The Affairs of Annabel (1938) User Reviews

Enjoyable even if it's occasionally a bit dopey

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 13 June 2017]

Annabel Allison (Lucille Ball) is a movie star but her life is made a lot more difficult by her dopey studio publicity man, Lanny Morgan (Jack Oakie). Lanny always seems to have some sort of stunt and they often seem to backfire. At the beginning of the film, he gets her to go to prison for just a few days as a publicity stunt...and then she can't get out and is stuck there for a month. Later, as another stunt, he gets her a job as a maid...and America's #1 and 2 most wanted criminals take everyone in the house hostage! Will Annabel's troubles ever end?

Lucille Ball was very good in this film--and it's one of her better parts from the era. As far as Jack Oakie goes, sometimes his character was just a bit too much--too much of a jerk and he occasionally mugged a bit too much. Still, despite this, it's a fun little comedy...enjoyable and a bit silly.

Bad Publicity is Better than No Publicity!

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 23 July 2012]

That's what Wonder Pictures PR agent Jack Oakie believes, and he intends to get movie star Annabelle Allison's (Lucille Ball) name in the paper no matter what it takes. Whether its a 30 day stretch in the hoosegow on a phony charge for petty larceny (she's got a prison picture coming out) or being framed for smuggling jewelry because of the title of her next film, Allison's name will be in the papers no matter what she has to suffer through. Now, she's playing a maid in a film, so naturally, Oakie gets HER a job as a maid. But they don't count on her employer's wacky brother (Thurston Hall, cast very much against type) inviting crooks into the household, getting the entire family (including Ball) kidnapped.

More than a decade before conquering TV and becoming the official "Queen of Comedy", Lucille Ball played a variety of comic roles that showcased her talent for getting involved in wacky situations and making them hysterically funny. There were two movies made about fictional movie star Annabelle Allison, and in them, Ball and Oakie uses every trick in the book in spoofing the Hollywood publicity machine. They are surrounded by a top-notch supporting cast, including Fritz Feld (as a Russian director "demanding realism"), Elisabeth Risdon (as Ball's employer), and especially Ruth Donnelly as the movie studio head secretary, wryly predicting her boss's every move and responding with "I've already made the call" every time he gives her an order. Donnelly, with her long stint at Warner Brothers, is just one of many reasons that 30's movies are so good! Lee Van Atta is very cute as Risdon's puberty aged son who has a crush on Ball. Just to clarify, the black woman (Madame Sul-Te-Wan) in the prison scene (which highly resembles the "Cell Block Tango" number from "Chicago") and the black maid (Mildred Gover) whom Ball replaces are two totally different women; I had to clarify this due to their similar appearances.

Before she was Lucy Ricardo

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 13 June 2017]

Back when Lucille Ball was a contract player at RKO she got to co- star with Jack Oakie in a pair of films where she was cast as Annabel Allison motion picture queen on the lot at Wonder Pictures. Oakie played her press agent who was constantly coming up with Lucy Ricardo like schemes to keep his client before the public eye. And she's feeling as put upon as Ricky Ricardo used to.

Oakie who plays the part much like Pat O'Brien would do at Warner Brothers or Lee Tracy at MGM has a mind that works 24/7. His latest scheme is to have Lucy go to a home and work as a maid incognito as part of a scheme to publicize her latest picture where she is a kind of Ms. Fixit maid.

She gets a chance to be a real heroine when a couple of robbers feign interest in eccentric Uncle Thurston Hall's invention. It's all I can say, but it's all done with typical slapstick like gags. This was an unusual part for Hall, usually he's the respectable establishment type poo-pooing ideas like he has in this film.

James Burke also memorable as a thick as a brick policeman.

I don't think Ball and Oakie had all that much chemistry between them. They did one more film with these same characters and RKO called it quits on a series. Still the film will have its moments for fans of the two leads.

beginnings

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 2 July 2019]

Publicist Lanny Morgan (Jack Oakie) has one crazy stunt after another for his star client actress Annabel Allison (Lucille Ball). The latest has her stuck in prison for 30 days and the media doesn't even show up. Annabel has Morgan fired and then rehired. He has her hired as a maid as research for a new movie. The job gets even crazier when the family is taken prisoner by two criminals.

There are moments of fun. While Jack Oakie was probably the bigger star, people would mostly know Lucille Ball today. She has a few comedic twitches especially with the lovelorn son. It's the start of a Hollywood legend. She is more than just a pretty girl in this. She gets to do some fun bits. It's a shorter theatrical movie clocking in at little more than an hour. One can see some of Lucille Ball's physical comedy coming through.

Ball's Funniest Comedy!

[Norm-30 · 7/10 · 8 May 2000]

I must disagree with the other reviewer; this film is, by far, the funniest film that Lucille Ball EVER MADE! There are Great routines: Ball in prison, trying to cook a meal, being a maid, etc. Each of these is Ball at her funniest! (If this film wasn't any good, why was a sequel -- which was very UNfunny -- made?). Ball, in contrast to the grating "dizzy dame" bit she overkilled on TV (didn't her whining make you want to BELT her one?), here she is fresh and beautiful, and reminds me a lot of Alexis Smith. This comedy is a Must See for Lucille Ball fans! Norm

Not Terrible

[bbrebozo · 6/10 · 14 June 2014]

Considering that Lucille Ball and Jack Oakie were friends as well as neighbors in California, who made four movies together, and that both were highly regarded comic actors, you'd think that the two of them would make a great on-screen comedy team, right?

Nope.

Not in "The Affairs of Annabel," an okay but not particularly compelling short comedy. The writing is unexceptional, there are no memorable lines from the script, the plot is not even remotely realistic, and I have no idea how the Ball/Oakie relationship was intended to develop. I think the plot was supposed to build, so that Oakie slowly falls in love with his attractive young meal ticket, but that never really went anywhere. The production was no great accomplishment, either, with some fairly obvious cuts between Ball and her stunt woman during some of the martial arts scenes.

But the acting prevents this film from being a complete dud. Most of the cast are experienced comic actors who squeeze what they can out of the material they're given. And the movie was popular enough that it spawned a sequel, and apparently there were supposed to be more, except that Oakie held out for too much money and killed the deal, which is probably for the best. So what the heck? It's only an hour, so what do you have to lose? Have a glass of wine and enjoy a little early Lucille Ball. The movie will probably be over before you've finished your second glass.

An Okay comedy from Ball and Oakie!

[joots01 · 19 December 2000]

This was an ok satire on the movie business from that famous red head, Lucille Ball. Also, a long forgotten actor named Jack Oakie lended Miss Ball support. This was actually better than I expected. Usually, comedies such as these that last a little over an hour aren't exactly a great film-viewing experience. But I enjoyed the director who was a little crazed and Hollywood's view on itself.

Wacky nonsense features high-energy stars

[csteidler · 6/10 · 17 October 2017]

Lucille Ball stars as Annabel Allison, movie star. Jack Oakie, studio publicity man, has a great idea: He talks Annabel into getting caught stealing—a jail record, he argues, will give a great boost to her current picture, a prison drama. Annabel goes along with the gag, spends 30 days in jail, gets Oakie fired, has a change of heart and gets him his job back...all in the first 10 minutes of the movie.

Lucy is wild and blustery in this hectic comedy that keeps the jokes flying at a furious pace. Oakie is fairly obnoxious but eventually likable enough...at least, if you don't mind a pushy big mouth whose heart is mostly in the right place after all.

Familiar supporting actors add their own particular brands of humor: Ruth Donnelly is the wise cracking studio secretary, Fritz Feld is the eccentric European director who wants to make a "serious picture," Bradley Page is the exasperated studio boss.

Lucy ends up working as a maid (prep work for her next movie role, of course) for snooty Elizabeth Risdon, whose screwy inventor brother Thurston Hall brings home some "investors" who turn out to be crooks, and they're all trapped in the house....

It's very nutty and makes no sense at all—but I guess it is an interesting angle on the movie business, and it really is full of good laughs.

My favorite line is Lucy objecting to the maid picture: "You mean that piece of literary junk they've had around the studio for years? Why, they'd have to rewrite that before the moths would eat it."

Daffy comedy puts Lucy in some highly improbable situations...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 30 November 2006]

Personally, I've always felt that the best comedies were the ones where you could actually believe in the situations--in other words, the events are things that could have happened. THE AFFAIRS OF ANNABEL is funny in spots, but hasn't got a single moment that is in touch with reality.

JACK OAKIE plays a scheming publicity man who dreams up the most outrageous ways of getting attention (newspaper headlines) for his fading star LUCILLE BALL, her film career supposedly on the wane. One plan involves getting her to spend three days in prison (which turns out to be 30 days) and to have the press on hand when she's released. The plan backfires, of course, and Lucy fires him.

She rehires him when he gets a little old lady (LEONA ROBERTS, Mrs. Meade from GWTW), to pretend to be his sick mother who needs money for an operation. Lucy relents and he comes up with another scheme--her next film is called "The Maid and the Man" so he gets her work as a maid in a wacky household. It turns out the house has become the nest for two infamous criminals and Lucy, of course, gets into the thick of things while Oakie tries to rescue her by hiring fake police officers to storm the house.

It had possibilities but emerges as a scatterbrained comedy without any real foothold on reality. THURSTON HALL is fun as a plate breaking scientist and RUTH DONNELLY has a few good one-liners as a studio receptionist, but other than that the gags are pretty hard to swallow at times.

Best that can be said is that LUCILLE BALL shows skill at this sort of comedy and looks pert and pretty throughout. OAKIE overplays the press agent with outlandish schemes but is fun to watch.

If you love Lucy, you'll find this acceptable fare but lacking in so many departments.

Lucy Gets Her Name Above The Title

[boblipton · 7/10 · 19 January 2024]

Lucille Ball is a star at the studio. Staff publicity man Jack Oakie keeps coming up with publicity stunts for her that go awry.

A lot of movies are OK and that's good enough. Sometimes they contain an interesting performer and this movie has lots of them, from Lucille Ball, with her name above the title for the first time, Jack Oakie, who gets top billing, and Ruth Donnelly, Fritz Feld, Thurston Hall, and Florence Lake. It's a well constructed comedy, even if the seams show a bit, and it shows the signs of having been edited down considerably -- who uses Ruth Donnelly for three wisecracks and then cuts away?

Well, maybe that's my biases showing. The movie, as it exists, makes it clear that the star is Oakie, and Miss Ball's gags are limited. Mostly, she's still an ensemble player, best when dealing with other cast members. But she was smart and would keep on learning how to do her job, and wind up owning the entire studio as a result.

Hard To Evaluate This

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 17 March 2006]

It's easy to see why one viewer would love this movie and another couldn't stand it. I have had both reactions the two times I saw it.

Boy, I loved this the first time I viewed it and then was totally bored on the second viewing 10 years later, so it's hard to evaluate. Suffice to say it does have it's share of laughs which isn't surprising since Lucille Ball and Jack Oakie star. However, the humor is so corny one might see no humor in this - it all depends on what you like.

It WAS interesting to see a young (26 or 27-year-old) Ball, who was very attractive woman at that age. Oakie is okay because he looks funny. He doesn't even have to say anything to get a laugh, which sometimes is better because he played a number of roles over the years in which he delivered a lot of stupid lines!

Like a lot of comedies, it's very silly but the shortness of the film (68 minutes) helps in that regard, preventing it from becoming too silly for too long. There were some funny supporting roles in here, too. Like me, you might really laugh at this or think it's a waste of time: hard to say.

"Why is a good-lookin' doll like you workin' as a kitchen mechanic?"

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 15 June 2014]

Rather forced comedy with Lucille Ball as a movie star who lets her publicity agent Jack Oakie get her into one far-fetched scheme after another. Considering Lucy would become famous for getting into far-fetched situations on television, you'd think this might work. Well, it doesn't. The thing is that while I Love Lucy was full of harebrained schemes and outlandish situations, they were usually rooted in some reality. The laughs were earned. Here, it's all wackiness for the sake of wackiness and it feels very contrived. Jack Oakie plays a walking cartoon character, very annoying and full of the dumbest ideas. He's supposed to be a send-up of real publicity agents, exaggerated for effect. But he's exaggerated too much, in my opinion. He never feels like a real person. Lucy, looking pretty as ever, tries her able best to make the most of the material she's given but her character is another that's tough to accept. She doesn't seem like a stupid person yet, for the sake of the plot, she goes along with the obviously moronic ideas of Oakie. Still, her fans will enjoy seeing her in this early starring role. The movie is helped some by a nice supporting cast, all of which do their best. This was followed by a sequel but thankfully not more than one. Recommended for die-hard Lucy fans but that's it.

Lucy the Movie Star

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 9 August 2011]

With her latest film flopping, "Wonder Pictures" movie star Lucille Ball (as Annabel Allison) goes along with studio publicist Jack Oakie (as Lanny Morgan) and gets herself sent to prison for petty larceny. After thirty days behind bars, Ms. Ball is furious. But she forgives Mr. Oakie and accepts his next idea. To prepare for the movie about a maid, Ball poses as one. She attracts teenager Lee Van Atta (as Robert "Bob" Fletcher) and almost botches a dinner. After Oakie helps with the catering, a couple of kidnappers (sans kid) arrive and take the household hostage. The comedy never makes any sense, but the cast has good energy. "The Affairs of Annabel" was introduced to filmgoers as the first of a film series. After the second entry, "Annabel Takes a Tour" (1938), it ended.

***** The Affairs of Annabel (9/9/38) Benjamin Stoloff ~ Lucille Ball, Jack Oakie, Thurston Hall, Elisabeth Risdon

A dismal 'Affair'...

[moonspinner55 · 3/10 · 7 August 2011]

Cheeky movie actress at Wonder Pictures masquerades as a maid to a dotty suburban family for publicity reasons, but the household is soon taken over by two gangsters. It's "The Desperate Hours" as a rollicking comedy! Screen adaptation of Charles Hoffman's short story "Menial Star" proves short on laughs, even with Jack Oakie and Lucille Ball in the leads. Some of the screwball business with the family is funny--as is an opening gimmick with Ball posing as a prison inmate...and getting 30 days behind bars! Much of the rest is strident and silly, including the familiar asides at the movie studio (featuring the proverbial ever-patient secretary). Opening in September 1938, the picture was followed with a sequel just two months later! *1/2 from ****

Screwball comedy or just dumb?

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 5/10 · 13 July 2022]

Sometimes it's a little difficult to tell if a movie is a good screwball comedy or just plain dumb. This film seems to have both bases covered. I almost gave up several times during roughly the first half of this film. It took me several days to wade through somewhat boring dialog. But the second half of the film had some pizazz to it.

What did impress me wasn't so much the story (at least in that first half of the film), but the cast. Lucille Ball had her moments in this film, although she was uneven...or was it the script that was uneven? And Jack Oakie, with whom I was only vaguely familiar, was actually a highlight of the film. Ruth Donnelly, a character actress, was more amusing than much of the film here as the secretary. There are other character actors you'll recognize here, as well.

But here's the test: would I want to ever watch this film again. A resounding NO! About the only thing of real value here is to watch Lucy in the early stages of her career. Before this film, most of her movie roles were uncredited.