Annie

CinemaSerf 6/8/2023 8:12:03AM 8.4

Carol Burnett is wonderful as the conniving, neglectful manager of the orphanage ("Miss Hannigan") who cares not a jot for her charges and treats them like skivvies whilst she drinks//smokes and generally misbehaves her way through life. One day, multi-gazillionaire "Oliver 'Daddy' Warbucks" (Albert Finney) decides to allow an orphan to spend some time with him at his mansion and "Annie" (Aileen Quinn) is the winner of this golden ticket. Quickly, she charms the pants off them all - including the hard-hearted industrialist. When he decides to help her find her long lost parents by offering a reward "Hannigan" scents an opportunity and gets her equally dodgy brother "Rooster" (Tim Curry) and his delinquent girlfriend to fake parenthood, claim the reward - and kidnap the girl! The story is a bit strained at times, but it does have some fun dance routines; "The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow" & "It's a Hard Knock Life" and also a superbly statuesque Geoffrey Holder as "Warbucks" Indian equivalent of "Oddjob" to help it over the odd bumps of tedium. Messrs. Finney & Curry very much enter into the spirit of it all and Quinn captures the vulnerability/feistiness of the title character charmingly.