Baby Doll Overview:

Baby Doll (1956) was a Drama - Comedy Film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Elia Kazan.

SYNOPSIS

Still controversial, this adaptation (by the playwright) of a Tennessee Williams play caused an outrage upon its release. From this vantage point, Kazan's claustrophobic depiction of the sweaty competition between a dim cotton-mill owner and his business rival for the attention of the mill owner's simpering child bride is less shocking than harrowing.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1956 --- Ceremony Number 29 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressCarroll BakerNominated
Best Supporting ActressMildred DunnockNominated
Best CinematographyBoris KaufmanNominated
Best WritingTennessee WilliamsNominated
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BlogHub Articles:

Breaking the Code: Baby Doll (1956) Article

By Google profile on Nov 25, 2007 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog

About MeBlogger, Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog and more. Please add my Google profile to your circles. Here is my entry in the booklet for Elia Kazan's Baby Doll. This one was by far the easiest to write.Broken Code: Impure love must not be presented in such a way to arouse passion or morbi... Read full article


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Quotes from

Archie Lee Meighan: Is that what they call a Mona Lisa smile you got on your puss?


Baby Doll: I feel so weak. Oh, my head is buzzy.
Silva Vacarro: Fuzzy?
Baby Doll: Hmm. Fuzzy and buzzy. My head is swingin' round. Must have been that swingin' that done it.


Silva Vacarro: Come on up and sing me to sleep!


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Facts about

The Legion of Decency, an organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the US, condemned the film as immoral, and despite the efforts of director Elia Kazan, were able to get it withdrawn from release.
When the film was released in 1956, it was enormously controversial for its extremely risqué subject matter. The Legion of Decency condemned the film for its "carnal suggestiveness". Francis Cardinal Spellman condemned the film in a stunning attack from the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral two days before the film opened, saying that the film had been "responsibly judged to be evil in concept" and was certain that it would "exert an immoral and corrupting influence on those who see it", and exhorted all Catholics to refrain from patronizing the film "under pain of sin". Cardinal Spellman's condemnation of the film led to the Legion of Decency's first-ever nationwide boycott of an American-made film produced by a major studio. All over the country, almost 20 million Catholics protested the film and picketed theaters that showed it. The Catholic boycott nearly killed the film; it was cancelled by 77% of theaters scheduled to show it, and it only made a meager $600,000 at the box office. The film was also condemned by Time Magazine, which called it the dirtiest American-made motion picture that had ever been legally exhibited. Surprisingly, despite the film's sordid elements, the Production Code Administration gave it a seal of approval, but only after nearly a year of arguments. This was one of many examples of how the lax attitude of new Code official
Feature film debuts of Eli Wallach and Rip Torn.
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Best Actress Oscar 1956






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