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Baby Doll (1956)
Five years after they collaborated on the original film version of A Streetcar Named Desire,playwright Tennessee Williams and director Elia Kazan reunited for Williams' first work written directly for the screen, a sizzling psycho-sexual melodrama called Baby Doll.
Carroll Baker steams up the screen in the title role in this 1956 film, playing an emotionally immature but sexually uninhibited 19 year old child bride, who has refused to consummate her marriage to the much older Archie (Karl Malden) until her 20th birthday, which is making Archie crazy as well as the town laughing stock because everyone in town knows what's going on. Things get even more complicated when a wealthy business owner named Silva Vaccaro (Eli Wallach) accuses Archie of burning his business to the ground and has no qualms about going through Archie's nubile young bride to get restitution.
From the second Kenyon Hopkins' jazzy score begins backing up the opening credits, we know we're in for another sexually charged story from the always unconventional Tennessee Williams, who was especially enamored with stories about romances between characters who had a vast difference in their ages. We also know exactly what's going on when it's established that this married couple are in separate bedrooms and Archie is observed drilling a hole in the wall so he can watch his child bride, who actually sleeps in a crib, sucking her thumb. That first shot of Baby Doll in that crib sucking her thumb is one of the most erotic images I've ever seen so I'm pretty sure it was quite shock to 1956 movie audiences.
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But it's not just this opening shot of her in a crib, it is the Baby Doll character that keeps this movie explosive and rife with a sexual tension I haven't seen in awhile. This Baby Doll knows that she is a sexual dynamo and even though she doesn't want anyone touching her, she loves it when all eyes are on her. Love when Archie is waiting for her to go with him to the doctor and she's standing on the porch giving onlookers a chance to admire her. But that's nothing compared to what happens when she encounters Vaccaro and seems more than willing to offer him everything she's been denying her husband for months.
The film received four Oscar nominations. Carroll Baker, in her third feature film appearance, was nominated Best Actress, Eli Wallach's thunderous performance earned him a Supporting Actor nomination and I have found myself saying this about every Eli Wallach performance I've seen, but I've never enjoyed him more. Mildred Dunnock received a Supporting Actress nomination for her crazy Aunt/Housekeeper and Williams' received n Original Screenplay nomination. If you loved A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, you'll love this too.
Five years after they collaborated on the original film version of A Streetcar Named Desire,playwright Tennessee Williams and director Elia Kazan reunited for Williams' first work written directly for the screen, a sizzling psycho-sexual melodrama called Baby Doll.
Carroll Baker steams up the screen in the title role in this 1956 film, playing an emotionally immature but sexually uninhibited 19 year old child bride, who has refused to consummate her marriage to the much older Archie (Karl Malden) until her 20th birthday, which is making Archie crazy as well as the town laughing stock because everyone in town knows what's going on. Things get even more complicated when a wealthy business owner named Silva Vaccaro (Eli Wallach) accuses Archie of burning his business to the ground and has no qualms about going through Archie's nubile young bride to get restitution.
From the second Kenyon Hopkins' jazzy score begins backing up the opening credits, we know we're in for another sexually charged story from the always unconventional Tennessee Williams, who was especially enamored with stories about romances between characters who had a vast difference in their ages. We also know exactly what's going on when it's established that this married couple are in separate bedrooms and Archie is observed drilling a hole in the wall so he can watch his child bride, who actually sleeps in a crib, sucking her thumb. That first shot of Baby Doll in that crib sucking her thumb is one of the most erotic images I've ever seen so I'm pretty sure it was quite shock to 1956 movie audiences.
But it's not just this opening shot of her in a crib, it is the Baby Doll character that keeps this movie explosive and rife with a sexual tension I haven't seen in awhile. This Baby Doll knows that she is a sexual dynamo and even though she doesn't want anyone touching her, she loves it when all eyes are on her. Love when Archie is waiting for her to go with him to the doctor and she's standing on the porch giving onlookers a chance to admire her. But that's nothing compared to what happens when she encounters Vaccaro and seems more than willing to offer him everything she's been denying her husband for months.
The film received four Oscar nominations. Carroll Baker, in her third feature film appearance, was nominated Best Actress, Eli Wallach's thunderous performance earned him a Supporting Actor nomination and I have found myself saying this about every Eli Wallach performance I've seen, but I've never enjoyed him more. Mildred Dunnock received a Supporting Actress nomination for her crazy Aunt/Housekeeper and Williams' received n Original Screenplay nomination. If you loved A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, you'll love this too.