Annabel Andrews is thirteen, has braces, hates her mother and thinks being an adult looks easy. Her mother Ellen thinks the same about being thirteen. On a Friday the 13th, both wish at the same moment that they could swap for a day, and they do. This is the original Freaky Friday, made the same year Jodie Foster did Taxi Driver, and it is the one the 2003 remake is based on.
What Happens On The Friday
Ellen, in Annabel’s body, has to go to school, sit through a typing class, play field hockey and deal with the boy next door. Annabel, in Ellen’s body, has to do the laundry, which floods the house, cook, deal with the cleaning woman, and get to a boat show where her husband is unveiling a presentation. The last half hour is a water-ski display, a car chase through Los Angeles with Annabel’s body driving, and a helicopter. The 1970s Disney live-action house style, with speeded-up chases and a lot of slapstick, is all here.
Why It Is Worth Seeing Alongside The Remake
Mary Rodgers, who wrote the book, wrote the script herself. Barbara Harris was a Broadway star and plays the thirteen-year-old inside the mother with total commitment. Foster, fourteen, is the adult in a child’s body and it is a different kind of performance from her others that year. John Astin, Gomez from The Addams Family, is the father.
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