Annie (1982)

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 3:35pm

So, I just saw this movie. I thought Ann Reinking was FAN-F*CKING-TABULOUS. She's definitely the best part of it. Also, a shout-out to Carol Burnett playing a drunk-ass, scary Miss Hannigan.

Your thoughts?

[mauriposa]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 3:40pm

I love, love, love this movie. I used to watch it daily when I was a kid. I had a locket that looked similar to Annie's and everything. I think I even used "Tomorrow" as my first audition song because of it.

[george95]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 3:48pm

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I used to play the record (yes an actual record) all the time.

I liked when the girls clowned around with "You're never fully dressed Without a Smile"

I love how they all wear brownish shades of clothes except for Annie's red sweater.

Carol Burnett is perfect as the boozing mean boss of the girls.

As a little kid it was very exciting to watch Annie move into the Warbucks house.

I would say the only weak part was when Ann Reinking did her solo dance---it took it out of the 30's and into the early 80's in terms of clothes and hair. But, we also used to have fun imitating her over the top dancing.

The girls knocked it out of the park with the gymnastics in Hard Knock Life.

The girl that played Annie....I thought she screamed more than sang a lot, and the girls who got solos (ex.: Grover! Why not think it over!) had much stronger and fuller forces than Eileen Quinn.

Still, to me this is the quintessential version of Annie. I still like to listen to the CD (when nobody else is around of course).

Updated On: 2/18/08 at 03:48 PM

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 3:50pm

Oddly enough, last evening, I was sorting through some boxes of old stuff from my childhood and I found the LP of the soundtrack and a photo book from this.

I *loved* that movie. I nearly wore out the soundtrack and I'm sure I drove my foster-mother crazy with my off-key singing.

The last thing I saw on television before I got rid of the boob tube was "Annie" on cable.

When I met Ann briefly, all I could think was "OMG SHE WAS IN ANNIE!!!!"

[mmousefan]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 3:57pm

this version is pretty good (and I even liked the added song about the movies for Reinking) but I also REALLY enjoyed the Rob Marshall (I think?!!?) TV movie version. The film's star went on, I believe, to a starring role on ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE after Jean Stapleton left ALL IN THE FAMILY.

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 3:58pm

The stage version is much better.

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:01pm

Do I hear......Happinesssssss.....in here?

[shameless]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:06pm

I bought the DVD for my nieces last year and they LOVE it, so I've seen it about 50 times since then.

Here's a fun fact for you. The girl who sings the "Grover: Why not think it over" solo is Amanda Peterson. She's probably best known as Cindy Mancini in Can't Buy Me Love with Patrick Dempsey.

[roquat]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:08pm

Burnett is perfect--I kept digitally pasting her performance over Kathy Bates' while watching the TV version. It's always great to see Ann Reinking, but she was completely wasted in the role of Grace (and her voice is all wrong for it--that's why they had to put in new songs, although they're fine.) I wonder what would have happened if Reinking had played Lily and Bernadette Peters had been given Grace. Her voice is much more suited to it, and she's such a childlike performer (especially then) that she might have had more rapport with Annie. And Reinking would have been a sizzling, sexy/comic Lily. Thoughts?

[mmousefan]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:12pm

that's a good idea, I had never thought of it. I do find the movie's version of Grace more interesting than the stage version (but then Audra brought the "original Grace" back on track with her version, so it could be in the performing). I never think of Lily as being all that sexy, more kooky/charming, which is not Reinking's forte, but then again neither is motherly rapport (though she does pretty well with Nicole---Fosse's real daughter?---in ALL THAT JAZZ). I think Bates is fine as Hannigan, however. I like her AND Loudon's original AND Burnett's, as well as many who have played it on B'way and tour since.....it's one of those roles that a good actress can have a field day with.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:16pm

I may be shot for this, but I actually prefer the 99 TV version. I can't stand Carol Burnett, and I'm not crazy about the new songs (who thought replacing NYC with Let's Go to the Movies was a good idea?). And the new plot is odd as well.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:17pm

I thought they took a wonderful stage musical and turned in into dreck for the film.

The different characters (Punjab?!), taking it out of the holiday season and sticking in the 4th of July because fireworks were cheaper than snow... Awful.

The only things that are worth watching are Carol and Audra and watching Andrea belt out 'Just got here this morning!'.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:20pm

I thought she screamed more than sang a lot, and the girls who got solos (ex.: Grover! Why not think it over!)

I LOVED that girl's voice! Man, I played that part over and over.

"The Hard-Knock Life" was the highlight of the movie for me. When they're all on the outside of the building, it kind of reminded me of Rent. Yeah, I never thought I would equate Annie with Rent, either.

I love how the movie did "Never Fully Dressed" too. The girl playing Molly is ADORABLE.

[george95]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:25pm

Punjab was part of the original Annie comic strip.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:27pm

There were a lot of characters that were part of the original strip, that's not my point.

Why add him, that horrid car chase and all of the other stuff when the show had enough going for it?

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:30pm

Yeah, I do hate that they transported it to the Fourth of July and added that terrible Punjab character, though.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:32pm

I think what makes this movie so special for me is that I saw it a million years before I knew anything about the stage version or had the mental capacity to contrast and compare.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:36pm

That's probably why.

[D2]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:38pm

The stage show was charming. The movie sucked.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:39pm

A misfire of a movie. I recently watched clips of it on YouTube, and it's actually WORSE than I remember it being at the time.

Those elephantine musical numbers that feel strangely claustrophobic. I'm not sure how John Huston managed that, but he did.

Bad casting, badly sung, badly directed, badly acted, overly choreographed. Dreary looking, terrible pacing... the new songs are horrible...

But other than that, I loved it.

The TV version that Rob Marshall directed is "Citizen Kane" by comparison.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:41pm

Speaking of watching bad movies again, I have Grease 2 on in the back ground.

I forgot just how mind-numbingly bad it is.

[mmousefan]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:42pm

even though the storyline/plot is much simpler and more farcical, it's in some ways similar to play/musical/musical-film versions of various properties: MATCHMAKER/HELLO DOLLY, CHICAGO, I AM A CAMERA/CABARET, even DREAMGIRLS, HAIRSPRAY, RENT. You can agree with some choices in adaptation and disagree with others. Each version has strengths and weakneses, given the era produced and the constraints/opportunities of each medium. Ranking them can belittle their comparison. "Compare/constrast" does not need to be "accept/dismiss."

[mauriposa]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:42pm

Now, there's a movie I can't get through.

[george95]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:43pm

The 1982 movie was my first experience with Annie, so when I finally saw different versions of it (high school productions in the 90s) I thought....why is it at Christmas? I liked the (let's go to the movies! song---my friends still sing it sometimes on our way to the movies--and yes we all have big L's on our head)

And the Punjab character was good from a little kid's 1982 point of view because he was so mysterious and he was able to practically hypnotize Annie, and when he helped out that girl and made her faint? That was really cool.

[blueroses]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 4:55pm

"Each version has strengths and weakneses, given the era produced and the constraints/opportunities of each medium."

Honestly, I can't think of a single "strength" in the '80s film version.