Little Orphant Annie (Silent)

The famous poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley - which would later inspire a comic strip, a long-running Broadway musical, and a blockbuster Hollywood movie - was first brought to life in this unique silent feature starring Colleen Moore. Framed by historical footage of Riley himself, the story begins with Annie losing her mother at a young age and being sent to live in an orphanage. There she makes friends with the other children, enthralling them with stories of "Gobble-uns" who'll snatch them away in the night if they don't behave (this sequence is stunningly illustrated with early special effects.) These carefree days and nights come to a close when Annie's uncle and aunt show up at the door, demanding their niece. Annie is soon sentenced to a life of drudgery and abuse toiling away on the family farm. A kindly neighbor boy, "Big" Dave, takes pity on Annie and promises to marry her and take her away from her aunt and uncle. Before this can happen, World War I breaks out, and Dave is drafted. Worrying over her beau puts Annie in a sick bed, leading to a surprisingly dark ending.

Little Orphant Annie began as a popular poem for children by James Whitcomb Riley, written in 1855 in the "Hoosier" dialect then native to Indiana. (This accounts for the "orphant" spelling.) Selig Polyscope became interested in turning the poem into a film after making a movie based on another of Riley's works, A Hoosier Romance, earlier in 1918. That film starred a nineteen-year-old Colleen Moore, just beginning her career. She fought for the role of Annie, hoping to solidify her association with James Whitcomb Riley and develop a reputation as "The Hoosier Actress." Footage of Riley that was shot for a film about Indiana in early 1916 was used as a framing sequence to make it look like he was telling the story (the poet had passed away July 16, 1916.) Though Little Orphant Annie was well-received by critics, it didn't stop Selig Polyscope from going out of business that year. The film did contribute to the widespread recognizability of the poem, however, which in the ensuing decades would inspire a long-running comic strip, a radio series, a Broadway musical, and more movies. For her part, Colleen Moore abandoned her dreams of becoming "The Hoosier Actress" and cut her hair into a fashionable bob, transforming into the iconic flapper of Roaring Twenties films like Flaming Youth (1923), Broken Hearts of Broadway (1923), Ella Cinders (1926) and Orchids and Ermine (1927).