It's 30 minutes into the first part of this two part TV movie where the Czar and Czarina of Imperial Russia are assassinated along with their children. Or so history thought until a decade later when a young woman showed up with the claim that she was the supposedly dead Anastasia. Survivors of the family, still overwhelmed by grief, desperately wanted to believe it, but cynical after many other phonies tried and failed. For some reason, this young woman, Anna Anderson, is more like the real deal than any of the phonies, and a mystery of who she was or if indeed she was who she claimed to be.
There had already been a successful play, the film version that got Ingrid Bergman her second Oscar, a French version and a musical play. Since this TV movie came out, there's been an animated film, a second musical play and multiple documentaries. Over a century later, the Romanovs are just as fascinating as the Windsors for fans of European royal families, and the TV movie takes great pains to do justice to the story. This part deals with the love of czar Nicholas (Omar Sharif) and Empress Alexandra (Claire Bloom) for their children, and then the discovery of Anna in a mental institution, and how members of the family deal with the possibility as well as the doubts of others.
This is a great part for Amy Irving, and she gives a very subtle performance. Two time Oscar winner Olivia de Haviland is barely recognizable until she speaks as the dowager Empress, and Rex Harrison, a shell of his earlier feistiness, also adding legendary status to the film. This moves the story along at a proper dramatic pace, opulent but not garish, and while debatable for the truth, grabs the viewer and keeps them hooked. Elke Sommer gets a great bit as one of the nonbelievers. Maybe not the classic of the 1956 version or as popular as the animated feature, but exciting for how everything is presented and comes together. Part one ends on a profound note, a great draw for part two.
There had already been a successful play, the film version that got Ingrid Bergman her second Oscar, a French version and a musical play. Since this TV movie came out, there's been an animated film, a second musical play and multiple documentaries. Over a century later, the Romanovs are just as fascinating as the Windsors for fans of European royal families, and the TV movie takes great pains to do justice to the story. This part deals with the love of czar Nicholas (Omar Sharif) and Empress Alexandra (Claire Bloom) for their children, and then the discovery of Anna in a mental institution, and how members of the family deal with the possibility as well as the doubts of others.
This is a great part for Amy Irving, and she gives a very subtle performance. Two time Oscar winner Olivia de Haviland is barely recognizable until she speaks as the dowager Empress, and Rex Harrison, a shell of his earlier feistiness, also adding legendary status to the film. This moves the story along at a proper dramatic pace, opulent but not garish, and while debatable for the truth, grabs the viewer and keeps them hooked. Elke Sommer gets a great bit as one of the nonbelievers. Maybe not the classic of the 1956 version or as popular as the animated feature, but exciting for how everything is presented and comes together. Part one ends on a profound note, a great draw for part two.
