Oklahoma Annie

In glorious trucolour! this very well made bumpkin comedy actioned with Hillbilly strumpet Judy Canova is about.....absolutely nothing. From a very promising start to some great indoor sets and scenes and some rustic zooming around in her old car...nothing happens. Apparently Judy decides to 'clean up corruption'...I don't even remember that. I remember the train set and all the clutter in her general store/toyshop/outfitters...and I only saw it recently. What is this film about? There is all this running about and driving and crossing streams and Judy gawping and a fussin and bailing up someone, and a few gunshots and more running about and fussin and gawping and another trip to the store and on and on it goes. It is really well made and looks great. But nothing happens.

In OKLAHOMA ANNIE, familiar Hollywood country bumpkin Judy Canova (she of the buck teeth, pigtails and off-key singing voice) runs a general store, falls in love with the new sheriff and helps clean up corruption in her little community. Truth is, nothing much actually happens although there's an awful lot of running around. Veteran villain Roy Barcroft is the chief bad guy, and familiar Western actor John Russell plays the new sheriff. Oh, and grizzled character actor Fuzzy Knight plays one of Judy's cornpone buddies. But the focus in ANNIE is almost solely on Judy, for better or worse. Made in 1952, ANNIE (where did they get that title?) plays more like a TV show than a theatrical release. Shot in splashy color and mixing cars in with horses, this sort-of Western is a holdover from another era. Hillbillies have never gone out of style in Hollywood, admittedly, but this particular hillbilly grates on the nerves pretty quickly. I enjoy Ms. Canova in small doses. Very small doses. For the curious and historically-minded only.

As another reviewer here wrote, this movie was made for kids at the Saturday matinee. My wife and I loved it! Yeah, a lot of it's corny, but talk about non stop action! Bank robbers, chase scenes, shoot outs, fire engines, it just never stops! I loved the sheriff's Ford; that car sure took a beating in this film! My favorite part of the movie was when Judy sings in front of the three mirrors in her store. Pay attention here, as Judy sings or doesn't sing in each of the three mirrors; I watched that scene several times and was really impressed, considering this movie was made in 1952! From Judy's drive and spunk to the town's women folk coming to the rescue in fire trucks, this movie was way ahead of it's time regarding women's lib and, I think, a tribute to women's contribution to the WWII effort.

Storekeeper Judy Canova is proud her grandmother was a great sheriff. So when handsome John Russell becomes the new sheriff, she's anxious to help him. He promises her that she can be his deputy if she captures Roy Barcroft. He was joking, but when she does he makes good on his promise. But there's a well-connected web of evil-doers around, Barcroft escapes, and it takes the rest of the movie for Judy and a posse of women to recapture him.

Miss Canova sings three songs, and there are assorted comic interludes, with Emmett Lynn doing a fair Gabby Hayes imitation, except you can understand him -- or perhaps I've learned to speak Frontier Gibberish. R. G. Springsteen demonstrates he can direct comic as well as dramatic westerns, and the usual suspects round out the cast list, including Grant Withers, Frank Ferguson, Minerva Urecal, Alan Jenkins, and Maxine Gates.

This comedy/western features Judy Canova as a spunky and a bit ditzy storekeeper who wants to rid the crime element from Kirk County. She tries to sing her way into the heart of the new Sheriff Dan Fraser(John Russell)who chases the bad guys in his new Ford sedan. Bull McCready(Grant Withers)runs the gambling hall; but Curt Walker(Roy Bancroft)is the bad guy that needs to be put behind bars. Judy is jokingly promised a Deputy's badge if she captures Walker. This may also get Sheriff Fraser's affections.

Judy rigs the front door of her store with a bucket of water, sledge hammer and a shotgun; but Walker enters through a window and is finally subdued by the spunky cowgirl with the half-cocked hat. Walker escapes jail, but is captured again as Judy leads the town's womenfolk in making a wreck of the gambling hall. Also in the cast are: Emmett Lynn, Fuzzy Knight, Houseley Stevenson and Frank Ferguson.

Canova's off key singing is tolerable with her best tune being "Have You Ever Been Lonely?". I'm still trying to figure out the film's title OKLAHOMA ANNIE.