Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Ira Levin (novel)
Roman Polanski (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 June 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Pray for Rosemary's Baby

Plot:

A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Neighbor | Dream | Pregnancy | Baby

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Mia Farrow	...	Rosemary Woodhouse
John Cassavetes	...	Guy Woodhouse
Ruth Gordon	...	Minnie Castevet
Sidney Blackmer	...	Roman Castevet
Maurice Evans	...	Edward 'Hutch' Hutchins
Ralph Bellamy	...	Dr. Abraham Sapirstein
Victoria Vetri	...	Terry Gionoffrio (as Angela Dorian)
Patsy Kelly	...	Laura-Louise McBirney
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Mr. Nicklas (as Elisha Cook)
Emmaline Henry	...	Elise Dunstan
Charles Grodin	...	Dr. C.C. Hill
Hanna Landy	...	Grace Cardiff
Phil Leeds	...	Dr. Shand (as Philip Leeds)
D'Urville Martin	...	Diego
Hope Summers	...	Mrs. Gilmore
Marianne Gordon	...	Joan Jellico, Rosemary's girlfriend
Wende Wagner	...	Tiger, Rosemary's girlfriend (as Wendy Wagner)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Baldwin	...	Salesman (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin	...	Mr. Wees (uncredited)
Roy Barcroft	...	Sun-browned man (uncredited)
Charlotte Boerner	...	Mrs. Fountain (uncredited)
Gail Bonney	...	Babysitter (voice) (uncredited)
Carol Brewster	...	Claudia Comfort (uncredited)
Lynn Brinker	...	Sister Veronica (uncredited)
Sebastian Brook	...	Argyron Stavropoulos (uncredited)
William Castle	...	Man by pay phone (uncredited)
Gordon Connell	...	Allen Stone (Guy's agent) (uncredited)
Patricia Ann Conway	...	Mrs. John F. Kennedy (uncredited)
Tony Curtis	...	Donald Baumgart (voice) (uncredited)
Joyce Davis	...	Dee Bertillon (uncredited)
Paul Denton	...	Skipper (uncredited)
Duke Fishman	...	Man (uncredited)
Janet Garland	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Michel Gomez	...	Pedro (uncredited)
John Halloran	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
Ernest Harada	...	Young Japanese man (uncredited)
Marilyn Harvey	...	Dr. Sapirstein's receptionist (uncredited)
Jean Inness	...	Sister Agnes (uncredited)
Mona Knox	...	Mrs. Byron (uncredited)
Mary Louise Lawson	...	Portia Haynes (uncredited)
Natalie Masters	...	Young woman (uncredited)
Elmer Modling	...	Young man (uncredited)
Floyd Mutrux	...	Man at party (uncredited)
Patricia O'Neal	...	Mrs. Wees (uncredited)
Robert Osterloh	...	Mr. Fountain (uncredited)
Josh Peine	...	Man at party (uncredited)
Gale Peters	...	Rain Morgan (uncredited)
Jack Ramage	...	Patron (uncredited)
Joan T. Reilly	...	Pregnant woman (uncredited)
George R. Robertson	...	Lou Comfort (uncredited)
George Savalas	...	Workman (uncredited)
Almira Sessions	...	Mrs. Sabatini (uncredited)
Michael Shillo	...	Pope (uncredited)
Bruno Sidar	...	Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
Tom Signorelli	...	Man at the party (uncredited)
Al Szathmary	...	Taxi driver (uncredited)
Clay Tanner	...	Devil (uncredited)
Viki Vigen	...	Lisa (uncredited)
Frank White	...	Hugh Dunstan (uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits
Ira Levin		(novel)
Roman Polanski		(screenplay)

Produced by
William Castle	....	producer
Dona Holloway	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Krzysztof Komeda		(as Christopher Komeda)

Cinematography by
William A. Fraker		(director of photography) (as William Fraker)

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen
Bob Wyman

Production Design by
Richard Sylbert

Art Direction by
Joel Schiller

Set Decoration by
Robert Nelson

Costume Design by
Anthea Sylbert

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist: Miss Farrow
Vidal Sassoon	....	hair stylist: Miss Farrow
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist
Sherry Wilson	....	hair stylist

Production Management
William Davidson	....	unit production manager (as William C. Davidson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director (as Daniel J. McCauley)
Gene Marum	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harold Lewis	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography

Stunts
Roger Creed	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank Orsatti	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Birtles	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Other crew
Stephen Frankfurt	....	title designer
Hawk Koch	....	dialogue coach (as Howard W. Koch Jr.)
Luanna S. Poole	....	continuity
Robert Evans	....	developer (uncredited)
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• William Castle Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Les Films Paramount (1968) (France) (theatrical)
• Pioneer (1995) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Award Winning Collection)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (199?) (Australia) (VHS)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Renacimiento (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | South Korea:18 | Brazil:14 | India:A | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:Approved | USA:R (re-rating) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Dakota Hotel - 1 West 72nd St. at Central Park West, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

Entertainment Weekly voted this the tenth scariest film of all time.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Rosemary is in downtown Manhattan during the Christmas season of 1965 (her baby, we are told, is due to be born in June 1966), the title of the movie on the marquee of Radio City Music Hall is The Happiest Millionaire (1967), which didn't open until the Christmas season of 1967.

Quotes:

[First lines]
Mr. Nicklas: Are you a doctor?
Rosemary Woodhouse: He is an actor.
Mr. Nicklas: Oh! An actor! We're very popular with actors! Have I seen you in anything?
Guy Woodhouse: Well, I did "Hamlet" a while back, didn't I, Liz? Then we did "The Sandpiper"...
Rosemary Woodhouse: He's joking. He was in "Luther" and "Nobody Loves an Albatross" and a lot of TV plays and commercials.
Mr. Nicklas: That's where the money is, right? The commercials.
Guy Woodhouse: And the artistic thrill too!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in End of Days (1999)

Soundtrack:

Lullaby

Brilliant

What struck me most about this film is something that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet which is the use of colour. For a large section of the film, the overwhelmingly predominant colour is yellow, traditionally the colour of Satan. Then, as the birth draws near and after the birth, blue is brought in, an allusion to the Virgin Mary. There are many scenes symbolically comparing her to Mary, notably one while she is giving birth with her head on a pillow with yellow stripes on it so it appears she has a halo. There are so many things like that to notice, which is one of the reasons I love it so much.