If you or your kids are a fan of the 1982 movie Annie, you may have made an effort to see the various remakes that have been released since. And you might want to catch the new, big-budget version produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z that stars Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhane Wallis. The DVD was released in March. But for some real fun, step away from your television and take a local tour of the various Jersey hotspots that have some relation to the original film phenomenon. You’ll be surprised to find that the original movie, even though it’s set in New York City, has a host of connections to the Garden State.
While critics gave mixed reviews to the 1982 film, directed by John Huston, audiences lapped it up, paying a total of $57 million at the box office.
The story of a plucky orphan girl who befriends a billionaire during the Great Depression first captured the hearts of readers when it premiered as a comic strip in 1938, then as a Broadway musical in 1977 at the Alvin Theater (now the Neil Simon). The movie version released in 1982 contained famous songs like “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life” and starred a hilarious Carol Burnett as orphanage manager Miss Hannigan and Albert Finney as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks.
Here are some of the places to check out if you decide to take a self-guided New Jersey “Annie” tour.
Hudson Catholic Regional High School, Jersey City This parochial high school has molded many fine young men and women since it was established in 1964. In 2009, Aileen Quinn taught drama and dance here. Quinn had a lot of experience to draw from. At the age of 9, she beat out 8,000 other girls from across the country to win the coveted role of Annie on screen in 1982. After that, she went on to perform in plays in Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, and around 2005 she worked in Hoboken waitressing at Trinity restaurant. Then she went on to teach at Hudson Catholic. (She is from Pennsylvania but earned a degree from Drew University in Madison, in 1994.) Today, Quinn performs rockabilly music with a group called “The Leapin’ Lizards.” Leeeeeapin’ lizards!
The Beacon condo complex, Jersey City This new residential development at Baldwin Avenue and Montgomery Street was created from the eight art deco-style towers that made up the old Jersey City Medical Center. The style of the towers is so distinctive that through the years, the buildings have served as a backdrop for films set in prior decades such as Quiz Show, The Impostors, and Titanic. It may be urban legend, but it’s been said that the style lured Annie cinematographers as well, who reportedly used the historic structures as background for some of the Depression scenes.
The NX Bridge, Kearny: When Annie finds out her “parents” are really two con artists, she escapes and gets chased to the top of an old railroad drawbridge. It’s actually an out-of-service Erie Railroad bridge in Kearny called the “NX Bridge,” built for the Newark branch. It was taken out of service by Conrail in 1977 and left locked in its upright position. For the 1982 filming, the crew painted it black and silver. It’s listed as the “Annie Bridge” in Wikipedia, which notes, “The townspeople of Kearny lovingly call it the ‘Annie Bridge’ because this small town and forgotten bridge had national attention, or its five minutes of fame.” To check it out, park along Passaic Avenue in Kearny near the East Newark border, and walk over to the Central Avenue Bridge in East Newark, which runs parallel. The “Annie Bridge” is in an industrial district that’s delightful to photograph.
Washington Street, Hoboken: In another Hudson County connection, billionaire Warbucks takes Annie in and launches a worldwide search for her parents. Con artists Rooster (Tim Curry) and Lily St. Regis (Bernadette Peters) show up to claim her (and the $50,000 reward), saying they live above a hardware store in Hoboken. Where would that store have been in 1920s Hoboken? Could be anywhere, but likely on the main drag, commercial Washington Street. (In the script for student productions of “Annie,” Lily St. Regis sometimes says she’s from Jersey City.)
Woodrow Wilson Hall, West Long Branch Next time you’re “down the shore,” take a look at the massive Woodrow Wilson Hall on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch. That’s where the interior scenes in Daddy Warbucks’s mansion were filmed. The hall is at 45 Elm Road, near Route 71. University spokesman Michael Maiden says, “You’d be surprised how many folks do come by to see Wilson Hall because it was where Annie was filmed. Sometimes alumni bring their children or grandchildren and sometimes it is just members of the public. Wilson Hall is open to the public, and we have a brochure for visitors that guides them on a walking tour throughout the building. You can almost always tell by the look on a child’s face whether they have just watched the movie. Most kids are drawn to the grand stairway where Annie sang. ‘I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here.’” Maiden also noted that Aileen Quinn taught theater appreciation at the school as an adjunct professor in the fall of 2008, and received an honorary doctorate in 2009. Oh my goodness!—JCM