The Affairs of Annabel

Last updated
The Affairs of Annabel
The Affairs of Annabel FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Benjamin Stoloff
Written by Bert Granet (writer)
Charles Hoffman (story)
Produced by Lou Lusty
Lee S. Marcus
Starring Jack Oakie
Lucille Ball
Ruth Donnelly
Cinematography Russell Metty
Edited by Jack Hively
Music by Roy Webb
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
September 9, 1938 (1938-09-09)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Affairs of Annabel is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Lucille Ball, Jack Oakie and Ruth Donnelly. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. The film was followed by the sequel Annabel Takes a Tour the same year, also starring Oakie, Ball and Donnelly.

Contents

Plot

Wonder Pictures studio publicity man Lanny Morgan has actress Annabel Allison taken to prison in order to generate publicity before the release of her new film. However, when Annabel is released one month later, she finds that nobody has noticed, and she has Lanny fired. But when he pays a struggling actress to pretend to be his sick mother, Annabel has Lanny rehired, and he immediately begins plotting his next stunt.

The head of Wonder Pictures informs Annabel that her film has been canceled, and that she is to star in a new film, The Maid and the Man. Lanny arranges to have her work as Mary, a maid for the Fletchers, their teenage son Robert and inventor Major. While Robert becomes infatuated with Annabel, she is expected to cook and clean for the family, so she calls on Lanny to help. Meanwhile, the investors interested in one of Major's inventions, a rubber ring placed around a plate so that it will bounce rather than break when dropped, appear in the morning newspaper as robbers. They are in fact waiting for their own publicity to dissipate so that they can make a getaway.

Back at Wonder Pictures, The Maid and the Man has been scrapped, but when Lanny calls Annabel to tell her, she answers that she cannot leave. Though at first confused, he finds Annabel's police mug shot in the paper along with the robbers, and forms a plan to outfit 50 extras as policemen. As they march toward the house firing blanks, the robbers return fire with real bullets, and the extras scatter. Lanny sneaks into the house alone but is captured.

When the real policemen arrive, the robbers try to escape, using Lanny and Allison as shields. Instead, Annabel uses her martial arts training to throw one of the robbers to the ground, while Lanny bites the other.

Annabel returns to Wonder Pictures and is disappointed to find that The Maid and the Man has been replaced by The Diamond Smuggler, in which she is to play the lead. On her way out, Annabel collects a gift that Lanny had arranged for her to receive, and is apprehended when the police open it to discover the precious jewels inside. Lanny watches from the front of the new billboard for The Diamond Smuggler as Annabel is driven away screaming.

Cast

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Frank S. Nugent speculated that The Affairs of Annabel would be the first in a series: "A promising first, we might add; in a light farce vein, with some flip players in it. ... Between them, and with the help of a smartly written script, they have created an amusing trifle about a movie actress and a press agent with a Svengali complex. ... Miss Ball, who is rapidly becoming one of our brightest comediennes, plays it broadly and without a disruptive trace of whimsy." [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desilu</span> American production company

Desilu Productions was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Mannix, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA's Revue Studios, until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until Ball sold it to Gulf and Western Industries in 1968.

<i>Room Service</i> (1938 film) 1938 Marx Brothers film by William A. Seiter

Room Service is a 1938 American comedy film directed by William A. Seiter, based on the 1937 play of the same name by Allen Boretz and John Murray. The film stars the Marx Brothers and also features Lucille Ball, Ann Miller and Frank Albertson. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures

<i>Five Came Back</i> 1939 film by John Farrow

Five Came Back is a 1939 American black-and-white melodrama from RKO Radio Pictures produced by Robert Sisk, directed by John Farrow, written by Jerry Cady, Dalton Trumbo, and Nathanael West, and starring Chester Morris and Lucille Ball. The film was photographed by cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca. Although considered a B movie, the positive notices received by Ball helped launch her career as an A-list actress. Five Came Back is considered a precursor of the disaster film genre. The supporting cast features Wendy Barrie, John Carradine, C. Aubrey Smith, Kent Taylor, and Patric Knowles.

<i>The Toast of New York</i> 1937 film by Rowland V. Lee

The Toast of New York is a 1937 American biographical film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, and Jack Oakie. The film is a fictionalized account of the lives of financiers James Fisk and Edward S. Stokes. The screenplay was based on the book The Book of Daniel Drew by Bouck White and the story "Robber Barons" by Matthew Josephson.

<i>Mame</i> (film) 1974 film by Gene Saks

Mame is a 1974 Technicolor musical film in Panavision based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name and the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis.

<i>Dance, Girl, Dance</i> 1940 film by Dorothy Arzner

Dance, Girl, Dance is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Dorothy Arzner and starring Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, and Ralph Bellamy. The film follows two dancers who strive to preserve their own integrity while fighting for their place in the spotlight and for the affections of a wealthy young suitor.

<i>Street Girl</i> 1929 film

Street Girl is a 1929 pre-Code musical film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Betty Compson, John Harron and Jack Oakie. It was adapted by Jane Murfin from "The Viennese Charmer", a short story by William Carey Wonderly. While it was the first film made by RKO Radio Pictures, its opening was delayed until after Syncopation, making it RKO's second release. It was very successful at the box office, accounting for almost half of RKO's profits for the entire year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Donnelly</span> American actress

Ruth Donnelly was an American film and stage actress.

<i>Lucy</i> (2003 film) TV movie about Lucille Ball

Lucy is a 2003 television film directed by Glenn Jordan. It is based on the life and career of actress and comedian Lucille Ball.

<i>Beauty for the Asking</i> 1939 film by Glenn Tryon

Beauty for the Asking is a 1939 film drama produced by RKO Pictures, and starring Lucille Ball and Patric Knowles.

<i>Easy Living</i> (1949 film) 1949 film

Easy Living is a 1949 American drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Victor Mature, Lucille Ball and Lizabeth Scott. The film features the real-life Los Angeles Rams football team.

<i>First Love</i> (1939 film) 1939 American musical film by Henry Koster

First Love is a 1939 American musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin. Based on the fairy tale Cinderella, the film is about an orphan who is sent to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. Her life is made difficult by her snobby cousin who arranges that she stay home while the rest of the family attends a major social ball. With the help of her uncle, she makes it to the ball, where she meets and falls in love with her cousin's boyfriend. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Ball</span> American actress (1911–1989)

Lucille Désirée Ball was an American actress and comedienne. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She earned many honors, including the Women in Film Crystal Award, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

<i>Annabel Takes a Tour</i> 1938 film

Annabel Takes a Tour is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Lew Landers and starring Lucille Ball, Jack Oakie and Ruth Donnelly. Annabel is on a promotional tour and, as a publicity stunt, leaks a story that she is having a romantic fling with a famous romance novelist. The film is a sequel to The Affairs of Annabel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Kennedy</span> American actress (1914–1998)

Phyllis Kennedy was an American film actress.

<i>That Girl from Paris</i> 1937 film by Leigh Jason

That Girl from Paris is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Leigh Jason and starring Lily Pons, Jack Oakie, and Gene Raymond. The film made a profit of $101,000. John O. Aalberg was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrna Dell</span> American actress (1924–2011)

Myrna Dell was an American actress, model, and writer who appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs over four decades. A Hollywood glamour girl in the early part of her career, she is best known today for her work in B-pictures, particularly film noir thrillers and Westerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Stevenson (costume designer)</span> American costume designer (1906–1968)

Edward MansonStevenson was an Academy Award-winning American costume designer. His film and television credits number well over two hundred, including Citizen Kane (1941) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946), both frequently cited as being among the greatest films of all time. In his later years, he worked for Lucille Ball as costume designer for I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, and Here’s Lucy. A large collection of his costume sketches are housed in the Department of Special collections at Eli M. Oboler Library in Pocatello, Idaho.

<i>The Marines Fly High</i> 1940 film by George Nicholls, Jr.

The Marines Fly High is a 1940 action film, starring Richard Dix, Chester Morris and Lucille Ball and directed by George Nicholls, Jr. and Benjamin Stoloff from a story by A.C. Edington.

<i>You Cant Fool Your Wife</i> 1940 American film

You Can't Fool Your Wife is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Ray McCarey and written by Jerome Cady. The film stars Lucille Ball, James Ellison, Robert Coote, Virginia Vale, Emma Dunn and Elaine Shepard. The film was released on May 21, 1940, by RKO Pictures.

References

  1. ↑ Nugent, Frank S. (1938-10-13). "The Screen: RKO-Radio Introduces a New Film Series With 'The Affairs of Annabel,' at the Palace". The New York Times . p. 29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.