My Favorite Anna Massey Productions
John Ford's Goddaughter passed away on Sunday 3 July 2011. Here is my tribute to Anna Raymond Massey's career as a first class actress. Whether in a leading role or a few minutes in support, her performances were always a credit to the family name.
The following only represent a fraction of the body of her work and I was surprised that IMDb have no record of her wonderful performance in the 1986 production of 'Hotel du Lac' for which she was awarded the British Academy TV Award for Best Actress.
Posted in chronological order.
"My education finished at fifteen; if I'd stayed at school I'm not sure I'd have become an actor."
The following only represent a fraction of the body of her work and I was surprised that IMDb have no record of her wonderful performance in the 1986 production of 'Hotel du Lac' for which she was awarded the British Academy TV Award for Best Actress.
Posted in chronological order.
"My education finished at fifteen; if I'd stayed at school I'm not sure I'd have become an actor."
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- DirectorJohn FordStarsJack HawkinsAnna LeeAnna MasseyA typical day for Scotland Yard Chief Inspector George Gideon consists of working on several cases at the same time.An unusual movie theme for John Ford about a day in the life of a Scotland Yard 'Super-Cop' played beautifully by Jack Hawkins. Anna debuts by playing his daughter Sally, who dates the young policeman that gave the Inspector a traffic ticket earlier that day. - "Daddy, this is the day of my concert remember."
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsKarlheinz BöhmAnna MasseyMoira ShearerA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.In this movie directed by Michael Powell, Anna perfected her skills as a woman in peril. - "Look Out!"
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsKeir DulleaCarol LynleyLaurence OlivierA woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed.This is a classic Preminger mystery, where Ann Lake (Carol Lynley) cannot find her daughter and so Supt. Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) is called in to solve the case. Anna plays one of several odd characters accompanied by Martitia Hunt, Finlay Currie and Noel Coward. I always remember that the trailer advertised 'The Zombies' a very popular group at the time, but failed to mention that they were appearing on a TV show playing during the movie. - "I've got a near fatality here."
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsChristopher JonesPia DegermarkRalph RichardsonFrom the John le Carré novel about a British spy who sends a Polish defector to East Germany to verify missile sites.A brilliant rendition of the John le Carre novel about a clumsy British intelligence gathering operation in East Germany using a reactivated WWII Polish agent, Fred Leiser (Christopher Jones). John Avery (Anthony Hopkins) is Leiser's control agent and Anna plays Mrs Avery. - "Why do we listen to them? Why do we fight their wars for them?"
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJon FinchBarry FosterBarbara Leigh-HuntA serial murderer is strangling women with a necktie. The London police have a suspect, but he is the wrong man.This was Hitchcock's penultimate movie and made in Britain it was a murder mystery based upon the novel 'Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square' by Arthur La Bern. Anna's back in peril again. Will she never learn? - "Don't forget, Bob's your uncle."
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsCurd JürgensTerry-ThomasTom BakerAn anthology of five horror stories shared by five men trapped in the basement of an office building.One of the classic British 1970s horror anthology's with an excellent cast and blood curdling stories from the 'Tales From the Crypt' comics. Anna plays opposite her real sibling Daniel Massey and when he plans to kill her for the inheritance he does not realise how 'batty' his scheme is. - "Something to drink with your dinner?"
- DirectorPatrick GarlandStarsClaire BloomAnthony HopkinsRalph RichardsonYears ago, Nora Helmer (Claire Bloom) committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald (Sir Anthony Hopkins). Now she is being blackmailed and lives in fear of her husband finding out, and of the shame such a revelation would bring to his career. But when the truth comes out, Nora is shocked to learn where she really stands in her husband's esteem.Based upon Henrik Ibsen's play about a wife who borrowed money when her husband was ill, the film has an excellent cast but is very reminiscent of the confines of the stage. Anna plays the close friend of Nora Helmer (Claire Bloom) and her husband Torvald Helmer (Anthony Hopkins). - "Something glorious is going to happen."
- StarsAlan BatesJanet MawJack GallowayIn a drunken and disheartened state, Michael Henchard sells his wife at a fair. When he becomes sober again, he realizes what he has done, and though unable to find his wife and child, changes his ways. He becomes the Mayor of the town. Nearly twenty years later, his past comes back to haunt him.In this series Anna played Lucetta Templeman/ Lucetta Farfrae the scarlet woman who first has an affair with Henchard and when she marries well is exposed by her spurned lover. - "I want those letters."
- StarsJeremy BrettJoanna DavidAnna MasseyA young English girl in Monte Carlo falls in love with a rude, handsome stranger who proposes to her and rescues her from the drudgery of being a hired companion. But when he takes her to his country estate, Manderley, all her confidence disappears, especially in the face of Maxim's dour and mysterious housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and as odd rumors reach her, the second Mrs. de Winter decides to find out everything she can about her predecessor, Rebecca.This was a beautiful BBC TV production of Daphne du Maurier's famous novel about a young woman only known as Mrs de Winter (Joanna David) who marries the troubled Max de Winter (Jeremy Brett) and goes to his country estate. Here she encounters the Housekeeper, Mrs Danvers (Anna Massey) who served Max's first, now deceased wife Rebecca. Interesting casting when you consider that Brett was Anna's ex-husband in real life. - "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again"
- DirectorClaude WhathamStarsSam WaterstonJenny AgutterAnna MasseyA young woman has a perfect love affair with a zealous writer. When she finds out that he's also a highly manipulative womanizer, it's too late - she's already too much in love to quit him. Things start to get really complicated.This movie stars Sam Waterston as the serial romancer William McClusky, a Scots Casanova with a serious accent issue. Anna is his betrayed wife Edna and Jenny Agutter is the sweet, innocent Ann Walton who is seduced and becomes the mother of his child. Nowadays this behaviour would be normal but in the late 1970's it was still pretty scandalous. - "Of course aie luve yerr!"
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsJudi DenchBill PatersonAnton LesserMadame Ranevsky (Dame Judi Dench) is a spoiled aging aristocratic lady, who returns from a trip to Paris to face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after a default on the mortgage. In denial, she continues living in the past, deluding herself and her family, while the beautiful cherry trees are being axed down by the re-possessor Lopakhin (Bill Paterson), her former serf, who has his own agenda.Anton Chekov's last play brought beautifully to BBC TV by Director Richard Eyre using a script translated into English by Trevor Griffiths and winning two BAFTAs in 1982, one of them for Judi Dench.
Anna played the Governess to a family that has fallen on hard times in this tragic farce upon the demise of a proud family and their property. It does not have a happy ending and therefore will probably not make a good Hollywood Movie. - "It is your duty to help me find a new position after all these years!" - StarsAnna MasseyAngela PleasenceSylvestra Le TouzelImpoverished Fanny Price is sent to live with her more affluent uncle and aunt. The arrival of new neighbors brings a chance for romance to Fanny and her cousins.In this BBC mini-series based upon Jane Austen's story of convoluted relationships Anna was the miserly Mrs Norris who acquired jellies from the main house and behaved caustically towards the poor relation, Fanny Price. The series was praised for being faithful to the original story as penned by Austen. - "You must never forget, whatever the occasion, you must always be the lowest, the last."
- StarsJames WilbyXavier DelucSerena GordonTwo men, one an aristocrat, and one a drunken lawyer, fall in love with the same woman during the early stages of the French Revolution.One of many versions of this famous story about the goings on between London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, this two part TV play had an excellent cast.
I am sure that Anna would have made an excellent Madame Defarge, however her portrayal of Miss Pross who eventually brings about the death of Defarge was magnificent. - "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known." - DirectorBob RafelsonStarsPatrick BerginIain GlenRichard E. GrantThe legendary true-story of Capt. Richard Francis Burton and Lt. John Hanning Speke's tumultuous expedition to find the source of the Nile river.Anna only made a brief appearance in this greatly underated movie masterpiece about the 'Burton-Speke Expedition' to find the source of the River Nile in Africa. As Captain Burton's Mother in Law Mrs Arundell, Anna provided a classic Victorian Matriarch character to sustain the background sub-plot. - "In this wilderness you will find only Allah's terrible whimsy."
- DirectorColin FinbowStarsAnna JonesRosalind AyresMartin JarvisThis was a Children's Film Foundation movie that I was lucky to catch on Channel 4 as it was quite a sophisticated movie for children and an easy watch for me. One to keep your eyes open for as it involves a supernatural 'Quantum Leap' plot device for the tom boy heroine to travel through time. Not to be confused with a novel about the Bronte sisters, this is an adolescent view of history and Anna's character Miss Rabstock is made to suffer. - "How dare you!"
- DirectorRobert BiermanStarsJuliette CatonTrevor EveCathryn HarrisonA therapist ensnares a cynical police inspector during routine enquiries into a patient's death. Sexual power games fuel this tale which draws a fine line between murder and suicide.Playing another supporting role in a minor TV film that has a very talented cast, Anna is Rosemary, one of the characters at a Therapy Centre with an unhealthy effect on the patients. - "We had better call the Police."
- DirectorJohn-Paul DavidsonStarsAlan BatesTheresa RussellStingSir Hugo (Sir Alan Bates) is more interested in reconstructing dinosaur bones than in paying attention to his wife, Lady Harriet (Theresa Russell). He's not thrilled when daughter Cleo (Lena Headey) brings home her betrothed, Sidney (Steven Mackintosh), who aspires to be a poet. The new butler, Fledge (Sting), provides Lady Harriet with the attention she's been missing, and then seduces Sidney. Did he have a role in Sidney's disappearance as well?Unfortunatly this Gothic tale of 'Goings On' in the country did not make the best use of its excellent cast. One thing was certain and that was that the Butler was kept very busy. As mother of the missing Fiance, Sidney, Lady Giblet (Anna) has some memorable lines whereas most of the cast were remembered for their bodies. - "It will be assumed that a man who could stumble across a dead body and feed it to his pigs is a man who could kill. We tend to lose the fine distinction when it comes to such things."
- StarsEmma FieldingAnna MasseyWarren ClarkeThe devastating consequences of the slave trade in 18th century Bristol are explored through the powerful but impossible attraction of well-born Frances and her Yoruban slave, Mehuru. Bristol in 1787 is booming, from its stinking docks to its elegant new houses. Josiah Cole (Warren Clarke), a small dockside trader, is prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city. But he needs ready cash and a well-connected wife. An arranged marriage to Frances Scott (Emma Fielding) is a mutually convenient solution. Trading her social contacts for Josiah's protection, Frances enters the world of the Bristol merchants and finds her life and fortune dependent on the respectable trade of sugar, rum and slaves. Among the slaves is the educated and charismatic Mehuru (Ariyon Bakare). Lonely in her new life married to a boorish and uneducated husband with whom she has little in common, Frances finds herself increasingly drawn to Mehuru and he to her. But tensions are mounting and Mehuru and the other slaves are prepared to risk everything for their freedom.This was an excellent 18th century TV costume drama in four parts about the fortunes of Bristol Trader, Josiah Cole (Warren Clarke), his sister Sarah (Anna Massey) and his young, socialite wife Frances. With a screenplay written by Philippa Gregory based upon her book of the same name about the trade in human beings, that was one of the main pillars of the British economy. This series was also an excellent vehicle for the talents of Ariyon Bakare who played the Coles' servant Moses (Mehuru) who communicates in more ways than one. - "We're ruined, we had a good family business but you wanted more. Now look at us; where are your fancy friends now?"
- DirectorRobert YoungStarsBob HoskinsSadie FrostGemma JonesAn eccentric seaman puts together an equally eccentric crew with the idea of sailing from northern England to the Artic along the path of Captain Scoresby, a 1791 sea captain.Written by Jack Rosenthal and starring Bob Hoskins this is a beautifully told story of a man following his dream despite the consequences of his actions. Once again Anna, as Phoebe, was a supporting member of an excellent cast, that made the whole unlikely affair totally believable. - "He must be stopped or they'll all perish."
- DirectorJan SverákStarsOndrej VetchýKrystof HádekTara FitzgeraldThe friendship of two men becomes tested when they both fall for the same woman.Anna only has a few moments in this excellent movie about expatriate Czechoslovakian pilots who join the Royal Air Force to punish the Nazis for invading their homeland. Nevertheless she is the very model of a 1940s teacher working with a boisterous class of energetic young men. - "I mean yes. Sorry... My English isn't very well. I mean good."
- DirectorOliver ParkerStarsRupert EverettColin FirthFrances O'ConnorIn 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.In this version of Oscar Wilde's "Trivial Comedy for Serious People", Anna plays the pivotal part of Miss Laetitia Prism, who as the Moncrieff's Nursemaid accidentally put her manuscript in the pram and the baby in "The Handbag". When Miss Prism confesses all then the way is open for the males to marry their sweethearts. - "The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means."
- DirectorNeil LaButeStarsGwyneth PaltrowAaron EckhartJeremy NorthamA pair of literary sleuths unearth the amorous secret of two Victorian poets only to find themselves falling under a passionate spell.In this story of two scholars investigating a Victorian romance through poetry there are in effect two plots being revealed. As Lady Bailey, Anna is once again in a support role as the two scholars follow the romance of the two Victorians towards an interesting conclusion. - "He's an American for God's sake. He's probably off trafficking drugs."
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsChristian BaleJennifer Jason LeighAitana Sánchez-GijónAn industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.Christian Bale is awesome in this psychological thriller about a man with an insomnia problem. Anna is his elderly neighbour Mrs. Shrike who has cause to be alarmed by his behaviour and his weight loss as the movie heads relentlessly towards a Hitchcock style finale. - "There is a leak in my ceiling. It's coming from your apartment."
- StarsMartin FreemanHugh BonnevilleAbigail CruttendenEd Robinson is a divorced reinsurance actuary who realizes that reinsurance is not his passion and decides to rethink his life.Anna was paired with Richard Johnson as parents Pam and Hector, in this comedy series about the activities of Insurance Actuary Ed Robinson (Martin Freeman) who is not happy with his life and wants to change it. Unfortunately the BBC missed a trick by concentrating on the younger members of the cast and not using the tremendous abilities of the two veterans to make the most of their roles. - "But she licked your nipples!"
- DirectorDan IrelandStarsJoan PlowrightRupert FriendZoë TapperAll but abandoned by her family in a London retirement hotel, an elderly woman strikes up a curious friendship with a young writer.
- StarsWilliam MillerTom HardyTimothy SpallThe adventures of the orphaned Oliver Twist in Victorian London.
- DirectorÁlex de la IglesiaStarsElijah WoodJohn HurtLeonor WatlingAt Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try to stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.
- StarsGemma ArtertonEddie RedmayneRuth JonesThe story of Tess Durbeyfield, a low-born country girl whose family find they have noble connections.