Annie - 1982

I wrote this review/commentary about the 1982 production of Annie a couple of years ago. Since it is out on video, it’s considered to be “on the tube”, so I’m posting it. Remember, anything goes as log as it’s on the tube!

ANNIE - 1982 Movie

Opening Scene - Orphanage.

I know that the final version of this scene was actually filmed LAST, so this is the oldest you will see Aileen Quinn and the rest of the orphans. They originally filmed the Maybe sequence with Molly up singing with Annie, but they didn’t want anyone getting confused as to which one was Annie, so they re-filmed it. I’m ashamed to say, but I still don’t know the names of the other orphans (except Molly). OK, I know the names of the orphans, but I can’t put most of the names to a face.

Carol Burnett does a wonderful job as Hannigan, who remains drunk through almost the entire movie. Disney jumped on the PC wagon and didn’t show Hannigan drinking much in the 1999 Television show. The last Annie play I went to had Hannigan drinking SO much, it was extremely comical (she had booze hidden in almost everything in the orphanage, including inside one of the dolls, and in a hollowed-out broomstick).

Hard Knock Life:

I love the orphan sleeping one her feet at the top of the stairs (this is rumored to be one of the girls that almost had Aileen beat out for the role as Annie). Notice that when the empty pail bounces down the stairs, it actually hits one of the orphans (Pepper) on top of the head (the one that’s on her stomach scrubbing the steps). And I love the fact that they hired acrobats for this sequence. What a production.

GOOF: When the kids sing, “cotton blankets, ’stead of wool…” an acrobat in the background throws a cleaning rag straight up in the air. The rag comes down and lands directly on another actor’s face, who quickly throws it off.

The girl who was sleeping at the top of the stairs when the song began is still walking around in her sleep. Right before Annie comes in carrying a bunch of plates, you can see the girl walking around like a zombie with her eyes shut.

Right after the “Santa Clause we never see…” bit, Annie goes back up the stairs with Molly, then does this little hopping thing. What’s with that? It’s very cute, though. Oh, let me add this: if you ever get a chance, listen to this song (from the 1982 Annie soundtrack) on a stereo system, such as a car stereo, that has really heavy bass, like the thumpers that a lot of you have. The POUNDING of that drum is absolutely astounding. That’s the CD I always put in if I’m showing off my woofers to someone (sad, yes I know, but it works).

PRICELESS: How Molly says, “Polish my shoes!”.

And I’m curious… how many takes were done of the last shot in the song? And, of those takes, how many times did Aileen smack that other orphan in the face with her foot when she somersaults into the laundry basket? She misses by only an inch or two in the final take.

Possible GOOF: When all the girls repeat Hannigan by saying, “Mr. Bundles!”, you can’t see any of their lips move. Of course, there are three orphans who’s lips you can’t see, so who knows.

Summer out on the Street:

Annie walks along the busy New York street with the sun in her face. You can tell from her expression that it’s been a long time since she’s been able to enjoy the outdoors on her own.

I sure am glad they released a widescreen version of this movie. When I first watched the VHS version, it was pan and scan, and you couldn’t see the cop as he watched Mr. Bundles pull Annie out of the laundry cart. It was a little confusing as to why he was following her.

Annie ditches the cop and finds a dog that’s being bullied by some neighborhood kids. Annie steps in and saves the dog.

PRICELESS: Annie kicking the crap out of the two boys in the alley. It’s a true tribute to the comic strip, which had Annie and Daddy Warbucks as super-hero types rather than a father-daughter dancing, singing team.

Sandy:

The cop finally catches up to Annie and delivers her back to the orphanage. Annie sneaks the dog in past Hannigan, where the girls all huddle around and admire the filthy mutt.

Didn’t care too much for this scene. But it is cute when they sing the song, “Especially when you’re all alone in the night, and you’re small and terribly frightened…”

Hannigan steps in and takes the dog away. She locks Annie in the closet.

Ms. Farrell visits the orphanage:

Grace Farrell shows up to invite an orphan to stay at Oliver Warbuck’s mansion for a couple of weeks. Hannigan escorts her down the hall to the office.

I love the look on Farrell’s face when she looks into the sewing room. What a dump. Those kids are always scrubbing those walls, but they never seem to get clean. I’ve always liked the scene with the orphan selection. Annie is in the back demonstrating that she has all the properties that Ms. Ferrell is looking for in an orphan. I was very glad to see this pop up in the original play. Although, the Annie in the play was 11 years old, not 10.

GOOF: When Hannigan and Ferrell are tugging on Annie, Ferrell pulls Annie out of Ms. Hannigan’s grasp twice. Editing error.

PRICELESS: Hannigan yelling, “Leaping lizards!” to mock Annie. Damn, that’s funny!

In the play, and in the 1999 version, Sandy gets lost along the way, before Annie goes to Oliver Warbuck’s house, and returns at the end (or near the end) of the production. In the movie, the dog is with Annie almost the entire time.

First arrival at the Mansion:

Annie is delivered to the mansion, which she mistakes for a train station.

I love the sequence when Annie walks into the mansion for the first time. Punjab and The Asp are there. I’m not sure about The Asp, but I know Punjab was in the original comic strip.

CUTE: Annie thoroughly wipes her feet when she enters the mansion.

PRICELESS: When Annie smiles big at the accountants, then gives them a little nod. I will actually switch my DVD over to pan and scan just to see that smile full screen. I call it the “Billion Dollar Smile”. It truly shows the raw cuteness of Aileen Quinn, wig or not.

Now, when I read about the first mansion scene, the data I received was that it was filmed at a large university. But in the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD, Aileen Quinn states that it was an actual mansion that somebody lived in that was used. Which is the true story?

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here:

This is a wonderful production of this song. Annie thinks that she needs to earn her keep in order to stay at the mansion, but Grace informs her that she will basically be waited on hand-and-foot, much like Mr. Warbucks, for the duration of her stay. Annie is very happy about this, and just needs to sing about it.

I love the way Annie scrunches up her nose when the Mrs. Greer says, “Soap”.

GOOF: When the maids and butlers are setting the table, right before Mrs. Pugh starts singing, one of the maids knocks over the glasses on the table.

PRICELESS: Annie’s body language when she holds her fists up to Ms. Ferrell on the stairs during, “No finger will you lift, my dear.”

CUTE: Annie gives another great smile when the gardener brings her up a flower.

AWESOME: I’ve always loved the vibrato in Aileen’s voice when she gets to the end of the word “volunteer” while on the stairs near the end of the song.

GOOF: People in musicals always have a comical way of knowing the words to a song. Everyone in the town, everyone on the street, in the shops, working down in the manholes, and sweeping up the filthy streets know the words to whatever song is being sung. But, on the other side of that fourth wall, the characters don’t actually KNOW they are in a musical. The singing is just part of their life. Once in the movie, Ms. Hannigan makes a reference to being in a musical (”Did I hear singing in here?”) but that was for a comedic effect. Alright, on with this goof. At the end of the song, when a few are holding up Annie and everyone is singing “We know you’re gonna like it here!”, there’s a definite drum beat between each syllable of that line. During this drum beat, Annie turns her head sideways to the beat. This is a goof because she’s not supposed to be aware that there is music around her.

Oliver comes home:

Oliver storms into the mansion in his usual over-worked manner and starts barking out orders. He inspects a painting that he ordered (the Mona Lisa) and has some basic banter with Grace, finally realizing that there’s a wet dog and an orphan in his house. He has temporarily forgotten that he himself invited the orphan to stay with him.

Possible GOOF: When Sandy comes running down the stairs, the globs of soapy foam that fall onto the floor mysteriously disappear. It could have been cleaned up by a servant while the camera is on Oliver Warbucks walking into the room, but doubtful.

Nothing much to say about this scene. I do like the whole, “Hang me in the bathroom?” thing. The 1999 version shows a slightly more pathetic approach to getting Oliver to keep her for the holiday, “That’s OK, you can trade me in for a boy.” I like both versions. The 1982 movie shows Annie as being a little more rough, a little more independent, and shows Oliver Warbucks as being much more gruff, thick headed and aggressive than the 1999 version.

Oliver finally agrees to let Annie stay, even though she is a girl. You can tell that he couldn’t care less. He’s only doing it to try and patch up his image a bit, and doesn’t really plan on spending any time with said orphan. But Annie and Grace are still happy that they will be spending some time together.

Little Girls:

We go back to Hannigan, where we get to hear some basic bitching and complaining about how much her life sucks. She’s only in the position of Head of Orphanage because she gets free room and board. She hates kids, life, and everything else. But at least she has her booze.

Carol Burnett does such a good job in this scene. I love going to plays and seeing the different ways the Hannigans do this song. I’ve always loved the way that each Hannigan pulls the head off the doll. The last play I saw had a bottle of booze tucked away inside the doll, so when the head came off, there was a spout that Hannigan drank from. It got howls of laughter from the audience.

And what a good idea to have orphans hiding throughout her bedroom. It just makes the song much more believable. This is truly a woman at the end of her ‘little girl’ rope.

Rooster visits:

Rooster Hannigan shows up and tries to get some money from his sister. She refuses and recovers some cheap jewelry from Rooster’s girlfriend, Lily St. Regis.

Tim Curry is a genius. I’ve never been disappointed with a performance of his. Rooster Hannigan is a true snake, and Curry does a wonderful job at portraying him. Burnadette Peters also gives a remarkable performance as Lily. They sure did pass up a lot of jokes during this first Rooster sequence. A play I went to did a lot of word play on the “dumb hotel” thing - “Ya dumb, ho… tel!”

Maybe reprise:

Molly is missing. Where is she? This scene was actually the original opening “Maybe” scene in the movie. At this point, Molly was up on in the window with Annie. That’s why she’s not down singing with the rest of the girls. But that original “Maybe” scene that showed Molly and Annie was cut, and then re-shot with only Annie. So Molly is nowhere to be seen in the reprise.

NOTE: The girl who sings, “So maybe now this prayer’s the last one of its kind…” has a damn good voice.

Back in the Mansion, nighttime:

Annie wakes up in her new bedroom. She afraid just from the size of it. A plant tips over and sends Annie and Sandy scrambling out to the adults. Damn, that bedroom is huge. My first apartment wasn’t that big. A Bolshevik infiltrates the estate and tries to bomb Oliver. Punjab and The Asp kick the crap out of the Bolshevik. Annie gets another good, “leaping lizards!” in.

In the swimming pool:

Annie and Sandy join Oliver in the swimming pool.

GOOF: When Annie pulls Sandy out of the swimming pool. The dog first goes to the right, then turns and goes off camera to the left. Right after Sandy leaves camera, the shot changes to show Annie in her bathing suit. The dog has mysteriously disappeared. A lot of the room is shown next to Annie (on the widescreen version, at least) and Sandy couldn’t have gotten off camera in time.

In the pan and scan version, when Annie and Oliver are floating in the pool together, the shot cuts off both of their heads. It’s quite annoying.

Back in the den:

Oliver is doing business on the phone. Punjab is flying a model plane around the room for Annie to chase.

GOOF: The suspension wires on the model plane are visible at times.

Grace and Oliver decide to take Annie to a movie. Oliver buys out the 8:00 show. Don’t you wish you had that much money?

Let’s Go To the Movies, Annie:

In Grace’s room. Annie and Grace are getting ready for the movie. They sing a nice little song about going to the movies.

PRICELESS: Annie’s reaction to Grace’s imaginary guns, “Cops and robbers!”

There’s something strange going on throughout this entire DVD, and it’s most notable in this scene. I have the ‘anamorphic widescreen’ version. That’s supposed to be taken right from the film, right? And it’s plenty wide on my 4:3 television. There are huge black bars on the top and bottom of my screen. So, I’m to assume that I got everything that’s on the film. But, even in this widescreen version, there’s still PANNING going on, and it’s very noticeable in this scene. Watch when Grace sings, “Betty Davis is probably lying…” the whole screen shifts (pans). Panning when you’re already watching a widescreen version? Huh? It happens throughout the whole movie. So, what’s the deal? Did we not get everything that was captured on film? Were we ripped off? Not that it’s a huge deal, but I stay up at nights worrying about such things.

Aileen is a good tap dancer. I wish they would have incorporated some of that into the 1999 version. It’s nice to see a multi-talented kid hit the screen.

Oliver Warbucks yells, “Turn the kitchen light off!”, and the lights go out instantly. I guess when you’re the richest man in the world, you can afford to hire people that do nothing but stand next to the light switches and wait for the order to flip!

They arrive at the theater and are greeted by ushers that are all well dressed and choreographed. There’s an impressive 30s Radio City Music Hall production on stage. It’s quite impressive that they actually rented out the RCMH for the filming of this movie.

CUTE: Annie’s excitement as she runs up and down the aisle.

They watch the movie. Many clips from the movie are shown, as well as reactions from Oliver, Grace, and Annie.

GOOF: The movie that is shown, Camille, was released in 1936. Annie takes place four years previous to that, in 1933.

NO GOOF: The Internet Movie Database lists this as a goof: “The movie is set in 1933. When Grace sings Lets go to the movies, she refers to “sweet Shirley Temple“, who at the time had only appeared in small educational films and was not a household name. In fact, she did not become famous until 1934.” This isn’t true. As a huge Shirley Temple fan, I can tell you that in 1932 Shirley did a lot of her ‘Baby Burlesque’ movies, which were not educational films and did appear on the big screen. They were short versions of movies, but she was know as an actress at that time.

PRICELESS: After the ending shot in Camille is shown as the character Marguerite dies. The camera pans from right to left. Oliver Warbucks is shocked at the scene, Grace Farrell is sobbing, and Annie is sound asleep.

Back at the Mansion:

Grace and Oliver put Annie to bed. Oliver is shocked that he actually helped in the process. This is when we finally get to see the softer side of Warbucks as he helps put Annie to bed and gives an odd look at Annie as she is being tucked in, giving the impression that he actually cares about her, but he won’t admit it. Grace and Oliver are falling for each other.

I enjoyed this scene immensely. In the 1999 version, as well as the play, it seems that Oliver suddenly falls in love with Annie during the “NYC” production. It all seems a little rushed for something like that to happen. In this version, you get a little more “quality time” between them, and after is said and done, Oliver still won’t admit to the attachment.

In the Garden:

Grace and Oliver talk about Annie’s future. Oliver reverts back to his brazen self and states that he loves money, power, capitalism, but not children (we all know this is a load of crap, but he sells it.) Oliver gives in eventually, and seems to be trying to please grace more than admit his feelings for Annie. Either way, he’s on the right track.

We Got Annie:

This song was going to be in the original 1979 Broadway play, but was cut. If you listen to the bonus tracks at the end of the Broadway soundtrack, you can hear the original song.

I don’t have kids of my own, but I can empathize with Grace’s excitement of just “gaining” a little girl to live at the mansion. Her little twitch at the beginning of the song says it all.

FUNNY: Drake snapping his fingers off beat to the song at the piano.

RATIONALIZATION: At the end of the garden scene, Grace tells Oliver that she could have the “Ward” papers signed that very morning. Oliver says, “I’ll do it myself.” Then we have the We Got Annie song, after which Oliver shows Grace that he has the necessary papers already in his hands. Now, where did Oliver get these papers on such short notice? I’m rationalizing this by concluding that Oliver would have to have had papers like these (at least temporary transfer of custody papers) just to let Annie out of the orphanage to spend time at the mansion in the first place.

I’m sure Oliver Warbucks had to pay a lot of extra $$$$ in salary in order to get bodyguards that are such spiffy dancers.

Sign:

The kids are marching in a circle to a Hard Knock Life chant. A whistle blows, and they change direction. Duffy frightens Hannigan with a dead mouse. Oliver shows up in his fancy car and enters the orphanage.

Hannigan and Warbucks go into the orphanage. Again, the kids are scrubbing the walls and they remain dingy and gray. Maybe they should invest in some paint?

I absolutely LOVE this scene. It’s one of my favorite of the whole movie. I haven’t done any actual research on who wrote the “Sign” song, but it is brilliant. This song has one message: Don’t *%$& with the richest man in the world, or he will burn your ass!

Oliver and Ms. Hannigan trade verses in song. Oliver wants Hannigan to sign the legal documents turning custody of Annie over to her. Hannigan is interested in nothing but having a fling with the richest man in the world. Hannigan makes the moves on Oliver, purring him in a very embarrassing situation. Eventually, Oliver get sick of it and threatens Hannigan with some blackmail pictures and information about her past ill-deeds. In the pan and scan version, you can’t see Oliver put the custody papers down and drag out the blackmail papers. That makes it a bit confusing, especially when Hannigan ends up sitting on the blackmail papers and having you think they are the custody papers. You also don’t see Oliver put the blackmail pictures back down and pick the custody papers back up, because the pan is on Hannigan, so you think that in the end she’s signing the blackmail papers.

RATIONALIZATION: We’ve already discussed how Oliver could have gotten hold of custody papers on such short notice. But what about the blackmail pictures? He just HAPPENED to have those? This is also easily explained. Earlier in the movie, when Grace Ferrell goes to the orphanage for the first time, she mentions (while Grace and Hannigan are having a tug-of-war with Annie) that Mr. Donatelli (Hannigan’s boss) was recently over at the house, and was telling Mr. Warbucks how many people he had lined up for Hannigan’s job. It would make sense that, if Donatelli had such low opinion of Hannigan, Warbuck’s people (probably Grace) would have a background check done on Ms. Hannigan and the orphanage, most likely hiring a P.I. and having the pictures taken and the financial information looked up. Especially since the reason for getting an orphan in the first place was to improve Oliver’s image, he would want to make sure all of his bases were covered as far as the orphanage was concerned. So Oliver already had this stuff, even before the beginning of the movie, and knew it would be prime ammunition against Hannigan should she resist, which she does, which turns out to be a big mistake, because, as I mentioned earlier, you don’t *%$& with the world’s richest man.

Back in the Mansion:

Oliver is about the break the good news to Annie. He is going to adopt her, and they are going to live happily ever after. But, until then, Oliver is waiting for Grace to return from Tiffany’s with Annie’s new locket. Grace eventually shows up. Oliver is nervous beyond belief at breaking the news to Annie.

PRICELESS: Oliver is a total wreck. A 10 year old girl has turned the richest, most powerful, most stone-hearted man into a bag of twitchy Jell-O. Oliver: “Nervous? I’m not nervous! (hands locket back to Grace) You give it to her!” Grace: “It was your idea.” Oliver: “She likes you better than she likes me!”

CUTE: The way Aileen Quinn runs down the stairs and over to Oliver.

GOOF: When Annie show’s Oliver her new karate kick. She kicks Oliver in the leg, but right before her foot hits, Albert Finney (Warbucks) actually pushes his leg into the kick. Could have been a flinch reaction, but doubtful.

Punjab does some magic and heals Oliver’s leg.

Everybody bails on Oliver to let him tell Annie the good news in person.

Oliver explains his sob situation to Annie and tells her that he wants to adopt her. How touching. Annie doesn’t want the locket and explains that she’s still waiting for her parents to come back, and they have the other half of her broken locket. Oliver decides to help her find her parents.

GOOF: Maybe this isn’t a goof, per se, but I wanted to point this out. When Oliver gives Annie the locket, he immediately takes it back from her so he can open it himself. Then when Annie refuses the locket, Warbucks says, “It isn’t all the same to me. Your old one’s broken. This one’s engraved. You didn’t even look at it!” Well, Oliver never gave her the CHANCE to look at it. It was only in her hands for about a second before he took it back from her again.

TRIVIA: According to the 20th Anniversary Annie DVD, the little “my parents left a note” speech was the main screen test that Aileen had to pass in order to get the part. It wasn’t the only screen test, but it was a biggie. And man is it weird to see her do it without that wig on.

Oliver goes into the foyer and starts barking out orders at people. I’m sure the richest man in the world would have some pretty powerful contacts.

At the Radio Station:

I really like this scene, too. Is there a scene I don’t like? Hmmm. Anyway, Annie is wearing her sailor outfit, which is cute as hell (if hell can be cute, to be discussed later (the hell thing, not the sailor thing)).

Annie is at the radio station with Oliver, Asp and Punjab. Burt Healy is singing his “Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” song. Oliver does a comical presentation to the radio listeners stating that he will give $50,000 to anyone who can prove they are Annie’s parents. Annie gives another one of her Billion Dollar Smiles (more like a $723,000,000 smile, but who’s counting?) during the beginning of the big production.

Strike three and you’re out! I absolutely love this part! Annie notices that Burt Healy isn’t actually tap dancing. Rather, he’s using the prop man to make it sound like he’s tap dancing. This offends Annie. It works better in the movie than in all the plays I’ve seen because in the movie (and on Broadway, I’m sure) Annie is an accomplished tap dancer, and takes offense to someone “faking it”. So she gets up and points at Burt’s feet. A stagehand runs over and grabs Annie by the arm and pulls her back to her seat.

Strike One.

Punjab quickly changes position as he sees the man grab Annie. Punjab is going to guard Annie as much, if not more, than he guards Oliver Warbucks. So the show continues until Oliver questions one of the words in the script. The same stage hand grabs Oliver by the arm and pulls him back to his microphone.

Strike Two.

Punjab again notices this guy manhandling one of his employers. Oliver continues speaking and eventually offers the sum $50,000 to anyone that they can prove to be Annie’s parents. Annie stands up on her chair and yells, “Oh Mr. Warbucks!” The same stage hand runs over and grabs Annie to keep her quiet.

Strike Three.

Punjab grabs the man on the elbow and smacks him with a hammer fist to the top of the head (a real knock-out pressure point, mind you) and drops the man cold. Aileen Quinn does a good acting job of watching the unconscious man while diverting her attention back to the show.

The stagehand eventually regains consciousness and goes back to the show. At the very end, Oliver is duped into doing a plug for a toothpaste company, which upsets him. He protests the advertisement, and the dumbass stagehand tries to silence Oliver by putting a hand over Oliver’s mouth.

OK, Strike Four.

Punjab knocks the guy cold again.

You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile:

Back at the orphanage. The orphans are listening to the radio while Burt Healy finishes his song.

This is a very important scene in the movie because it lets the other orphans shine while showing off their talents. The character Molly is actually the second most important orphan in the whole production, and gets a lot of camera (stage) time in this scene. Toni Ann Gisondi does a spectacular job as Molly.

The kids put on their own version of “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”. It’s very well choreographed, and they get a chance to dance, sing and have fun.

GOOF: During the first run of “So Senator, so janitor, so long for a while!” Toni Gisondi (Molly) keeps looking off-camera and off-stage to the choreographer, who is obviously telling her to smile big, because she almost starts laughing. It’s obvious that she’s looking at someone off-camera.

In the pan and scan version, you can’t see Molly getting controlled like the ventriloquist dummy on Burt Healy’s show. The pan is on the three singing girls in the background.

GOOF: Directly after the part with Molly as the ventriloquist dummy, one of the orphans is walking down the chest of drawers singing, “…and not from head to toe that matters…” Her lips are not synched with the vocals, especially at the end of the shot.

Ms. Hannigan awakens from her drunken stupor and goes to see what the commotion is. The kids go back to being serious and Molly stomps on her foot.

CUTE: Look how big Toni Ann Gisondi’s eyes are as she’s looking up at Hannigan. What a cutie.

Back at the Mansion:

Hordes of people have gathered outside the gates to try and prove they are Annie’s parents. There are cops inside the gate trying to keep them out. The gates are opened and they all rush in. What a bunch of greedy bastards! There are cameras rolling to capture the event.

Grace smartly decides that she doesn’t want Annie to see all the adults acting like idiots, and Oliver decides to get Annie and take her to see the President of the United States.

Punjab does another telekinetic levitation feat with a bowl of flowers. And this time you can’t see the wire!

The Whitehouse:

Oliver and Annie arrive at the Whitehouse in the auto copter. The President and First Lady are waiting on the lawn for him.

PRICELESS: The terrified expression on Annie’s face as Oliver is taking off her leather helmet.

And thank GOD the auto copter flight and helmet didn’t mess up Annie’s hair. Not one little bit.

The scene inside the Whitehouse is my least favorite scene of the movie. Especially after seeing the play. First of all, this is the only scene in the movie where you actually see Aileen sing “Tomorrow”, but it’s only a reprise, and everybody ends up singing it. You do get to hear her sing it in the opening credits, and that’s not good enough. It irks me that they didn’t put the actual “Tomorrow” scene in this movie. Especially considering it’s the most famous song from the production.

The scene inside the Whitehouse is very, very funny in the play. The President is ordering his people around, telling them to sing, and sing certain parts in harmony, etc… It’s very amusing. The movie version tries to be a little funny, but ends up flat. I almost always skip this scene when I’m watching the movie.

Annie gets in another good, “Leapin’ lizards!” in this scene. The 1999 version couldn’t seem to find a good place to fit one in, so they just forced one in near the end of the show.

HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY: Trivia question… is it supposed to be “You’re ONLY a day away” or “You’re ALWAYS a day away”? The answer is: Both. In the first part of the production, Annie sings “Tomorrow” in the streets after she meets Sandy. The line there is a pessimistic one: “I love ya tomorrow, you’re always a day away…” meaning that tomorrow will be better, but it will never come. In the play, she does the reprise at the Whitehouse, and the President is responsible for changing the ‘always’ to ‘only’: “I love ya tomorrow, you’re only a day away…” But the 1982 movie doesn’t show that. Even when Aileen is singing the song during the opening credits, they use the word ‘only’. It really puts my panties in a bunch.

Back at the Orphanage:

Rooster and Lily show up again, this time dressed in disguise and pretending to be Annie’s real parents. They fool Ms. Hannigan for a bit, then devise a plan to get the $50,000 by masquerading as Annie’s parents, getting the money and Annie, killing Annie and making off to New Jersey to spend their new found fortune.

But Molly hears the plan through the ventilation and gets the orphans together to help. I wonder if it hurt to get hit in the face with a mop like that? (The film was sped up here to make it look like a harder hit).

“Easy Street” is a so-so song. I’ve never been a huge fan of it, but it has its place. They do a good job at making this production funny. Hannigan makes a complete fool of herself while she tries to dance her way through the song, getting her foot stuck in a wall, smacking into a wall, etc. I also consider this one to be a reprise. They don’t start the song at the beginning, but it’s already a two hour movie, so why drag it out?

The Hannigans find the other half of Annie’s locket and we find out through Ms. Hannigan that Annie’s parents are indeed dead, and she never told Annie about it.

NO GOOF: The Internet Movie Database lists this as a goof: “While dancing drunkenly down the steps, Mrs. Hannigan kicks a hole in the wall. In the next shot, the hole is gone.” If you watch the sequence carefully, you will see the hole in the wall where it should be and at the proper time. So this is not a goof. Just thought I would clear that up.

The Hannigans stop the orphans from escaping and lock them in the closet. You can see one of the orphans holding back a laugh while she being forced toward the closet.

Back at the Mansion:

The auto copter lands on the lawn. Annie runs up to Punjab to ask about her parents. Punjab gives her a line about being patient. Annie asks Grace about her parents.

Alright. I’ve been dreading typing up this part throughout the whole review. I know that Aileen Quinn either got nominated for, or won, the Razzie award (given to the worst actors, movies, etc… of the year) for worst actress in this movie. I disagree with the award, or the nomination, completely. (And it doesn’t take a genius to realize of an actor is good or not.) But there is one part, one line, that I consider to be a horrible acting job. And that line comes during this scene.

“Have my parents come for me?”

Ugh. The way she delivered that line should have been done over again. Take a mulligan on it, babe. I may be able to lay a lot of the blame on the director here. But, damn.

Grace informs Annie that all of the people that interviewed as her parents were really, really big psychos. Annie gets all depressed and tells Oliver that she’s no longer ’special’. Oliver gives her a pep talk.

Back at the Orphanage:

The kids are locked in the closet. Pepper devises a plan to get them out. They climb up a shelf and through a vent in the ceiling. Once on the roof, they go to the edge of the building and climb/shimmy down a drain pipe to the street below. I don’t know anything about architecture, but that drain pipe looks like it has no conceivable purpose at all.

GOOF: When the orphans are in the closet arguing over how they’re going to get out, the orphan to Pepper’s left (I’m not sure if this one is Duffy or not) puts her finger to her lips and shushes another girl, then looks DIRECTLY into the camera. Big no-no.

Back in the Mansion:

Rooster and Lily are giving their sob story to Grace. They are posing as Annie’s parents to try and get the money. Oliver and Annie come into the room to see what’s going on. If you have a good television, you should be able to see that Annie’s dress in this scene is very, very bright red. It makes a good effect. I’ve always wondered if they used a different dress just for this scene. Maybe it’s just me.

Lily compares the broken locket she has with Annie’s and it’s a perfect fit. Of course it’s a perfect fit. It’s the locket that Annie’s dead parents left for her. But the play says something different. The play actually agrees with the 1999 television version, where Rooster and Lily didn’t have the other half of the locket. Instead, they used a different locket that didn’t fit very well, but they didn’t give anyone enough time to see the fit.

Everyone is suspicious that the couple is not Annie’s real parents, even though they have very good evidence. Lily produces a birth certificate and shows it to Oliver. The date of Annie’s birth reads October 18th, 1922. The play and the 1999 television version agree that the date on the birth certificate is October 28th, 1922. Go figure.

Annie gives a confused, “I’ll go pack,” and goes off to pack. She’s not completely buying the bull, but is slightly optimistic anyway.

(A cut scene shows that the other orphans have made it to the street and go running off.)

Oliver fills out the check and gives it to Rooster. “Put it in your pocket, Mrs. Mudge.” Oliver, at this point, seems pissed.

Back on the Street:

The orphans make it to 5th Avenue and realize that they still have a long, long way to go.

In Annie’s Bedroom:

Annie is in her room packing. Grace is helping her. Another big difference between the 1982 move and the 1999 show (and the plays) is that in the ‘82 movie, Annie is much more optimistic. All three have the “Maybe” reprise here. In this version, Annie is singing the reprise. In the 1999 television version, Grace is singing the reprise while Annie is crying and feeling sorry for herself. In the play, Annie is singing the reprise, while also feeling sorry for herself. I remember a performance at a local community theater back in November of 2002 that had a girl playing Annie that was so talented, she had the entire audience sobbing while she sang this reprise. She slowly broke down and started to cry while singing it, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole place. I saw that performance four times, and every time it bowled the audience over. Anyway, sorry to go off on that tangent. My point is: In the 1999 version and the play, Annie is feeling sorry for herself. In the 1982 version, Annie is bummed out at the fact of leaving Oliver, but she’s still optimistic about it.

EXCELLENT: This is a very good scene. Annie wants to give her clothes up to the girls at the orphanage because she doesn’t want her new clothes to make her poor parents feel bad. Grace has a hard time listening to Annie’s generosity. Annie picks up her old outfit and sings the reprise. The somber look on Annie’s face right after she gets done singing the reprise is some damn fine acting, even if it’s only for a second.

Back at the Mansion:

Oliver is looking out from the balcony as Rooster loads Annie and Sandy into the truck. As they get in and drive away, Oliver sings his own “Maybe” reprise. It’s a very good reprise, and for the first time, you feel really sorry for him. I’ve always loved the line, “Betcha where they live’s as nice as right here.” Yeah, right. In the 1999 version and the play, the line is sung by Annie. In this version, it’s sung by Oliver and goes, “…she’ll be as happy as she was here”.

And at this point I say, “leddidep!” As the truck drives away, the right tail light is burned out. That’s two points for me. (I think only a few people would understand this, so just ignore it if you don’t.)

In the Truck:

The truck leaves the mansion and picks up Ms. Hannigan. Annie throws a fit when she finds out that she’s in big trouble.

The orphans argue over whether they should continue. Most vote to call it quits. Then, the truck rolls to a stop by them, and, even though they don’t see Annie in the front seat, they see Sandy in the back. They call Sandy to them, and this gives them enough energy to keep going and try to get to Warbuck’s mansion.

Back to the Mansion:

The kids eventually make it to the mansion. They convince the outside guard to let them in. “You want to see Mr. Warbucks? Alright. Come one. Come on.” That’s some fine acting there. You should study it.

Inside the study, Oliver looks over a picture of Annie and places it in a drawer. The kids make some noise downstairs and force Oliver to come down and find out what the hell is going on.

The kids are frightened of Punjab, and Molly passes out. how cute. She is smiling a little as Punjab picks her up.

Oliver comes down and the orphans tell him that Annie has been kidnapped. Oliver gets a chance to yell, “Leapin’ lizards!”

Molly looks at Punjab and passes out again.

Everyone gets together in the study and puts a plan together to go and find Annie. Oliver gets J. Edgar Hoover on the phone to help him. Now, I always thought that it was kind of silly (even for a kids’ movie) to get the head of the F.B.I. in on something like this. I mean, he’s the head of the F.B.I. Why in the world would he get involved on something as petty as a single kidnapping? But after I read Shirley Temple’s autobiography, I find that it is not as outlandish as originally thought. When Shirley was young, J. Edgar Hoover was personally in charge of her safety, and was notified of the smallest scares, including the alarm outside her bedroom being set off. Now, if he was called into action in real life by a famous movie star, it would make sense to justify that he would get involved if the richest man in the world’s daughter got kidnapped. So it’s not as far-fetched as I thought.

So the cop cars get called out, and Oliver goes out in a car with grace. Punjab goes up in the auto copter.

NOTE: This is where any similarities between the movie and the play COMPLETELY end, until the last scene of the movie. In the play and the 1999 version, the end scene takes place in the mansion and involve the President coming over to for Christmas (The 1982 movie takes place in the summertime) and foil the Hannigan’s plans to even get Annie out of the mansion. I think they just wanted something that was a little more action packed than the play and wrote additions to the script that involved a chase scene and a cliff hanging bridge scene. Overall I like the changes.

The driving scenes with Oliver Warbucks have to be some of the worst background scenery shots I’ve ever seen.

They pull the truck over to let Annie “do her business”, but she grabs the check and bails, running through a gate that’s locked shut and providing just enough room for her to squeeze through.

BAD CHOREOGRAPHY: If you watch Rooster while Annie is grabbing the check from Hannigan and running through the gate, Rooster sees what’s going on, but has to wait a long time before chasing Annie. This is so she can get through the gate before he can reach her. He even goes to the edge of the seat really slowly, then darts out quick when it’s time for him to chase. It’s just bad choreography. I guess it had to be done that way or he would easily have caught her. Oh well.

Annie runs down the train tracks. Everyone gives chase. This is the first time in the movie you hear swearing. Hannigan says, “Goddam it!” when Annie runs off from the car. Rooster yells, “Come back here you goddam kid!” I thought it was mildly noteworthy. The 1999 Television show was so Disneyed-up, you wouldn’t even think of hearing a curse word. The most recent play that I saw used the word damn about a billion times. Living in the Promised Land (Utah, ugh) I spotted more than a few people in the audience squirming with a bit of discomfort at hearing all those “profanities”. It was rather amusing.

There are a few cut scenes between the truck and the cars giving chase. Annie runs down the tracks and is cornered by Hannigan’s car. I like Aileen’s reaction shot as she thinks the car might hit her. She holds up the $50,000 certified check and tears it up.

CUTE: “Mr. Warbucks will eat your livers!”

Rooster swears death on the orphan and gives chase. Annie climbs up the bridge (stunt done nicely by a midget double). Hannigan delays Rooster, who knocks her cold, then chases Annie up the bridge.

HORRIBLE SYNCHRONIZATION: Punjab gets on the radio and tells Grace and Oliver that Annie is on the B&O Bridge. Grace gives Oliver directions to the bridge. Oliver says, “I know, I know!” as the car makes a right turn. And what horrible effects! The background film shows that the car is almost HALF way through the turn before Albert Finney even begins to turn the steering wheel, then doesn’t even straighten out the wheel after the car completes the turn. Not even close!

Punjab decides to go down and rescue Annie from the bridge. I can’t understand why Rooster isn’t strong enough to pry Annie’s hands off the bridge. Of course, that would make for an entirely different ending. Punjab dangles down and cleans Rooster’s clock with a powerful kick, then lifts Annie to safety. Rooster slides down the bridge and into a jumper’s net.

GOOF: Check the location of the towel that Punjab is dangling from in different shots. It changes from being straight down from the auto copter to being draped over a crossbar on the skid.

The helicopter lands and delivers Annie safely into Oliver’s hands. This shot was done with a crane, so you could see that it really was Aileen when she landed.

Back at the Mansion:

And back to the real story. I love the song, “I Don’t Need Anything But You”. Always have. This is a great performance that they put together for the film’s finale.

CUTE: Call me a psycho (everyone else does), but this is a CUTE mention that is really, really small. If you listen to the soundtrack of the 1982 movie on a good system, you can hear Aileen Quinn suck in a deep breath right before she starts singing, “Together at last…”

It’s very impressive that Aileen is an accomplished tap dancer. It puts a little more of a Broadway feeling to the movie. And Aileen’s little tap solo is very impressive, but the foley isn’t nearly as good as it could have been. Albert Finney isn’t half bad either.

GOOF: During the part of the song that goes, “And if tomorrow I’m an apple seller too…” there are two performers on unicycles circling Annie and Oliver while they join hands and dance around in a little circle. Then the camera cuts to a different angle, and the two unicyclists have disappeared. Warbucks must have paid extra for circus performers that are also magicians!

Then the song breaks into a reprise of “We’ve got Annie”, which is a total hack of the original that got cut from the Broadway show. The 4th of July is mentioned in the song, when it should have taken place during Christmas. But, oh well.

I can’t put my finger on it, but I’ve always liked the little dance step that Oliver and Annie do right at the beginning of the reprise. The camera is tracking and they are side stepping while tapping away. I’m not a dancer of any kind, so maybe this looks a lot more impressive than it actually is.

And of course, Ms. Hannigan is just fine and dandy, riding into the scene on an elephant. Yeah, right. I like the Broadway and Television version better, where Hannigan ends up in a nut house. It also makes way for my screenplay that shows what happens to the other orphans after Hannigan is gone. (Note my shameless plug).

Anyway, they all get done dancing and singing. Oliver gives Annie the new locket, thus sealing their relationship as father and daughter. “I love you Daddy Warbucks!” Annie finally accepts the bald guy as her new daddy, and a horrible chroma-key effect of fireworks start exploding above the house. They all turn around to watch the show.

WONDERFUL GOOF: I love this good so much, I’ve been patiently waiting all the way to the end of the movie in order to type it. When Oliver, Annie and Grace all turn around to face the fireworks, Annie pulls her dog Sandy to her side. You can see Aileen give the dog the command to sit… if you watch her right arm carefully, you will see her draw it up and push it down quickly. That would be the ’sit’ command. She also probably giving a verbal command, too. But the dog isn’t listening. You can see her pull her arm up and push it down three times before the damn dog actually sits. I love it!

Ok, the movie is now over.

Final Thoughts:

I’m still irked that the only real performance of the “Tomorrow” song is during the opening and closing credits. It’s THE defining song of Annie, and all they have is the lousy reprise at the White House.

I absolutely love this movie, and I will continue watching it on occasion until my DVD wears out and I can no longer get another one. I also enjoy the Television version, as well as going to any and every play I can find tickets for. I hope people keep making new versions of this fantastic play.