The Affairs of Annabel (1938)

Wonder Pictures' seedy publicity man Lanny Morgan has put the studio's biggest star, Annabel Allison, in one crazy stunt after another. His latest scheme has Annabel pretending to be a maid... See full summary »

Directors:

Benjamin Stoloff (as Ben Stoloff), Lew Landers (uncredited)

Writers:

Bert Granet (screen play), Paul Yawitz (screen play)

Stars:

Jack Oakie, Lucille Ball, Ruth Donnelly

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jack Oakie	...	Lanny Morgan
Lucille Ball	...	Annabel Allison
Ruth Donnelly	...	Josephine (Jo)
Bradley Page	...	Howard Webb
Fritz Feld	...	Vladimir
Thurston Hall	...	Major
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mrs. Fletcher
Granville Bates	...	Mr. Fletcher
James Burke	...	Muldoon
Lee Van Atta	...	Robert Fletcher
Anthony Warde	...	Bailey
Eddie Marr	...	Martin
Leona Roberts	...	Mrs. Hurley

Storyline

Wonder Pictures' seedy publicity man Lanny Morgan has put the studio's biggest star, Annabel Allison, in one crazy stunt after another. His latest scheme has Annabel pretending to be a maid in order to research her next screen role. Her disastrous attempts at cooking and cleaning, and her involvement with two fugitives hiding out at her employers' house provide her with more material than she really wanted.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | satire | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the second of three films in which character actor Granville Bates appeared on screen alongside Lucille Ball. Each film in which they appeared together was released in 1938 and starred Ball as the female lead. The other films to include the two actors were Go Chase Yourself (1938) and Next Time I Marry (1938).

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Quotes

Lanny Morgan: Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.

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Connections

Followed by Annabel Takes a Tour (1938)

User Reviews

Hard To Evaluate This

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Menial Star

Filming Locations:

Glendale Transportation Center - 400 W Cerritos Ave, Glendale, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1