This televised adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel Anna Karenina originally aired on the BBC 1961. It stars a young Sean Connery as Count Alexis Vronsky and in the title role, then 30-year-old Claire Bloom (Limelight). The familiar story finds Anna, the wife of Russian diplomat Alexis Karenin, embarking on a mission of mercy to help her brother reconcile with his wife following an extramarital affair. In the process, she meets Vronsky and falls helplessly in love with him; the two begin an affair of their own. Karenin learns of the infidelity and judiciously offers to forgive Anna, but she refuses to end the relationship with Vronsky - with heartbreaking consequences. Donald Bull wrote the adaptation. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi