God bless the character actress, the plain jane who looks pretty much like everybody else. Frown lines, scraggly hair, a bit of a spare tire, yet so much more loveable than the glamour girls. So was Kathleen Freeman who is best known for her appearance in 12 Jerry Lewis movies and practically every sitcom ever made from "Topper" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" to "Golden Girls" and "Murphy Brown". In the 1980's, she used a yard stick as a discipline tool for the cursing John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd and later cursed up a storm herself as the cranky landlady interviewed by Ackroyd and Tom Hanks in the big screen "Dragnet". But it all began in this MGM short where, top billed, she plays the Swedish born Annie who is hired as a housekeeper and is soon a part of the family.
Freeman deals with the two pranksterish sons in a way that makes her a pal, and squirms her way into the master's heart with her homestyle cooking while on the verge of being fired. Freeman really shows us "The Full Monty" of her talents with comedy, pathos and dignity, a true angel with a bit of the devil in her spirit. She doesn't overdo the Swedish accent so the result of her performance is sincere and realistic and not overdone like others (particularly El Brendel) who stretched it to unbearable annoyance. It's a testimony to Freeman's big talents that this short rests on her shoulders, and it's a shame that she never got other chances to shine in a lead, because she is the real deal.
Freeman deals with the two pranksterish sons in a way that makes her a pal, and squirms her way into the master's heart with her homestyle cooking while on the verge of being fired. Freeman really shows us "The Full Monty" of her talents with comedy, pathos and dignity, a true angel with a bit of the devil in her spirit. She doesn't overdo the Swedish accent so the result of her performance is sincere and realistic and not overdone like others (particularly El Brendel) who stretched it to unbearable annoyance. It's a testimony to Freeman's big talents that this short rests on her shoulders, and it's a shame that she never got other chances to shine in a lead, because she is the real deal.