Annie Was a Wonder is a 1942 short film (11 minutes) directed by Edward Cahn.
It is an installment in John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series of short films for MGM. In this one Nesbitt remembers his own family's houskeeper, Annie Swenson. Annie came to American around the turn of the 20th century as part of a great wave of Swedish emigration to the United States, including many single young women who mostly found work in domestic service. She arrives at the Nesbitt house on a two-week trial period in which she isn't even allowed to send for her trunk, but she impresses Mr. Nesbitt with her cooking skills and wins a permanent job. Young John Nesbitt marvels at Annie's tireless work ethic and good-hearted nature. Finally Annie marries the local handyman and leaves her position with the Nesbitts, a moment that symbolizes the end of the turn-of-the-century Swedish immgration wave.
Stars Kathleen Freeman as Annie. Freeman went on to a long career as a character actress that included playing the scary nun (aka "the penguin") in The Blues Brothers.
Tropes:
- An Immigrant's Tale: One Swedish woman makes a new home for herself in the United States.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Gus aka Gustav the handyman, seen chatting with Annie when her trunk arrives. He marries her and takes her away from domestic service.
- Food Porn: A shot of some of the mouth-watering dishes Annie puts on the table is accompanied by Nesbitt narrating that his father gained 17 pounds.
- Funny Foreigner: Annie, with her boisterous spirit and her accent and her off-key singing of Swedish songs.
- Garden-Hose Squirt Surprise: John's older brother Grant does this to Annie when she's watering the backyard. Annie gets them back, hosing both brothers down...which nearly gets her fired, but she wins over Mr. Nesbitt with her cooking.
- Hard-Work Montage: Nesbitt in his narration marvels how hard Annie worked for the family, as a montage plays of Annie performing various domestic tasks while her legs go up and down the stairs. It ends with a last shot of Annie's legs going up the stairs, much slower, as she goes to bed exhausted.
- Narrator: Nesbitt narrating as he always did in the Passing Parade series. Although unlike some other installments, Freeman and the other actors get dialogue as well.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Ends with what is presumably Annie and Gustav, in a carriage, headed to what seems to be farm.
- Supreme Chef: The Nesbitts are on the verge of sending Annie packing when she cooks them one dinner, and wins a permanent job."Her smorgasboard wasn't food, it was poetry."
- Title Drop: For both this particular short and the series as a whole, as Nesbitt says "...for Annie was a wonder, in the passing parade."
