Bette Davis- The Anniversary

            M– is for the monstrous way she treats us.

            O– means that she can be just obscene.

            T– is for the torment that she causes.

            H– is for the hatred she receives.

            E– is for the eyepatch she wears smiling.

            R– is proof she’s rotten to the core.

            Put them all together they spell “mother,” and in The Anniversary, Bette Davis plays a mommy to abhor.

            It’s unfortunate not enough people know The Anniversary. And considering Mother’s Day is just around the corner this seems a perfect viewing choice, even though the DVD has long gone out of print and goes for a lot of money on eBay.

             It certainly was an oddball project for Hammer Studios– known for their chillers like Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein. Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster had been moving away from gothic fare with a series of psycho-thrillers that riffed off Diabolique like Scream of Fear, Nightmare and Paranoiac. His screenplay for The Nanny gave Bette Davis one of her juiciest parts- she truly gives a subtle, sinister performance in the film. The Anniversary was a London West End play first, which starred Mona Washbourne, and Davis originally rejected the project until Jimmy Sangster did a rewrite of the play. And her famous Bette Davis (stink) eyes laser-focused on original director Alvin Rakoff, who she immediately clashed with. She quickly got his ass fired which alienated her castmates, many who had originated the same roles on stage. Veteran Hammer Studios director Roy Ward Baker came on board to helm the film and things went rather smoothly afterwards.

            Originally Greer Garson was offered the lead, but turned it down because she thought it would tarnish her image. Jimmy Sangster, who wrote the screenplay for The Anniversary and became producer of the film, had already tangled with Davis on The Nanny. “I never met a more professional person. But she was the most demanding person off the set.” In fact, Sangster’s wife said she would walk out the door if Davis ever stepped foot in the country again. Sure enough, she did leave when Bette showed up in England to shoot The Anniversary. “She was a battleaxe,” Sangster admitted about Davis on the audio commentary for the Anchor Bay DVD.

            The movie itself is about an annual tradition for the malicious and manipulative Mrs. Taggart (Bette Davis), who rounds up her three sons every year for a celebration to honor their late father on the holiday of their wedding anniversary. 

            There is Terry (Jack Hedley), the henpecked son who accidentally shot out his mother’s eye with an air gun when he was a young boy and is never allowed to forget it. (Mrs. Taggart wears fashionable, different-colored eye patches to suit her outfits). Terry works construction for the family’s building corporation, which turns out cheap, shoddy housing at an affordable price. Terry’s wife Karen (Sheila Hancock) has popped out four children and plots they leave for Canada to escape Mrs. Taggart’s stranglehold. But mom thwarts that in no time. Wickedly, she lies about a phone call she received and tells Terry and his wife that there has been a horrible car accident and their children are in hospital in critical condition.

            Henry (James Cossins) is the sadsack son, fond of cross-dressing and stealing lingerie off of clotheslines. When son Tom’s girlfriend Shirley discovers him in her room dressed in her undergarments, Mrs. Taggart exclaims, “You should take that as a compliment- he only wears clothes that are clean and pretty.”

            Tom (Christian Roberts) is the young, brash, favorite son. His gift for his mom is the joke figure of a pissing boy that actually squirts, much to his mother’s delight. But he dares bring a “fiancé” along- Shirley (Elaine Taylor, who was married to Christopher Plummer). Immediately mom goes in for the kill. She asks Shirley to sit next to her on the couch only to later say, “Shirley, dear, would you mind moving somewhere else? Body odor offends me.”

            Davis attacks the role with great relish and is hilariously horrible throughout the movie. A scene where she croaks out “Rock of Ages” is frightening as it is funny. 

            The movie is sublimely sardonic. Director Roy Ward Baker was able to open up the action to make it less stagey and Davis chews the drapes. As she should. It’s hard to imagine Greer Garson, with all her phony gentility, attacking the part with this much gusto. No one can cock an eye or hold a cocktail glass with as much authority and wit as Bette Davis. It’s possible if you look up the word “camp” in the Oxford dictionary the definition might be: The Anniversary.

            I truly love this film- and even have a coffee mug with a still from the movie on it. With every sip of java I am humorously reminded of Davis shrieking, “My God she’s scummy,” in this wonderfully twisted treat.