Baby Doll (1956) | |
| Director(s) | Elia Kazan |
| Producer(s) | Elia Kazan |
| Top Genres | Comedy, Drama, Film Adaptation |
| Top Topics | Based on Play, Revenge |
Featured Cast:
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)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Actress | Carroll Baker | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actress | Mildred Dunnock | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | Boris Kaufman | Nominated |
| Best Writing | Tennessee Williams | Nominated |
Baby Doll BlogHub Articles:
Breaking the Code: Baby Doll (1956) Article
By Google profile on Nov 25, 2007 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film BlogAbout 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 Baby Doll
Baby Doll:
[Silva caresses her neck] Don't touch me please, I don't like to be touched.
Silva Vacarro: Then why do you smile?
Baby Doll: Because you make me feel kind of hysterical Mr. Vacarro.
Silva Vacarro: [knowing smile] I do?
Baby Doll: [starts to get up] I think I'll go make us some lemonade.
[he holds her back]
Baby Doll: What did you do that for?
Silva Vacarro: I don't want to be deprived of the pleasure of your company. Not yet.
Baby Doll: Mr. Vacarro you certainly are getting familiar.
Silva Vacarro: Don't you have any fun loving spirit about you?
Baby Doll: Yeah, but this isn't fun.
[laughs breathlessly and smiles]
Silva Vacarro: Then why do you giggle?
Silva Vacarro: So, the wedding was postponed?
Baby Doll: Oh, no, not the wedding. We had the wedding. My daddy gave me away.
Silva Vacarro: But you said Archie Lee waited.
Baby Doll: Yeah, after the wedding he waited.
Silva Vacarro: For what?
Baby Doll: For me to be ready for marriage.
Silva Vacarro: How long did he have to wait?
Baby Doll: Oh, he's still waiting.
Baby Doll: Sometimes, big shot, you don't seem to give me credit for very much intelligence at all. I've been to school in my life - and I'm a magazine reader!
read more quotes from Baby Doll...
Silva Vacarro: Then why do you smile?
Baby Doll: Because you make me feel kind of hysterical Mr. Vacarro.
Silva Vacarro: [knowing smile] I do?
Baby Doll: [starts to get up] I think I'll go make us some lemonade.
[he holds her back]
Baby Doll: What did you do that for?
Silva Vacarro: I don't want to be deprived of the pleasure of your company. Not yet.
Baby Doll: Mr. Vacarro you certainly are getting familiar.
Silva Vacarro: Don't you have any fun loving spirit about you?
Baby Doll: Yeah, but this isn't fun.
[laughs breathlessly and smiles]
Silva Vacarro: Then why do you giggle?
Silva Vacarro: So, the wedding was postponed?
Baby Doll: Oh, no, not the wedding. We had the wedding. My daddy gave me away.
Silva Vacarro: But you said Archie Lee waited.
Baby Doll: Yeah, after the wedding he waited.
Silva Vacarro: For what?
Baby Doll: For me to be ready for marriage.
Silva Vacarro: How long did he have to wait?
Baby Doll: Oh, he's still waiting.
Baby Doll: Sometimes, big shot, you don't seem to give me credit for very much intelligence at all. I've been to school in my life - and I'm a magazine reader!
read more quotes from Baby Doll...
Facts about Baby Doll
Tennessee Williams's screenplay for "Baby Doll" is based on two of his one-act plays, "Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton" and "The Unsatisfactory Supper".
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
read more facts about Baby Doll...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
