| Miss Annie Rooney | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Edwin L. Marin |
| Produced by | Edward Small |
| Written by | George Bruce |
| Starring | Shirley Temple Dickie Moore William Gargan Guy Kibbee |
| Music by | Darrell Calker |
| Cinematography | Lester White |
| Editing by | Fred R. Feitshans Jr. |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | May 29, 1942 |
| Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Miss Annie Rooney is a 1942 American drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin. The screenplay by George Bruce was based on the silent film, Little Annie Rooney starring Mary Pickford. Miss Annie Rooney is about a teenager (Temple) from a humble background who falls in love with a rich classmate (Moore). She is snubbed by his social set, but, when her father (Gargan) invents a synthetic substitute for rubber, her prestige rises. The film was panned.
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Annie Rooney, the 16-year-old teen daughter of a struggling inventor, falls in love with fellow high school student Marty White. While at first Marty's snobbish friends give Annie the cold shoulder, her jitterbug dancing skills impress, and soon she is a welcome addition to their circle. Marty's wealthy mother and father, who own a rubber-making business, are not as easily persuaded of Annie's worth. But when her father manages to invent a new form of synthetic rubber, her triumph is complete.
Temple was 14 when the film was made and received a much ballyhooed first on-screen kiss (from Moore, on the left cheek). The film was her second attempt at a comeback but its teen culture theme was dated and the film flopped. Temple retired again for another two years (Windeler 219). Later, she told Moore the film was a "terrible picture" (Edwards 136).
The New York Times thought, ""Miss Annie Rooney" is a very little picture. In fact, it is a very grim little picture [...] Gingerly, very gingerly, producer Edward Small is breaking the news to the public—baby Shirley doesn't live here any more. Gone are the days of the toddling tot, the days of milk-teeth and tonsils. Instead, we now see a Miss Temple in the awkward age between the paper-doll and sweater-girl period, an adolescent phenomenon who talks like a dictionary of jive and combines this some how with quotations from Shakespeare and Shaw."[1] Variety remarked, "Shirley is still a conscientious worker in any film that comes her way, even though her appeal remains limited to less sophisticated tastes", and The New Yorker thought the film, "not much, about not much" (Edwards 135).
In 2009, the film was available on videocassette.
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