Little Orphan Annie as a comic strip ran for 86 years from 1924 to 2010 until 1968 under its original creator Harold Gray. Quite a bit is left out when you read a list of Annie's adventures in that period. But the film Annie captures the essence of what she was about. One thing though she never grew up staying a plucky and resourceful orphan with her benefactor Daddy Warbucks the Howard Hughes of the funny papers who had endless money.
Young Aileen Quinn is our Annie and Daddy Warbucks is Albert Finney. The film is an adaption of the Broadway Musical that ran for six years and 2377 performances. It hadn't even finished it's Broadway run when the film came out. The film plot concerns Daddy Warbucks inviting a selected orphan out to the fabulous Warbucks estate and Annie gets to be the lucky girl. She gets to him with her innocent charm and plucky attitude.
But the mean woman who runs the orphanage who is played with delicious panache by Carol Burnett wants to exploit the situation to her own advantage. Burnett enlists her conman brother Tim Curry and his wife Bernadette Peters. What they do and how Annie triumphs over all is for you to see the film.
I'm not sure John Huston was the right choice to direct this, but Busby Berkeley was not available. Probably with a musical or two under his belt Huston might have made a classic. As it is it's not a bad film, just not a great one.
In fact this adaption of a cartoon was really perfected by Warren Beatty when he created his Dick Tracy film. That's how you adapt a cartoon as a cartoon to film with live actors.
Still Annie got a couple of Oscar nominations for adapted musical score and Art&Set Direction. I wish Burnett had been given recognition when she's on the film really takes off.
A good musical with a good adaption for family viewing.
Young Aileen Quinn is our Annie and Daddy Warbucks is Albert Finney. The film is an adaption of the Broadway Musical that ran for six years and 2377 performances. It hadn't even finished it's Broadway run when the film came out. The film plot concerns Daddy Warbucks inviting a selected orphan out to the fabulous Warbucks estate and Annie gets to be the lucky girl. She gets to him with her innocent charm and plucky attitude.
But the mean woman who runs the orphanage who is played with delicious panache by Carol Burnett wants to exploit the situation to her own advantage. Burnett enlists her conman brother Tim Curry and his wife Bernadette Peters. What they do and how Annie triumphs over all is for you to see the film.
I'm not sure John Huston was the right choice to direct this, but Busby Berkeley was not available. Probably with a musical or two under his belt Huston might have made a classic. As it is it's not a bad film, just not a great one.
In fact this adaption of a cartoon was really perfected by Warren Beatty when he created his Dick Tracy film. That's how you adapt a cartoon as a cartoon to film with live actors.
Still Annie got a couple of Oscar nominations for adapted musical score and Art&Set Direction. I wish Burnett had been given recognition when she's on the film really takes off.
A good musical with a good adaption for family viewing.