It's hard to imagine that Baby Doll was released in the mid-50's. The film practically radiates sleaze and sexual energy from the first scene as Karl Malden creates a peephole to spy on his 19 year old wife Baby Doll (played by Carroll Baker) as she sleeps in a crib. Yes, Baby Doll sleeps in a crib for reasons that are never quite clear. You see, the thing is - they have an arrangement. On Baby Doll's 20th birthday, she's agreed to let her husband finally have sex with her for the first time and she's turning 20 in just a day or so.
In the meanwhile, Malden's character burns down a rival's cotton gin (played by Eli Wallach) and the rival decides to enact his own type of revenge by seducing Baby Doll away from him.
The fact that Baby Doll was made at all is a bit of a miracle. Tennessee Williams had a hell of a time getting Streetcar Named Desire to the screen at all just a few years prior and, even then, he had to make several cuts and changes for it to be deemed decent enough for audiences at the time. This was released only a few years later and the sexual heat radiates from every frame.
The chemistry between Baker and Wallach alone is worth seeing Baby Doll for. There's one scene on a swing that actually took my breath away.
In the meanwhile, Malden's character burns down a rival's cotton gin (played by Eli Wallach) and the rival decides to enact his own type of revenge by seducing Baby Doll away from him.
The fact that Baby Doll was made at all is a bit of a miracle. Tennessee Williams had a hell of a time getting Streetcar Named Desire to the screen at all just a few years prior and, even then, he had to make several cuts and changes for it to be deemed decent enough for audiences at the time. This was released only a few years later and the sexual heat radiates from every frame.
The chemistry between Baker and Wallach alone is worth seeing Baby Doll for. There's one scene on a swing that actually took my breath away.