Tonight on December 2nd, 2021, NBC is debuting "Annie Live!", a 3-hour telecast of the Tony Award winning musical based on Harold Gray's comic strip moppet. Since "Little Orphan Annie" debuted on the funny pages in 1924, her adventures have been translated to movies, radio (remember the Ovaltine decoder from "A Christmas Story"), books, and merchandise.
One version of Annie, which by an amazing coincidence, debuted December 2nd, 1938, seems to be lost today.
"Little Orphan Annie" (1938, Paramount Pictures) was the second big screen version of the character, the first being in 1932. 11 year old Ann Gillis (1927-2018) starred as Annie. She is best remembered today as Becky Thatcher in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" also from 1938. By some accounts "Annie" recieved mostly poor reviews. In an interview later in life, Gillis herself said it was "pretty dreadful". Part of the blame could be on a screenplay that derived a lot from the comic strip and radio version that was on the air at the time. The story concerned Annie's attempts to help a prizefighter in a community, with no mention of Daddy Warbucks and other elements from Gray's comic strip.
Having researched this film for years, I have found no evidence that it was screened in American theaters after 1941, was ever shown on television, or exists in any film archive. A film research peer has also shared with me that this film is lost and, if found, is now in the public domain. Adding more sadness to this story, I recall that when IMDB had discussion forums, one was posted by a relative of Ann Gillis hoping for any information leading to a copy of this movie. Sadly, like many performers from Hollywood's Golden Age, "Annie" was a part of her filmography that Gillis never saw again.
After 83 years it is unlikely, but not impossible, that this lost version of Annie will ever resurface.
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