"Anniversary" is a story of what war does to sensitive folks who were once happy & joyous.
William Yates did an outstanding job adapting Ed Lakso's brilliant story for television. Interweaving human interest sequences into almost constant firefight was very creative & original.
And no one could play the lead better than Telly Savalas as Jon, a sensitive Frenchman torn by war. Telly is brilliant in a dual role as French partisan fighter and husband & father. Background is almost constant firefight but Mr. Savalas puts on a memorable performance from love & romance as husband and father to fierce, effective partisan fighter. He covers the whole gamut of human emotion in a bombed out French village. It's safe to say Jon's story puts actual combat sequences on a back burner, a testament to Telly's great acting ability. He would probably have been nominated for an Emmy for this role had they been given for individual performances back in the 1960's.
It's beautiful watching Jon toy with both the Americans & the Germans who are intruders on his home turf. And the ending scene will get to any viewer with a heart.