ANNIE - DVD review

I have a theory about live-action movie musicals. I don't think their waning acceptance in the past quarter century is because the public has lost its interest in singing and dancing. Animated musicals and TV music videos thrive among all age groups. I think the movie musical has fallen upon hard times because Broadway has changed its course. The stage, especially during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, produced musicals filled with memorable tunes one after another, hit productions like "Oklahoma," "My Fair Lady," "The Music Man," "Camelot," "The Sound of Music," and "Cabaret."

Then, somewhere in the late 60s and 70s Broadway lost its way. For the past thirty-odd years the stage musical has depended largely upon variations of a single musical theme, a good, ear-catching song that is repeated in endless permutations, aided by spectacular sets and elaborate costumes. "Annie," from 1982, may have been Hollywood's last gasp in terms of a popular screen adaptation of a Broadway stage production that overflows with numerous hummable tunes.

I would not suggest, however, that "Annie" will appeal to everyone. Indeed, the music is so saccharine it may induce illness in viewers whose blood sugar is already too high. But, otherwise, the film version of the stage hit is an old-fashioned charmer. This is especially unexpected because its grizzled, veteran director, John Huston ("The Maltese Falcon," "The African Queen," "Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "The Misfits"), was not a guy who had had experience making lightweight musical comedies, nor had he done much work with children. Nevertheless, "Annie" comes off with an unrelentingly upbeat sparkle as well as a sometimes dazzling visual style.

The film is based on the long-standing cartoon character, Little Orphan Annie, created by Harold Gray in 1924. The comic strip ran until 1968 and continued in reruns for many years after. The musical opened in 1977, and the movie was made five years later. The stage production to this day continues to be popular all over the world, and Columbia TriStar's new DVD release of the movie should ensure its lasting success.

Annie is played by young Aileen Quinn, an actress I have not heard much about since the film but who does a good job in the title role, projecting a wholesome vitality combined with a spunky toughness. She still appears to me a bit too much like a Hollywood child star, but she's at least as affecting as any of the several other kids I've seen in the same role on stage. Annie's story begins in an orphanage for little girls in Depression Era New York City around 1932. The orphanage is run by a boozy floozy named Miss Hannigan, deftly performed by Carol Burnett. She has some of the film's best lines: "Why anyone would want to be an orphan is beyond me." Then, "We're not having hot mush today." "Hooray!" yell the girls. "We're having cold mush," says Miss Hannigan. She is not well liked. Annie escapes from the orphanage whenever she can and is always returned by the neighborhood cop. On one of her escapades she rescues a dog, Sandy, from a gang of young hooligans intent on tormenting it, and Sandy becomes her lifelong friend.

Then the main plot kicks in. Grace Farrell (Ann Reinking), the personal secretary of the multigazillionaire, Oliver Warbucks (Albert Finney), decides the boss's image needs upgrading, so she persuades him to take in an orphan for a week. Ten-year-old Annie is the kid Ms. Farrell chooses, much to Miss Hannigan's chagrin. Needless to say, Annie endears herself to the grumpy tycoon as well as to his secretary and his whole staff. Warbucks soon wants to adopt her, while he also begins to notice his attraction for Ms. Farrell. Also along from the comic strip are Warbucks' bodyguards--the magician, "Punjab" (Geoffrey Holder), and the martial artist, "Asp" (Roger Minami).

Finally, in the film's closing episode, Annie decides she wants to be raised by her real parents, and Warbucks initiates a nationwide search for them, calling upon New York's Chief of Police, columnist Walter Winchell, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Edward Hermann) in his efforts to find them. All that turn up, though, are frauds, the most convincing being Miss Hannigan's no-good brother, Rooster (Tim Curry), and his girlfriend, Lilly (Bernadette Peters), who eventually kidnap Annie and prompt the film's climax. All in all, it's an energetic cast, with Finney standing out as the gruff and dour grouch who claims his only loves are power, money, and capitalism but whose heart is softened by Annie's sweetness.

You're bound to have heard most of the songs (by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin) before, and they include numbers like "Maybe," "It's a Hard-Knock Life," "I Think I'm Going To Like It Here," the show-stopping "Little Girls," "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," and the second show-stopper, "Tomorrow," among others. They are more than variations of the same tune, and each is memorable in its own right.

Video:
The movie's picture is delivered in two sizes, unusual anymore, both widescreen and full-screen. The anamorphic widescreen is approximately the same size as the movie's original Panavision theatrical-release ratio, about 2.17:1. The full-screen version, selected from the main menu of a double-layered disc, is a pan-and-scan rendering that cuts off about 40% of the image left and right. Anyone who doubts the advantages of widescreen vs. pan-and-scan need only compare a few scenes to see what's missing in P&S, which often excludes whole characters. The colors are soft and warm and fuzzy, like much of the movie, and the transfer is fairly clear of grain.

Audio:
The sound is presented in Dolby 2.0 Stereo Surround only, which allows some small degree of musical ambiance to seep into the rear channels but, otherwise, keeps most of its activity in the front. An unusual low-level hum set in at about the twenty-five-minute mark, disappeared, and then reappeared again from time to time. It was not distracting, but it was noticeable.

Extras:
Among the disc's special features are English and French spoken languages, English and French subtitles, some original advertising, a few talent files, production notes in an informative booklet insert, twenty-eight scene selections, and a pair of theatrical trailers, one for "Annie" and one for "Stuart Little."

Parting Thoughts:
The extras aren't a lot, but the film is the thing, and its cheerful optimism is reassuring. Youngsters and softhearted adults like me will enjoy it.