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24 out of 24 people found the following review useful: Eli Wallach shines, 4 January 2004 Author: Regi214 from Cincinnati, Oh
I've seen quite a few films in my life, but none such as this. Elia Kazan's quirky, off-the-wall romp about revenge and justice in 1950's Mississippi is truly remarkable. The first time I saw this movie I didn't know how to take it; I turned on my TV one day right at the scene where Eli Wallach and Carroll Baker are upstairs playing hide and seek... It seemed disturbing, but something about it held my interest.A second viewing of this film was powerful. Karl Malden is right on the money as the loud-mouthed, frustrated, alcoholic husband; Carroll Baker, brilliant (and stunning) as Baby Doll; but I have to say, Eli Wallach SHINES as Silva Vacarro. He is so smooth, calculated, and mesmerizing as the one who "does his own justice". Hard to believe he didn't win an Oscar for his performance.It is worth noting Kazan's use of the extras in this film (most of whom are African-American). Often you'll see a man or two in the background or off to the side, observing the story as it unfolds; they are the silent and wise observers to the craziness around them. Like the scene where Karl Malden is yelling "Babeee Dolllll!!!!" from his car, and the men just sit there and watch him--you wonder what they're thinking.A superb film! The dining room scene at the end is choice.
22 out of 25 people found the following review useful: We're definitely not in Kansas anymore!, 18 December 2003 Author: zestygirl from Washington
The crumbling ruins of a deep south plantation, circa 1956. Karl Malden running through empty rooms, yelling "BayBee DOLLLLL!" The dementia-ridden elderly aunt forgetting to turn on the stove before cooking the greens. The old guys lounging around the yard, laughing and watching Malden's frenzied activities like it's must-see TV. Kooky gorgeous Baby Doll sucking her thumb, sleeping in her crib. And Eli Wallach: ah, what a specimen. He's intense, he's irresistible. He's relentlessly "handsy" like a high school boy on a date; he never, ever, for a moment, lets up. It's impossible to take your eyes off of him.This movie is perplexing and wonderful, it really is more of a place and an atmosphere than a story. Twisted, and in a good way. The characters are as wild and inexplicable as any you've seen in a David Lynch movie. Your jaw will drop, you'll laugh out loud, and the whole weird place just gets better each time you watch it.
22 out of 25 people found the following review useful: My how views change!, 29 May 2002 Author: TC-4 (markviilin@aol.com) from Dunstable, Ma
Back in 1956 when this movie came out it was the Legion of Decency run by the Catholic church that decided what was proper or improper to see. I remember my parents checking that list whenever I wanted to see a movie. They were divided into groups. Unobjectionable, Objectionable with certain restrictions and others but the worst one was rated Condemned. I laugh when I think about it. Baby Doll did not play in my town of 100,000 as the church would have made a big stink about it, but it did play in Boston which was 25 miles away. I did not see it then but I heard from others that did and they told me that it was very steamy. There was so much controversy about this movie that no one dared mention that they saw it in mixed company as being branded as liking porno movies. I finally saw this movie on AMC about 15 years ago and I had to smile because this was such a mild movie by today's standards. This movie could be shown today on regular TV unedited with a PG rating. It had no nudity nor swearing. Karl Malden, Eli Walich and Carol Baker were outstanding. Still today Carol Baker is still being mentioned as Carol "Baby Doll" Baker, truly a role she will never live down. One more thing, the musical score throughout the movie is very moving. I bought the LP soundtrack long before I saw the movie and it was interesting to see how it fit. I have recorded it onto a cassette and still play it in my car. I think that it was the church and it's censorship that made this movie so popular.
14 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Cotton picking, 23 March 2005 Author: jotix100 from New York
Elia Kazan took a big chance in directing "Baby Doll". His association with Tennessee Williams must have been the deciding factor in his coming on board. This was a film that caused quite a stir because of the direct intervention of Cardinal Spellman of New York in denouncing it for its suggestive billboard in the Times Square area and the content of the movie.This film is a testament of how to film an erotic feature without having the actors running naked all over the place. Carroll Baker, as the Baby Doll of the title, generates a lot of heat every time we see her in the opening scenes through the "peeping tom" eyes of Archie Lee, the husband still awaiting to fulfill his duty as a husband.The steamy scenes between Vaccaro and Baby Doll are incredible if one thinks of the era when it was filmed. Nothing like those torrid scenes were seen in an American film before! What is amazing is the fact this film was released at all.Unfortunately, the copy that was shown on cable recently has the worst sound track imaginable. The Southern accents from the actors don't help things either.Karl Malden adds to the character of Archie Lee by playing it as a dumb hick who is not too worldly in matters of the bedroom. Carroll Baker had a great role in her Baby Doll. She plays her as a typical small town from that part of the South, a real teaser. Eli Wallach's as Vaccaro brought virility and sensuality to his portrayal. Mildred Dunnock was good as Aunt Rose.This film is an oddity that heralded the liberation of Hollywood from the hated Hays Code which will come much later on.
18 out of 24 people found the following review useful: Fuzzy and Buzzy, 12 November 1998 Author: Eugene Kim (gene_kim@earthlink.net) from Arlington, Virginia, USA
The conventional wisdom on "Baby Doll" seems to be, "Oh, this movie may have been steamy in its time, but it's totally tame now." Oh, really? If the scene of Eli Wallach and Carroll Baker on the garden swing doesn't leave you feeling "fuzzy and buzzy," I suggest you get your pulse checked.
12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: An early example of suggestive cinema, 26 October 2002 Author: soranno from Las Vegas, Nevada
Warner Brothers initially took a huge gamble with this 1956 release. Some elements of its storyline were considered way too suggestive for films at the time (there was still no rating system yet) but the studio went ahead and released it anyway. What resulted was a huge box office hit and a star maker for Carroll Baker who has the title role of the child bride of a sometimes dense cotton gin operator (Karl Malden). Malden is a rival to another cotton gin operator (Eli Wallach) and his torching of Wallach's cotton gin inspires Wallach to get back at Malden by having a steamy love affair with Baker. Rip Torn made his film debut here with a small part. Film reunites director Elia Kazan and screenwriter/playwright Tennessee Williams who had previously collaborated on the box office smash "A Streetcar Named Desire." This film is also an interesting early example of what may have eventually inspired Hollywood's film rating system.
11 out of 14 people found the following review useful: Uproariously funny black comedy about sexual frustration., 29 September 2003 Author: manxman-1 from bahamas
Wonderfully original, even after all this time, due to the matchless dialog of Tennessee Williams and the superb performances of the three principals, Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach. Wickedly funny, sly and loopy all at the same time. A view of Southern white trash which only Tennessee Williams could have penned. Carroll Baker in a first class performance as the still-virginal but sexually precocious Baby Doll, married for two years but refusing to consummate her marriage until her twentieth birthday, looming large. Karl Malden as the frustrated husband, panting to get his hands on her, and Eli Wallach as the neighbor, determined to seduce Baby Doll before Malden, in revenge for Malden's burning down his cotton gin. Totally off the wall characterization with rich, witty dialog that constantly takes one by surprise. Watching Malden and Baker's characters with their dumber than dumber take on things (that totally cracks one up at their sheer stupidity!) one wonders just how much in-breeding Williams had in mind when he invented these people. Even Mildred Dunnock, as the minor fourth character of the ensemble, a batty aunt, has a full share of crazy antics that almost has one falling on the floor. Eli Wallach turns in a sly, smoother than smooth performance as the potential seducer that is wonderfully nuanced. When the movie first appeared is was condemned by the Catholic Church. Apparently there are critics who still uphold those initial views and would prefer to return to the time of total censorship than adopt a more realistic view of life. Baby Doll is not an indecent movie and never was. What it is is a glorious black comedy that has a place amongst the best works that Williams ever produced. Last, but not least, kudos to director Elia Kazan, who passed away on the very evening that this viewer was privileged to finally get to see this movie. This is definitely one for the collection!
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Buy Arkansas, 17 July 2006 Author: krorie from Van Buren, Arkansas
This is a hilarious farce by Tennessee Williams, containing much self-parody. On one level, it can even be interpreted as a burlesque of his "A Streetcar Named Desire." "Stella!" becomes "Baby Doll!" If one cannot imagine the great dramatic playwright writing comedy, then this is the film to see. Even the story is a mockery. A foolish old man, Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Malden), pretending to be a Southern gentleman, with a rundown plantation and a cotton gin, tricks another old man into letting him marry his comely teenage daughter, Baby Doll (Caroll Baker). He promises to renovate the old farm for Baby Doll and to buy her the world. She agrees if he swears not to touch her until her twentieth birthday. The foolish old man quickly becomes a laughing stock to both blacks and whites who live in the small community in the delta region (there's a sham sign posted in the general store that reads, "Buy Arkansas"). To insure his hold on the rather worldly, not so innocent Baby Doll, Archie Lee burns down his competitor's cotton gin. His competitor, a Sicilian named Silva Vacarro (Eli Wallach), becomes Baby Doll's Latin lover to get back at Archie Lee.There are several memorable scenes in Elia Kazan's direction of Tennessee William's screenplay. The one that is most remembered because it created such a moral outrage at the time (even Baby Doll pajamas were marketed) shows Baby Doll lying in a baby crib, scantly clad in, what else?, baby doll pajamas, sucking her thumb and arousing all sorts of erotic sensations in the male observer. Another scene is one of the most laughable ever put on the big screen. Picture if you will Eli Wallach riding a hobby horse like a wild stallion while slurping lemonade from a pitcher, listening to "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Smiley Lewis on the record player. This is part of the mad Sicilian's seduction of Baby Doll in the most childish way conceivable, ultimately falling asleep in her baby crib with Baby Doll intoning to him a lullaby.In classical dramas, tragedies naturally had tragic endings and comedies had happy endings. Tennesee Williams' travesty doesn't exactly have a happy ending, but it's not a tragic ending either, more of a postponement of things to come.A personal note: I was twelve when "Baby Doll" opened in my home town in Arkansas. The churches and other so-called decency groups attempted to have it banned. There were even pickets outside the theater. Because of all the hype with pictures of Baby Doll flooding the media, I had to finagle a way to see it. Those under thirteen had to be accompanied by an adult (this was before the MPAA ratings system was developed--the PCA was beginning to bend its strict rules as American mores were changing. I mislead my dad, who paid little attention to movie previews, into thinking it was suitable for the general public. My dad attended the film with me and seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. He never told my mother about either one of us watching it.
16 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Baby Doll still Sizzles, 16 January 2001 Author: (jjcaron@icrossroads.com) from Edmonton, Alberta
The #1 Reason why you should see this movie is....Karl Maldin? nah, Eli Wallach? maybe, Elia Kazan directed it? hmmm. No, the #1 Reason why you should see this movie is CARROLL BAKER!! This Extremely beautiful actress will hypnotize you with her looks. She delivers an incredible performance and is a true delight to the senses. I love this film. Time magazine described Baby Doll as "possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited." I think this may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I found it very erotic. Rent this movie tonight!!!
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: One of the funniest movies ever made, 11 July 2007 Author: Indyrod from United States
When this classic was released in 1956, it had the Catholic church all in an uproar and everybody else it seems, because it was pulled from many many theaters because of the protests. Today, this Tennessee Williams screenplay seems pretty mild, if not very mild, but it is also one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I didn't get my first chance to see it until many years later on VHS, and when I did, I didn't think too much about it at the time, except for the amazing tour-de-force performance of Karl Malden. The story takes place in the deep south, and revolves around the 19 year old child bride Baby Doll, Carroll Baker, who agreed to marry Malden a year earlier, but the deal is he can't touch her until her twentieth birthday, which in the movie is the next day. Into the picture comes Eli Wallach as a local owner of a new syndicated cotton mill, which has the locals in an uproar especially Malden who has his own cotton gin mill. Wallach's mill gets burned down, and the chief suspect is Malden, so he makes a visit to the rundown old mansion house where Malden, Baby Doll, and their hilarious crazy Aunt Rose resides. Then Wallach starts making moves on Baby Doll and the results is some of the funniest dialogue you will ever see in a movie. The whole movie is Tennessee Williams take on the old South and he doesn't pull any punches on the stereotypes. I haven't laughed so much throughout the entire movie for a long time, it is absolutely hilarious. And Carroll Baker as Baby Doll is one of the great characters of cinema, and a role she had a long time living down, in fact she was known as Baby Doll for years and years. If you want to have an absolute ball with a movie, and laugh your ass off, then you definitely need to see "Baby Doll". It's one of the most infamous movies of all time, and gives you a chance to see what the moral standards were in 1956, which today is very laughable. It's a truly excellent movie, and I recommend it very very highly. Oh, and it was nominated for four Academy Awards, and won the Golden Globe for the excellent direction by Elia Kazan.
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