The Anniversary (1968)

A wealthy but malevolent woman (Bette Davis) has an anniversary celebration each year although her husband has been dead for ten years. Her three sons can't stand her but they go through the ritual each year since she holds the purse strings and keeps them under her thumb. But when the youngest son (Christian Roberts) brings a girl (Elaine Taylor) to the party and announces she's his fiancee, it encourages a rebellion among the sons but mother will have none of it. Based on the play by Bill MacIlwraith and adapted for the screen by Jimmy Sangster, this acidic black comedy features a marvelous turn by Davis as the mother from Hell. The role was not written for her (Mona Washbourne played it on stage) but Davis makes it inimitably her own, squeezing every possible laugh from the venomous dialogue. The director Roy Ward Baker (a replacement after Davis clashed with the original director) makes no attempt to disguise the film's theatrical origins, it plays out like a filmed play which in this case is just fine. It's not a great play after all and any distractions from Davis' "this is my show" performance would only weaken the film. With Jack Hedley, Sheila Hancock and James Cossins.