- Amy Irving as Anastasia "Anna" Anderson
- Olivia de Havilland as Dowager Empress Maria
- Rex Harrison as Grand Duke Cyril Romanov
- Jan Niklas as Prince Erich
- Nicolas Surovy as Serge Markov
- Susan Lucci as Darya Romanoff
- Elke Sommer as Isabel Von Hohenstauffen
- Edward Fox as Dr. Hauser
- Claire Bloom as Czarina Alexandra
- Omar Sharif as Czar Nicholas II
- Jennifer Dundas as Grand Duchess Anastasia
- Christian Bale as Tsarevich Alexei
- Andrea Bretterbauer as Sonya Markov
- Sydney Bromley as Herbert
- Arnold Diamond as Dr. Markov
- Carol Gillies as Sasha
- Julian Glover as Colonel Kobylinski
- Rachel Gurney as Grand Duchess Victoria
- Betty Marsden as Princess Troubetskaya
- Tim McInnerny as Yakovlev
- Angela Pleasence as Clara
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Person | Result |
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1987 | Artios | Best Casting for TV Miniseries' | Lynn Kressel | Nominated |
Primetime Emmy | Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) | Laurence Rosenthal | Won | |
Primetime Emmy | Outstanding Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special | Jane Robinson (costume designer) | Won | |
Primetime Emmy | Outstanding Miniseries | Michael Lepiner Kenneth Kaufman Graham Cottle Marvin J. Chomsky |
Nominated | |
Primetime Emmy | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special | Olivia de Havilland | Nominated | |
Golden Globe | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV | Olivia de Havilland | Won | |
Golden Globe | Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV | Jan Niklas | Won | |
Golden Globe | Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV | Nominated | ||
Golden Globe | Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV | Amy Irving | Nominated | |
See also
References
- ↑ "Anastasia: the Mystery of Anna". BBC. 24 July 1990. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
External links
- Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna at the Internet Movie Database
- Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna at AllMovie