Tennessee Williams wrote this for Elia Kazan. Williams imagined Marilyn Monroe in the lead. Kazan wisely disagreed, and went for newcomer Caroll Baker. I've seen Baker in a few films before, notably The Big Country, Giant and How the West Was Won. I honestly don't remember her in any of those films. She is introduced in Baby Doll sleeping sexily in a crib with her thumb in her mouth as her far-too-old husband (Karl Malden, in whose memory I watched this) peeps at her through a hole in the wall. It's hard to believe this was made in 1956! In fact, the film was almost instantly banned from most theaters a week after its release. Much of the beginning of the film plays like an exploitation flick as Baker teases her husband, and thus the audience, with her sweet, sweet goodies. As it moves into its actual plot, wherein a cotton processing competitor of Malden's, played by newcomer Eli Wallach, is forced to do business with Malden after Malden has screwed him over, plays out much like one of Williams' stage works. It may be more conventional, but, hey, one can't complain too much. Tennessee Williams plays don't generally disappoint, after all. It's Baker's movie. I mean, long after the memory of the film has faded, I'll still have the crib image in my head. But even aside from her beauty, she's just fantastic. Thank God Williams didn't get his way with the casting - Monroe was, at best, only a decent actress (though the fact that I can't remember Baker in the films I've seen her in may mean she only had one great performance in her; perhaps this could have changed Monroe's career). Malden and Wallach are also quite excellent. Baker received a much deserved Oscar nomination that year (and is by far my favorite of the four nominees I've seen, the fifth being Nancy Kelly from The Bad Seed). Neither of the men did, unfortunately. However, Mildred Dunnock did receive a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Baker's doddering aunt. Dunnock is by far the least successful part of the film, so I don't know what they were thinking there.
