Baby Face (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Baby Face | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Alfred E. Green |
| Produced by | William LeBaron Raymond Griffith |
| Written by | Darryl F. Zanuck Gene Markey Kathryn Scola |
| Starring | Barbara Stanwyck George Brent |
| Music by | Harry Akst Ralph Erwin Fritz Rotter Beth Slater Whitson |
| Cinematography | James Van Trees |
| Editing by | Howard Bretherton |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | July 1, 1933 |
| Running time | 71 min. (restored version 76 min.) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $187,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Baby Face is a sexually charged feature film first released in 1933. The film was based on a story by Darryl F. Zanuck (under the pseudonym Mark Canfield), written by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola, and directed by Alfred E. Green. It stars Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent, and features Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker, and Margaret Lindsay.
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[edit] Synopsis
Stanwyck plays Lily Powers, a speakeasy waitress who leaves her hometown and "sleeps her way to the top" of a New York City financial institution, ultimately gaining an appointment as head of the travel desk in the firm's Paris office. Lily uses men, seducing them and granting sexual favours liberally in order to get material goods or to advance her career, then abandons them when she no longer has use for them (often breaking their hearts or destroying them in the process).
[edit] Acceptance / Reactions
Aside from its depiction of a female sexual predator, the film is notable for the "comradely" relationship Lily has with her African-American maid, Chico.[1]
Because the original cut was rejected by the New York State Censorship Board in April 1933, the film was softened by cutting out some material (such as Lily's study of Nietzschean philosophy as well as various sexually suggestive shots). The producers also inserted new footage and tacked on a new ending.[2] In June 1933 the New York Censorship Board passed the revised version, which then had a successful release.[3]
The uncensored version remained lost until 2004, when it resurfaced at a Library of Congress film vault in Dayton, Ohio. George Willeman is credited with the discovery.[4] The restored version premiered at the London Film Festival in November 2004. In 2005 it was added to the list of films preserved in the United States National Film Registry[5] and also was named by Time.com as one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years.[6]
[edit] Trivia
The film features John Wayne in a small role as one of the title character's early conquests.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/reviewpages/MDBabyFace.htm
- ^ Article by Betsy Sherman, April 7 2006, WBUR radio
- ^ "A Wanton Woman's Ways Revealed, 71 Years Later", Dave Kehr, New York Times, January 9 2005
- ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001738406
- ^ Library of Congress press release, December 20 2005, re films added to National Film Registry
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,baby_face,00.html
- ^ http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=25802&mainArticleId=133204
[edit] External links
- Baby Face at the Internet Movie Database
- Review by Chris Dashiell from July 2000 (pre-restoration)
- Blog entry from Filmradar.com, May 20 2005
- Article by Kendahl Cruver, Senses of Cinema, September 2005
- "Revealing the Racy Original Cut of 'Babyface'", Scott Simon, January 29 2005
- "Profile and Review: Forbidden Hollywood", Review by J.C. Loophole, The Shelf
