Watch full movie online. Little Orphant Annie is a re-edit of a silent film of the same title from 1918, directed by Colin Campbell. Two reels from an original nitrate print were scanned and re-edited to make the new film, which follows the structure of the poem written by James Whitcomb Riley in 1885. Riley is heard reciting his poem in a recording made in 1912. The poem is also heard read by Kelli Shay Hix in 2016, who additionally wrote and performs the song, “The Swimmer.”