Annie (1982)
Directed by John Huston

Film Review

For forty years, John Huston managed to avoid having to direct a Hollywood musical, and it was only in the twilight of his career that he was persuaded to do so by producer Ray Stark.  He should have known better.  Based on a hit Broadway musical, Annie not only very nearly finished off Huston's career (he would make just three films after this) but it also pretty well provided the final nail in the coffin for the big budget Hollywood musical.  The film received mixed reviews and failed to recoup its whopping fifty million dollar production cost (which included one million dollars for a musical number which was cut as it was considered too grand).  The sickly saccharine storyline would have been easier to swallow if the songs were of a slightly higher quality (only two of the numbers have stood the test of time: Tomorrow and It's a Hard Knock Life).  As it is, Annie is a substandard, overblown production that is only partly redeemed by the enthusiastic contributions of its three leads, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett and Aileen Quinn.

Finney is surprisingly effective in the role of the staunch capitalist who finally wins back his soul (by adopting a cute little orphan girl whose hobbies include collecting stray dogs and climbing up near-vertical railway bridges in the dead of night for no apparent reason), and Burnett delivers all the best laughs as the alcoholic orphanage owner.  Aileen Quinn has all the qualities needed to make her a loveable Annie but some botched direction and choreography prevent her from making as much of an impact as she should.  Whatever good will we may have for the film is pretty well burned up in the protracted, overly dramatic ending, which seems to lose sight of what the film was meant to be about.  Whilst it has some charm and just about passes for entertainment, it is difficult to get enthusiastic about Annie, one of John Huston's least inspired films - a sad footnote to a career that endowed cinema with such enduring classics as The Maltese Falcon (1941), Key Largo (1948) and The African Queen (1951).

Film Synopsis

In 1933, Annie is a ten-year-old orphan living in a New York orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan.  Her life is not an easy one but she consoles herself with the thought that one day she will be reunited with her parents.  It so happens that the billionaire entrepreneur Oliver Warbucks is looking for an orphan to spend a week in his mansion, so that he can improve his public image.  Annie is selected by Warbucks' faithful secretary Grace Farrell, and she and is thrilled at the prospect of a week of unbridled luxury.  Once the week is over, Warbucks is easily persuaded by Grace to adopt Annie, but the little girl refuses to be adopted because she is certain that her biological parents are still alive.   Warbucks orchestrates a national campaign (with the support of President Roosevelt) to find Annie's parents, offering a substantial reward if they show up to claim their daughter.  Tempted by the promise of easy money, Miss Hannigan's crooked brother Rooster and his girlfriend Lily decide to pass themselves off as Annie's parents...