Touches You

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Trust Hammer to make one of their most ghastly movies a black comedy with not a trace of horror in sight. This entire production is centred around a ghoulish performance from a barnstorming Bette Davis as the matriarch of a rich family. The family are brought together to celebrate the wedding anniversary between Davis and her late husband, and as the night goes on everybody's dark secrets are gradually revealed with skeletons dropping out of closets all over the place.Roy Ward Baker's superior direction keeps what is in essence a single location film moving along nicely. This would have worked well as a stage play as for 90% of the running time we get Davis going around and dominating the screen in being absolutely horrible to everybody. As such, few of the other cast members get much of a look in, but nobody puts a foot wrong here. There are many genuinely funny moments throughout, particularly in Davis's put-downs, and a darkness of touch which is surprising given that this is a family friendly production.

This 1968 black comedy was the last film in which Davis dominated with her legendary persona. In a sense it is the last "Bette Davis" film. Whales of August, Burnt Offerings, and Death on the Nile followed, but the part of Mrs Taggart, a domineering widow complete with eye-patch, is pure Davis and she has a field day, making this film an absolute must for her fans. Though it's stage origins show, and the film doesn't really begin until Davis makes her entrance, it is an entertaining comedy with an excellent supporting cast, funny, bitchy, dialog, absurdest humor and a tone similar to Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? and The Lion in Winter both of which began as plays. The prolific Roy Ward Baker who directed everything from a Night to Remember(1958) to The Vampire Lovers (1970) is not a visionary; the direction, editing, camera placement and set design are all adequate, but just imagine what Almodovar would do with this material!

On the celebration of the anniversary of Mrs. Taggart (Bette Davis), her three dominated sons come to her house for the dinner party. Terry (Jack Hedley), Henry (James Cossins) and Tom Taggart (Christian Roberts) work in construction, in a business that belonged to their father and is presently managed by their manipulative mother. Tom brings his pregnant fiancée Shirley Blair (Elaine Taylor) to tell his mother that they will marry each other; Terry brings his wife Karen Taggart (Sheila Hancock) and they secretly intend to emigrate to Canada; and Henry is gay and loves to wear women's underwear. During the night, the mean Mrs. Taggart uses the most despicable means and tricks to get rid off Shirley and Terry and keep her sons close to her.The theatrical "The Anniversary" is certainly among the darkest comedies I have ever seen. This is the first time I see this movie, and I immediately recalled the polemic "Festen" that now I can see was visibly inspired in the idea of "The Anniversary". Bette Davis is awesome, giving another stunning performance in the role of the wicked Mrs. Taggart. Her witty lines are cruel, manipulating her sons as if they were puppets. The rest of the cast is also excellent, giving the necessary support to highlight the presence of Mrs. Davis. If the viewer likes black humor, he or she will certainly love this little gem. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Aniversário" ("The Anniversary")

When I think of the great Bette Davis films of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and then this piece of junk comes along, I shutter.I know that the late Bette always said that work keeps her going, but to subject herself to a dull, poorly written film is beyond the realm of human understanding.Davis is the matriarch of the family. She parades around with a patch in one eye, the result of her child shooting it out years before.Davis completely dominates 3 sons. One is a pervert, the second she pays off to keep his wife forever pregnant and the youngest brings home women who are promptly gotten rid of by the evil Mrs. Taggert (Davis)Of course, Davis gives a good performance. She's Bette Davis! Why do the British always make the most boring films. I know, "Brief Encounter" is the exception. If this had been an American film, it would have been far better.With it all, there is a very good performance by Sheila Hancock as the repressed daughter-in-law who loathes her mother-in-law. Who wouldn't?