I decided to watch 'Little Orphant Annie' because of Colleen Moore who was only about 19 when the film was made and still without her signature bobbed hairstyle. I had never before even heard of James Whitcomb Riley and the poem on which this picture is based, and I think I really missed something. There are enough reasons to watch the film even if you don't like Moore. It is nice and slow and poetic. Of course it is in many ways more than old-fashioned: it is archaic. However, it advocates values which today are (or should be) as topical as they were a hundred years ago, even though it does this in a sometimes quite drastic fashion. Cruelty to children and animals is shown in a way that modern viewers would probably find disturbing if they were less used to violence on film. I for one found the way Annie is being whipped and her cat thrown about pretty unsettling. But the message is that you should treat children and animals kindly, and that is as true today as it was in 1918. The special effects in 'Little Orphant Annie' appear of course quaint from a modern perspective, and the story line lacks a proper ending. The photography was not particularly innovative either, at least compared to earlier films shot in Europe such as for example 'The Student of Prague' (1913) that I watched some time ago. Still, all in all 'Little Orphant Annie' is nice enough and I am happy I spent an hour with it.
Review of Little Orphant Annie
