UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ Annie - Columbia Classics Volume 3 -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

John Huston was a quite extraordinary filmmaker, who is best remembered for his 1982 Annie, based upon the musical of the same name, earlier films - Little Orphan Annie, a 1932 Selznick RKO production is included as an extra on the second disc - and a comic strip that arrived in 1924.

In the 1940s and '50s did directed some lesser films, some in black and white like The Maltese Falcon, that showed film goers what ceilings looked like for the first time. Another forgotten foray into black and white was a film entitled The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. He later worked in color with a film that took place on location in Africa and involved leaches.

But it is his version of Annie that will forever have him enshrined in the director's pantheon.

Annie remains one of the best musical films of 1982, and stands above others like The Pirate Movie, Yes, Giorgio and Grease 2.

The fact that it's a fan favorite has presumably placed it in Columbia's third Classics 4k boxed set, and only the second musical to be so honored. The first was in set 2 - the 1968 Oliver!

Concerned that I might not receive proper space, I've decided to renew it first, the the words are easy.

Annie shows the typical care given by Mr. Crisp and his team.

It's a marvel of image and sound, and one would be correct in surmising, looking sounding better than it did in many theaters, possibly except in it's 70mm 6-track engagements.

Color (reds pop off the screen), resolution (every detail captured is beautifully rendered to the 4k disc), wonderful black, and a perfect velveting sheen of grain are all in place.

A wonderful addition to the Columbia boxed-set legacy, and a true fan favorite.

For those unaware, I'd suggest seeking out Mr. Huston's earlier films and taking a look.

Image – 5 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 5 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Absolutely

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 4

Recommended

RAH


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[JPCinema]

Ah yes. He had the moniker John "Annie"Huston.

 

[Worth]

I thought Huston was best known as the director of Phobia.

 

[Nick*Z]

Sorry, but I'm one of those individuals who continues to have a soft spot - either in his heart or his head - for Annie. Yes, the choreography is atrocious, and Carol Burnett is too over the top. But Huston concentrates on the relationship between Annie and Albert Finney's sublimely human Daddy Warbucks, which works. The cinematography is gorgeous and the score remains highly memorable, despite its less than stellar execution of many of the numbers in the film.

I also thought Ann Reinking did a wonderfully understated job as Warbuck's compassionate social secretary, Ms. Farrell. Geoffrey Holder was an enjoyable Punjab. "Buddha says, a child without courage is like a night without stars!"

Aside: I also recall Mr. Holder from this same period, advertising 7UP pop during my daily digestion of Saturday morning cartoons. "Clisp and clean and no caffeine...7UP" (to be followed by that inimitable full-bodied and very hearty laugh of his).

The finale is fun, tune-filled and memorable. Alieen Quinn does the red-headed moppet proud. Overall, a valiant effort with much to recommend it. Not Huston's finest, but second-tier Huston is better than practically anyone else. And Annie is very solid second-tier Huston. I think I'm gonna like it here...you bet!

I was only 11 when mum and dad took me to see Annie. But it has stayed with me ever since.

 

[RMajidi]

Sorry, but I'm one of those individuals who continues to have a soft spot - either in his heart or his head - for Annie. Yes, the choreography is atrocious, and Carol Burnett is too over the top. But Huston concentrates on the relationship between Annie and Albert Finney's sublimely human Daddy Warbucks, which works. The cinematography is gorgeous and the score remains highly memorable, despite its less than stellar execution of many of the numbers in the film.

I also thought Ann Reinking did a wonderfully understated job as Warbuck's compassionate social secretary, Ms. Farrell. Geoffrey Holder was an enjoyable Punjab. "Buddha says, a child without courage is like a night without stars!"

Aside: I also recall Mr. Holder from this same period, advertising 7UP pop during my daily digestion of Saturday morning cartoons. "Clisp and clean and no caffeine...7UP" (to be followed by that inimitable full-bodied and very hearty laugh of his).

The finale is fun, tune-filled and memorable. Alieen Quinn does the red-headed moppet proud. Overall, a valiant effort with much to recommend it. Not Huston's finest, but second-tier Huston is better than practically anyone else. And Annie is very solid second-tier Huston. I think I'm gonna like it here...you bet!

I was only 11 when mum and dad took me to see Annie. But it has stayed with me ever since.

Nick, couldn’t agree more about Geoffrey Holder in the 7Up ad. So much so that a few years ago I sent this email to my US-based aunt and uncle (Amoo) about it. Simplest just to quote that email, including YouTube link to ad:

…When we came to stay with you for a couple of months in Aug 1982, Amoo loved this 7-Up ad – the way the actor (Geoffrey Holder) would speak, and especially when he said, “Of course you do”…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRbvGdJBlVE

As to that lesser leach film, Studio Canal has it slated for 4K release in Feb 2023 in some territories, including Germany:

See on Amazon

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I was in the “growing out of Disney” phase when this movie came out, so I’ve never been a fan. The clips I’ve seen look stunning, but this is what always comes to mind when I think of the 1982 Annie:

 

[Lord Dalek]

I thought Huston was best known as the director of Phobia.

Reflections in a Golden Eye clearly.

 

[Richard Kaufman]

I will watch anything with Albert Finney in it multiple times ... except "Annie." Bleh.

 

[Brian Husar]

I love this movie. I saw it in the theaters when it came out. When I finally became a film fanatic, imagine my shock when I found out John Houston directed this. This is the next one in the box set I am going to have a go at watching. I can’t wait.

 

[JoshZ]

But it is his version of Annie that will forever have him enshrined in the director's pantheon.

I have a love-hate relationship with this film - meaning, I think it's awful and hate it, but I actually have an interesting connection to the movie. The former owner of my house was the children's casting director for the production. She and John Huston were... :ahem:... "close friends," and I'm told by her family heirs that Huston spent a considerable amount of time smoking cigars and drinking whiskey in her basement rec room, which is now my home theater/office where I'm sitting right at this moment.

For that reason, I feel compelled to own a copy of the movie. I have it on the rather lousy Blu-ray, but would upgrade if I could get this UHD outside the expensive Columbia box.

 

[Worth]

Reflections in a Golden Eye clearly.

Didn't realise he had done any Bond movies.

 

[benbess]

....For that reason, I feel compelled to own a copy of the movie. I have it on the rather lousy Blu-ray, but would upgrade if I could get this UHD outside the expensive Columbia box.

I think Sony/Columbia packed so many extras into this box that for me it's a good value. There are six main features, but then there are six whole movies that are bonus features. The cost when I got it was $108, with free shipping, which is less than ten dollars a movie. Plus you get the little book of essays that comes with the set.

 

[RobertMG]

I have a love-hate relationship with this film - meaning, I think it's awful and hate it, but I actually have an interesting connection to the movie. The former owner of my house was the children's casting director for the production. She and John Huston were... :ahem:... "close friends," and I'm told by her family heirs that Huston spent a considerable amount of time smoking cigars and drinking whiskey in her basement rec room, which is now my home theater/office where I'm sitting right at this moment.

For that reason, I feel compelled to own a copy of the movie. I have it on the rather lousy Blu-ray, but would upgrade if I could get this UHD outside the expensive Columbia box.

THe film had a lot going for it == just the scoring needed a Person like Irwin Kostal

 

[Marco S]

(After a big production number) "Do I hear singing?"

 

[SD_Brian]

Carol Burnett is too over the top.

To each their own, but for me, Carol Burnett is what makes Annie watchable.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Didn't realise he had done any Bond movies.

Spoiler

=P

 

[Will Krupp]

To each their own, but for me, Carol Burnett is what makes Annie watchable.

I was lucky enough to count Annie as my first Broadway show at the age of 10. I was also lucky enough to see Dorothy Loudon perform it so, as much as I love Carol Burnett (and I DO!) I didn't find her Miss Hannigan acceptable.

That being said, I don't hate the movie by any stretch, I just wish it had been better.

 

[RobertMG]

I was lucky enough to count Annie as my first Broadway show at the age of 10. I was also lucky enough to see Dorothy Loudon perform it so, as much as I love Carol Burnett (and I DO!) I didn't find her Miss Hannigan acceptable.

That being said, I don't hate the movie by any stretch, I just wish it had been better.

Robert Wise would have been better fit

 

[Malcolm R]

I was lucky enough to count Annie as my first Broadway show at the age of 10. I was also lucky enough to see Dorothy Loudon perform it so, as much as I love Carol Burnett (and I DO!) I didn't find her Miss Hannigan acceptable.

That being said, I don't hate the movie by any stretch, I just wish it had been better.

I wondered if that was a standard portrayal of that character as I thought Taraji Henson was kind of ridiculous in the recent live production, as well. I don't think I've ever watched the 1982 film.

 

[uncledougie]

I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed in a film adaptation of a musical as this lamentable version. If it had somehow been an original film musical, it would’ve been passably agreeable and probably better regarded. But as one of the top five most enjoyable stage musicals of my lifetime, and I’ve seen scores of them (this one in London), Annie could’ve been one of the all time best properly cast and left alone without the nonsensical additions, subtractions and superfluous changes. I love most of Huston’s work, The Man Who Would Be King is a superior later work, and I’m aching for a Blu-ray of his brilliant final film, The Dead. But he obviously wasn’t the director suited for this. I don’t hate it, and more power to those who love it. But the gap between what it could’ve been and what it ended up being is vast.