Baby Face (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Baby Face


caption = VHS cover
director = Alfred E. Green
producer = William LeBaron Raymond Griffith
writer = Darryl F. Zanuck Gene Markey Kathryn Scola
starring = Barbara Stanwyck George Brent
music = Harry Akst Ralph Erwin Fritz Rotter Beth Slater Whitson
cinematography = James Van Trees
editing = Howard Bretherton
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = July 1, 1933
runtime = 71 min. (restored version 75 min.)
language = English
country = USA
budget = $187,000 (estimated)
imdb_id = 0023775|

"Baby Face" is a sexually-charged, pre-Code feature film first released in 1933. The film was based on a story by Darryl F. Zanuck (under the pseudonym Mark Canfield), written by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola, and directed by Alfred E. Green. It stars Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent, and features Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker, and Margaret Lindsay.

Plot

Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck) is a speakeasy waitress in Erie, Pennsylvania, coerced by the owner (her own father Nick, played by Robert Barrat) into sleeping with some of the customers from the age of 14. When he is killed in a still explosion, she sheds no tears for him. She and her African American co-worker and friend Chico (Theresa Harris) hop on a freight train out of town, but are discovered by a railroad worker, who threatens to have them thrown in jail. Lily changes his mind with her feminine wiles. In New York City, Lily charms her way into a job at Gotham Trust, even though she has no experience, by seducing an employee in the personnel department, the first of many sexual conquests in the film. Her progress sleeping her way to the top is illustrated by recurring shots of the bank building's facade, moving ever upward.

She eventually ensnares Ned Stevens (Donald Cook), a rising young executive engaged to Ann Carter (Margaret Lindsay), the daughter of important first vice president J.R. Carter (Henry Kolker). Lily schemes to have Ann walk in on the two locked in an embrace. When J.R. attempts to smooth things over by meeting her, Lily soon adds the older man to her list of admirers. J.R. installs her in a lavish apartment, with Chico along as a maid. However, when Ned finds her with his future father-in-law, he first shoots the older man, then himself.

The new bank president, Courtland Trenholm (George Brent), outwits her attempt to extort $15,000 from the firm in return for withholding her diary from the press. He only offers her a job in the firm's Paris office, where she can do no harm. To maintain her appearance as a "victim of circumstance", she has little choice but to accept. Some time later, when Courtland goes to Paris on business, he is surprised and impressed to find her not only still working there, but also promoted to head of the travel bureau. He soon falls under her spell and marries her.

Courtland is called back to New York when the bank fails due to mismanagement. Although he isn't responsible, he is indicted. He begs Lily to return all the gifts he showered on her, so he can finance his defense, but Lily decides to keep them and flee to Europe. However, she changes her mind when she realizes that she has finally found a man she can love, but returns, only to see her husband on the floor of his office, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. On the ride to the hospital, the attendant assures her that Courtland has a good chance of survival.

Controversy

Because the original cut was rejected by the New York State Censorship Board in April 1933, the film was softened by cutting out some material (such as Lily's study of Nietzschean philosophy as well as various sexually suggestive shots). The producers also inserted new footage and tacked on a new ending. [ [http://www.wbur.org/arts/2006/57216_20060407.asp Article by Betsy Sherman, April 7 2006, WBUR radio] ] In June 1933 the New York Censorship Board passed the revised version, which then had a successful release. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/movies/09kehr.html?ex=1147838400&en=a00dca100851d334&ei=5070 "A Wanton Woman's Ways Revealed, 71 Years Later", Dave Kehr, New York Times, January 9 2005] ]

The uncensored version remained lost until 2004, when it resurfaced at a Library of Congress film vault in Dayton, Ohio. George Willeman is credited with the discovery. [cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001738406 |title='Hidden film history' unearthed |author=Brooks Boliek |publisher=hollywoodreporter.com |date=December 28 2005] The restored version premiered at the London Film Festival in November 2004. In 2005 it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry [ [http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2005/05-262.html Library of Congress press release, December 20 2005, re films added to National Film Registry] ] and also was named by Time.com as one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years. [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,baby_face,00.html |title=Baby Face (1933) |publisher="Time" magazine]

Aside from its depiction of a female sexual predator, the film is notable for the "comradely" relationship Lily has with her African-American maid, Chico. [cite web |url=http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/reviewpages/MDBabyFace.htm |title=Baby Face (1933) |publisher=moviediva.com]

Cast

* Barbara Stanwyck as Lily Powers
* George Brent as Courtland Trenholm
* Donald Cook as Ned Stevens
* Alphonse Ethier as Adolf Cragg
* Henry Kolker as J.P. Carter
* Margaret Lindsay as Ann Carter
* Arthur Hohl as Ed Sipple
* John Wayne as Jimmy McCoy Jr., one of Lily's early bank conquests. [cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=25802&mainArticleId=133204 |title=Spotlight: Baby Face |author=Jeff Stafford |publisher=Turner Classic Movies (tcm.com)]
* Robert Barrat as Nick Powers
* Douglass Dumbrille as Brody (as Douglas Dumbrille)
* Theresa Harris as Chico

References

ee also

* John Wayne filmography (1926-1940)

External links

*
* [http://www.cinescene.com/flicks/July2000.html Review by Chris Dashiell from July 2000 (pre-restoration)]
* [http://www.filmradar.com/index.php/weblog/blogentry/baby_face_uncensored_and_two_seconds/ Blog entry from Filmradar.com, May 20 2005]
* [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/05/37/baby_face.html Article by Kendahl Cruver, Senses of Cinema, September 2005]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4470843 "Revealing the Racy Original Cut of 'Babyface'", Scott Simon, January 29 2005]
* [http://randomshelf.blogspot.com/2006/12/profile-and-review-forbidden-hollywood.html "Profile and Review: Forbidden Hollywood", Review by J.C. Loophole, The Shelf]