Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton was the basis for this steamy sex seriocomedy. Karl Malden stars as the doltish owner of a Southern cotton gin. He is married to luscious teenager Carroll Baker, who steadfastly refuses to sleep with her husband until she reaches the age of 20. Her nickname is "Baby Doll", a cognomen she does her best to live up to by lying in a crib-like bed and sucking her thumb. Enter crafty Sicilian Eli Wallach (who, like supporting actor Rip Torn, makes his film debut herein), who covets ...
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Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton was the basis for this steamy sex seriocomedy. Karl Malden stars as the doltish owner of a Southern cotton gin. He is married to luscious teenager Carroll Baker, who steadfastly refuses to sleep with her husband until she reaches the age of 20. Her nickname is "Baby Doll", a cognomen she does her best to live up to by lying in a crib-like bed and sucking her thumb. Enter crafty Sicilian Eli Wallach (who, like supporting actor Rip Torn, makes his film debut herein), who covets both Malden's wife and business. Malden's jealously sets fire to Wallach's business, compelling Wallach to try to claim Baby Doll as "compensation." Heavily admonished for its supposed filthiness in 1956 (it was condemned by the Legion of Decency, which did more harm to the Legion than to the film), Baby Doll seems a model of decorum today--so much so that it is regularly shown on the straight-laced American Movie Classics cable service. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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Seller's Description:
Rip Torn, Madeleine Sherwood, R.G. Armstrong, Noah Williamson, Eades Hogue, Lonny Chapman, Mildred Dunnock, Eli Wallach,... Very good. 1956 Run time: 114. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Rip Torn, Madeleine Sherwood, R.G. Armstrong, Noah Williamson, Eades Hogue, Lonny Chapman, Mildred Dunnock, Eli Wallach,... Very good. 1956 Run time: 114. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Good. May have very light or no surface scratches. Case and cover artwork are included but may show minimal signs of wear. If applicable: Digital copy or ultraviolet codes may be expired or not included. Slipcover may not be included.
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Seller's Description:
Rip Torn, Madeleine Sherwood, R.G. Armstrong, Noah Williamson, Eades Hogue, Lonny Chapman, Mildred Dunnock, Eli Wallach,... Very good. 1956 Run time: 114. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Rip Torn, Madeleine Sherwood, R.G. Armstrong, Noah Williamson, Eades Hogue, Lonny Chapman, Mildred Dunnock, Eli Wallach,... Very good. 1956 Run time: 114. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very Good. Size: 7x5x0; Scratch free disc. Margins to the original case artwork were cut shorter to allow artwork to fit a slimline case. DVD has been re-cased in standard size case. Satisfaction guaranteed!
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Eli Wallach, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden. New. Run time: 114. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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Eli Wallach, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden. New. Run time: 114. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
n the process of reading John Lahr's new biography, "Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh", I frequently wanted to put down the book to visit the many works of Williams that the book discusses so well. Among these works was the 1956 film, "Baby Doll" written by Williams and directed by Elia Kazan, who had directed the Broadway productions of Williams' "Streetcar Named Desire", "Camino Real" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." I had never seen "Baby Doll" and was glad to watch it on Instant Video based upon Lahr's discussion of the film.
Based upon an important scene, the working title for the film was "Hide and Seek" before it was changed to the more appropriately smoldering "Baby Doll." The script was based upon an early Williams play, "Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton" with the playwright working on and off again on the film for several years. The film is a dark, erotic comedy set and filmed in the small Mississippi Delta town of Benoit on a dilapidated home that still stands on a pre-Bellum cotton plantation.
The black and white film stars a sultry Carol Baker together with Karl Malden as her husband Archie Lee Meighan and Eli Wallach as the neighbor Silva Vacarro. Meighan married Baby Doll by promising her dying father that he would not touch his wife until she turned 20. Baby Doll sleeps alone in a crib in a short nightie and sucks her thumb. The film opens two days before her 20th birthday. She despises her husband and is clear that she doesn't want to carry out her end of the deal. Meighan is a failing owner of a cotton gin. His rival, Vacarro has captured all of the county's business. Angry at his poverty and at Baby Doll's coldness, Meighan burns down Vacarro's cotton gin. Strongly suspecting, Meighan's involvement, Vacarro comes to his home under a pretext and works towards seducing his wife. The film never says whether he succeeds, but Baby Doll, under the auspices of the seducer changes from a naïve, manipulative girl to a sensual woman.
When the film was released in late 1956, it was cleared by Hollywood's censors but condemned by the Catholic Church for its sexual themes -- even though no flesh ever is shown. The reaction was not solely that of the Church. The New Republic called "Baby Doll" "The Crass Menagerie" while Time said it was "Just Possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited." Most theaters refused to show the film. which still managed to receive four Academy Award nominations. Kazin received the Golden Globe award for Best Director. Kazin publicized the film with what has become a famous billboard of Carol Baker in her crib spread out over an entire city block in the heart of Times Square, There is a photo of the billboard in Lahr's book.
Williams worked on the script intermittently but Kazan probably did a portion of the writing. Lahr describes how Kazan wanted to end the film with a violent scene involving a shoot-out and a murder. Williams opposed this ending, stating that "A killing is not so much a moral discrepancy as it is an outrage of the film-play's natural limits." Williams won this particular disagreement, with the ending of the film having a darkly comic touch.
Lahr does not rate this film highly. He says that "Williams' half-heartedness is all too apparent in the strained, lackluster dark comedy." I enjoyed seeing this film collaboration of Williams and Kazan which was notorious in its day. Tame by today's standards, the film has an erotic rural feel which shows lust, repression, and bigotry, among other less-than-desirable traits. Admirers of Tennessee Williams or of Elia Kazan will want to see "Baby Doll".
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