The Anniversary – 1968 | 95 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

The Anniversary (1968) was a failed attempt by Hammer to fit black comedy into the psychological horror formula. Directed by Roy Ward Baker and adapted in a straightforward manner by Jimmy Sangster, from a play by Bill Macllwraith, it featured Bette Davis on her return to Hammer, getting her teeth into the role of a merciless matriarch who sweetly crushes her family into homage and surrender. Sangster is a plot man, not a great dialogue writer, so the film is adequate if a little unambitious and betrays its theatrical origins. The film was originally intended for Greer Garson but after she rejected the role – Bette Davis was approached. Davis was again very needy and not easy to work with, demanding the removal of Alvin Rakoff due to his background in television, however it’s her show and she certainly seems to be enjoying herself spitting out acerbic put-downs with relish. Jack Hedley and James Cossins, who had both featured in the stage version, buoy up Davis’ Grand Guignol hamming, but between them they just about fail to save the picture.

Mrs Taggart (Bette Davis) is a malevolent one-eyed matriarch who has her family of builders come round each year to mark the anniversary of her much-despised husband’s death. The little suburban get-together is ripe with suppressed hates and grudges, as Mrs Taggart takes great pleasure goading her three sons. Middle-aged son Henry (James Cossins), who it is revealed likes to dress up in women’s clothes which he steals off neighbourhood washing lines. Tom (Christian Roberts), spites her by bringing home his pregnant girl friend (Elaine Taylor); and the third, Terry (Jack Hedley), who managed to marry, announces he’s emigrating to Canada. Mom tries to control these developments by telling Terry that his children have been killed in a car wreck, or paying his wife, Karen (Sheila Hancock) to produce children. Furthermore, she threatens to put Terry into a mental hospital to cure his transvestism should any of her sons dare leave the country. Mom then upsets Shirley by putting her glass eye under her pillow. Daughter-in-law Karen leads the fightback…