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).
© James Travers 2012
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next John Huston film:
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
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...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.