Little Orphant Annie | |
---|---|
Directed by | Colin Campbell |
Written by | Gilson Willets (scenario) |
Story by | James Whitcomb Riley |
Based on | "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley |
Produced by | William Nicholas Selig |
Starring | Colleen Moore Tom Santschi Harry Lonsdale Eugenie Besserer |
Cinematography | Charles Stumar |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Pioneer Film Corporation (1918) World Film Company (1919) |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Languages | Silent English intertitles |
Little Orphant Annie is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Colin Campbell and stars Colleen Moore, in her first leading role, as the title character. [1] [2] The film is based on James Whitcomb Riley's popular 1885 poem of the same title. Riley also appears in the film. [3]
Annie, left orphaned after the death of her mother, goes to live in an orphanage where she tells her fellow orphans stories of ghosts and goblins. The matron of the orphanage finds Annie's closest relative, the abusive Uncle Thomp. Her uncle puts her to hard work doing hard labor on his farm, belittling her all the while. Big Dave, a neighbor and tough cow-poke, sees this and comes to her aid. Dave becomes her protector. Eventually Annie goes to live with Squire Goode and his large family. There, she entertains the children of the household with her stories, but sees her abusive aunt and uncle as her chief tormentors. She tells stories of how the goblins will take away the children if they are not good. Each story she tells is illustrated. War breaks out and Dave, who Annie adores, enlists. Uncle Thomp, hearing that Dave has been killed in action, takes pleasure in telling Annie the news. Broken-hearted, Annie falls ill and dies in bed, surrounded by family.
The first draft of Little Orphant Annie was written by Gilson Willets and was a more straightforward adaptation of James Whitcomb Riley poem, also containing elements of another Riley poem, "Where Is Mary Alice Smith". The script was apparently extensively re-written several times and became more of a loose adaptation of Riley's poem. [5] Some outlines have Annie dying in the end and being reunited in heaven ("The Good World") with her mother, where she is wedded to Dave. The surviving version of the film has Annie fall ill, only to recover and learn Thomp's news was only a bad dream. [6] Only two of the stories Annie tells (from the original poem) are illustrated.
The story is framed with footage of James Whitcomb Riley acting as a narrator of sorts. [3] That footage had been filmed by Selig Polyscope Company for an earlier commissioned work by Inter-state Historical Pictures Corporation for a film about Indiana. [7] [8] The footage of Riley was most likely taken in early 1916, before Riley's death in July 1916. [9] Principal photography began in early December 1917 in the San Francisco Bay Area and lasted through mid-1918. [10]
Little Orphant Annie was one of the last films produced by Selig Polyscope Company. By the end of 1918, shortly before the film's December release, the company became insolvent and was absorbed by Fox Film Corporation. [8] [11] The film was initially distributed by Pioneer Film Corporation on a state's right basis. [3] In March 1919, distribution rights were sold to World Film Company. [3]
A 16mm print of Little Orphant Annie survives and was released to home media; it was initially released on VHS by Facets, and on DVD by Grapevine Video. [3] [9] An extensive restoration took place in 2016, restoring several minutes to the film, sourced from several surviving prints. [12] The film remains one of the few early performances of Colleen Moore that survives and is available to the public. [2]
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on August 5, 1924, in the New York Daily News.
James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His poems tend to be humorous or sentimental. Of the approximately 1,000 poems Riley wrote, the majority are in dialect. His famous works include "Little Orphant Annie" and "The Raggedy Man".
Colleen Moore was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable stars of the era and helped popularize the bobbed haircut.
John Barton Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book and comics author, illustrator, and storyteller. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and as the author/illustrator of dozens of books. He also created the Beloved Belindy doll. Gruelle also contributed cartoons and illustrations to at least ten newspapers, four major news syndicates, and more than a dozen national magazines. He was the son of Hoosier Group painter Richard Gruelle.
William Nicholas Selig was a vaudeville performer and pioneer of the American motion picture industry. His stage billing as Colonel Selig would be used for the rest of his career, even as he moved into film production.
The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company that was founded in 1896 by William Selig in Chicago, Illinois. The company produced hundreds of early, widely distributed commercial moving pictures, including the first films starring Tom Mix, Harold Lloyd, Colleen Moore, and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Selig Polyscope also established Southern California's first permanent movie studio, in the historic Edendale district of Los Angeles.
The Riley Birthplace and Museum, one of two homes called the James Whitcomb Riley House on the National Register of Historic Places, is located at 250 West Main Street in Greenfield, Indiana, twenty miles (32 km) east of downtown Indianapolis.
"Little Orphant Annie" is an 1885 poem written by James Whitcomb Riley and published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. First titled "The Elf Child", the name was changed by Riley to "Little Orphant Allie" at its third printing; however, a typesetting error during printing renamed the poem to its current form. Known as the "Hoosier poet", Riley wrote the rhymes in 19th-century Hoosier dialect. As one of his most well known poems, it served as the inspiration for the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, which itself inspired a Broadway musical, several films, and many radio and television programs.
Mr. Frank, the Underground Mail-Agent is an 1853 parody novel written by an unknown author credited as "Vidi".
The Golden Age of Indiana Literature is a period from 1880 to 1920 when many nationally and internationally acclaimed literary works were created by natives of the state of Indiana. During this time, many of the United States' most popular authors came from Indiana. Maurice Thompson, George Ade, Booth Tarkington, Theodore Dreiser, Edward Eggleston, Frank McKinney Hubbard, George Barr McCutcheon, Meredith Nicholson, Gene Stratton Porter, Lew Wallace, and James Whitcomb Riley were foremost among the Hoosier authors.
The Indianapolis Journal was a newspaper published in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The paper published daily editions every evening except on Sundays, when it published a morning edition.
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A Hoosier Romance is a 1918 Selig Polyscope silent film, featuring actress Colleen Moore.
April Showers is a 1923 American silent romantic film directed by Tom Forman starring Colleen Moore. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
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The Man in the Moonlight is a 1919 American silent drama film a set in the great north, starring Colleen Moore and Monroe Salisbury.
Little Orphan Annie is the name of an American comic strip begun in 1924.
Winifred Dunn was an American screenwriter, editor, radio scenario writer, and art critic in the early 20th century. She was one of the youngest scenario editors of the silent era and was credited with writing over 40 productions.
Annie is an American media franchise created by Harold Gray. The original comic strip created by Harold Gray, Little Orphan Annie, The comic strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley. Its most notable adaptation is the 1977 musical Annie that won 7 Tony Awards which has been adapted four times on screen for both the big screen and television. The musical also has two sequels titled Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge (1989) and Annie Warbucks (1992). The 1982 film also has a television film sequel Annie: A Royal Adventure! (1995).
Margaret B. Hoberg Turrell was an American composer and organist who published her music under the name Margaret Hoberg. She was also a philanthropist who co-founded the Turrell Fund with her husband.