# Annie (1999) (TV)

### reviewed by
James Sanford

    Annie
    (Airs Nov. 7 on ABC)

John Huston was one of America's greatest directors, as evidenced by such credits as "The Maltese Falcon," "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "The African Queen" and "The Man Who Would Be King."

But even geniuses slip up once in a while, and one of Huston's biggest mishaps was filming "Annie," a mostly charmless extravaganza adapted from the outrageously successful Broadway musical (which was in turn, of course, taken from Harold Gray's comic strip "Little Orphan Annie"). All sorts of bad ideas -- including casting non-singer Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks and throwing out much of the show's score and substituting mundane new numbers -- came together to ruin what should have been great fun, and matters were not helped by Huston's leaden direction and claustrophobic staging. Released in the summer of 1982, the movie proved to be a financial and artistic bust.

Happily, the buoyant, endearing "Annie" about to debut on "The Wonderful World of Disney" (premiering Sunday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. on ABC) is a remake that easily outshines the first try. Since some local theater or another always seems to be producing "Annie," it's debatable whether or not we really needed one more go-around with the tale of a spunky little girl who escapes "the hard-knock life" to become best friends with a billionaire. But Irene Mecchi's screenplay is remarkably faithful to Thomas Meehan's original book, and director-choreographer Rob Marshall has gotten some delectable performances out of his cast.

One of the best comes from newcomer Alicia Morton in the title role. Most of us have been subjected over the years to a host of Annies who came off as mini-Ethel Mermans, less concerned with creating a credible character than they were with blowing their adult co-stars off the stage. In contrast, Morton, who looks like Claire Danes' little sister, is refreshingly down to earth. Her voice is pure and sturdy, but she doesn't sound like an apprentice diva; when she delivers the deathless "Tomorrow," she concentrates on the optimistic innocence of the lyric rather than musical bombast. And, though she's "cuter than all get-out," as Grandma would say, Morton doesn't milk it, a la Macaulay Culkin.

Another delightful surprise is Kathy Bates, a blowsy treat as scheming orphanage matron Miss Hannigan. She brings a salty edge to both her big solo "Little Girls" and to the threats she hurls at her charges in fluent Brooklynese ("I knew ya was gonna be bad tonight, so I punished ya aheada time," she snarls). Victor Garber's smooth tenor makes him a solid choice for Warbucks and Audra McDonald is a walking dream as Grace, Warbucks' devoted secretary.

The villainy of Alan Cumming (the lusty desk clerk from "Eyes Wide Shut") as Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do-well brother Rooster and Kristin Chenoweth as his spectacularly stupid girlfriend Lily, is every bit as colorful as it should be. There's even a sparkling cameo by Andrea McArdle, Broadway's original Annie, as the bright-eyed "star-to-be" who kicks the "N.Y.C." number into high-gear.

Although Marshall probably had to scale back his choreography to fit the TV frame, it still has plenty of zip, an achievement that's particularly admirable considering, in the case of Bates, Cumming and some of the other stars, he wasn't working with trained dancers. His work with the girls in the numbers set in the orphanage is outstanding. Like Morton, they come off as kids having fun rather than over-rehearsed little professionals.

What's almost always put "Annie" over, however, is the score by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin: It's tough to ruin tunes like "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile," "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" and "It's A Hard-Knock Life." Under Marshall's direction, they become the showstoppers they should be. This "Annie" also smartly retains Warbucks' heartwarming solo "Something Was Missing," one of the songs thrown out in the 1982 film. Now that Marshall and company have largely erased the memory of that earlier fiasco, perhaps as an encore they can tackle "A Chorus Line." Anyone remember what a mess director Richard Attenborough made of that one? James Sanford

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