Baby Doll (1956)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Well if this wasn't Eli Wallach's favorite film role I would sure like to know what was. His scenes with Carroll Baker as the Baby Doll of the title were so full of innuendo and steamy desire that as the viewer you simply can't turn away. It's probably no coincidence that the story had it's setting in the sleepy cotton valley of Tiger Tail County. Tiger Tail indeed.I'm curious how Karl Malden managed to land roles like the one he has here as Archie Lee Meighan. He certainly wasn't handsome, so the leading man spot he was sometimes cast in certainly wasn't based on looks. A couple years earlier he portrayed a somewhat mad scientist type who got kind of spooky when he turned on the girl who jilted him in "Phantom of the Rue Morgue". Malden had that same kind of creepy vibe going for him here, especially when he first introduced Baby Doll to Silva Vacarro (Wallach). It's surprising that Vacarro and Archie didn't come to blows in the story with all that went on, that would have been something to see.The unheralded character in all of this has to be Aunt Rose Comfort (Mildred Dunnock). She didn't have much to say but she did it so comically I had to laugh, what with the chocolate candy business at the hospital and all. There was one scene in which she wore a hat and darn if she didn't resemble Harpo Marx. I guess she never did go to work for Silva Vacarro.If you haven't seen the movie before I think you'll probably be mesmerized as I was with the sheer audacity of it all. The middle part of the movie may seem rather slow when Wallach and Baker dominate the screen, but I think that's intensified by one's anticipation for something, anything to happen between the characters. Eventually it does, but not in ways one might expect. You'll just have to see it for yourself.

This is what Karl Marx said about history repeating itself in his 1852 essay, "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." "Brumaire" is the second month of the French Republican calendar and refers to fog. I think the same concept can be applied to Baby Doll in relation to the 1953 movie that Tennessee Williams also wrote and Elia Kazan also directed, A Streetcar Named Desire. In Streetcar, we grow to identify with and even love the characters played by Vivian Leigh and Marlon Brando. In Baby Doll we are more likely to hold the protagonists in contempt.This does not mean that Baby Doll is badly written, directed, or acted. It is just too much. Everything is extreme and exaggerated. It's hard to take seriously and sometimes appears as grotesque comedy. Yet Williams was intimately familiar with the American South. Maybe farce was a valid way to see it in 1955.

Two years back middle-aged cotton gin owner Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Mulden), obviously none too attractive, entered into marriage with Baby Doll Meighan (Carroll Baker), a girl barely 18 and convinced to accept the proposal at her father's deathbed. Immersed into her name Baby Doll sleeps in a child's crib and states overwhelmingly how unready she is to consummate wedlock, hence entering into an agreement with the elder Archie Lee - she will be ready on her 20 birthday, but only if she is offered the luxuries of the world: life in a mansion and fulfilment of all material needs. However two days before the big game Archie Lee is on the verge of bankruptcy, as his competition, an uncompromising Sicilian immigrant Silva Vacarro (Eli Wallach) has monopolised both cotton production and the gin factory. Obsessed with his deflowering his wife Archie Lee commits arson. Silva is quick to point his finger as Silva and decides to instrumentally use Baby Doll for vengeful purposes...With Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan (famed for family friendly film versions of controversial novels) "Baby Doll" seemed destined to achieve much at the box office. Although Oscar success was forthcoming the controversial sexual subtexts in the movie caused much furore amongst religious groups and even some drastic reviews in the "Time" or "Variety" demonizing the films confrontational story. Mainly due to the fact that "Baby Doll" was so ahead of its time in terms of context, the plot seems fresh, well defined and relatively up-to-date. Even after so many years Carroll Baker oozes sensuality, a naive vixen not fully aware of her delirious effect on men. Both Mulden and Wallach compliment the picture with equally forceful performances, making "Baby Doll" very much a timeless movie.The biggest issue however seems the overreach by Elia Kazan. The director deals with a contemporarily controversial subject matter with infidelity and promiscuity a theme inclined, rather than presented - Archie Lee does dastardly deeds just to get the nookie, Silva meanwhile uses his charm to bewilder the innocent Baby Doll, who in turn falls into her role of an innocent, but sexual female to entice both men. Therefore in order to lighten the load Kazan uses various moments of the movie to introduce ill-timed humour or counterintuitive slapstick moments, which derail tension between characters and cause a certain lack of reliability on a psychological level. The overall effect is a tired story with limited coherence in dire need of a severe makeover.There are also some dated elements, which albeit purposeful seem out of touch and a tad controversial for non-sexual reasons. This mainly concerns the portrayal of black community, often referred here are 'niggers' and serving a sole purpose as background props. Albeit probably not racist in essence (given Tennessee Williams stance on the matter) and an honest contextualisation of blacks who are treated as denigrated individuals, their diminished role in the movie can cause an uneasy tension. That said they play a key role as watchful observers of the shenanigans in the Meighan household, summarising the events with a meaningful laughter during the final act.Times past the steamy interaction between Baker and Wallach has nowhere near the effect as back in the days - sex now commercialised and mainstream. That said the tension stills lingers, forceful and forbidden, making it one of the main reason to watch the movie.

I have seen about every Tennessee Williams film, though somehow "Baby Doll" eluded me. Well, sometimes they say "...it's worth the wait" or "...last but not least"--well both phrases seem to have little to do with this film! It is probably the least of the plays translated to film and was a bit of a disappointment.Now if you are looking for sleaze and scandal (something in practically everything Williams wrote), then at least in this sense you won't be disappointed. The film abounds with sexuality, horrible racism, nastiness, a sort of pseudo-pedophilia' and dirt (literally--the home was filthy). It abounds with sexuality and innuendo from start to finish. In this sense, it certainly is entertaining and won't put you to sleep.The problem, then, is that this film is about the least believable of the Williams movies--though "Night of the Iguana" also felt that way to me. The characters just seemed to lack any sense that you might meet such people in real life. It just seemed like sleaze and nastiness for the sheer sake of nastiness--but not at all fun (like "Peyton Place") or examining a darker side of people (like most of Williams' plays). No, instead, the characters just bellowed a lot (particularly Karl Malden who did a great imitation of a walrus in heat) and acted like idiots--not my idea of a good time.By the way, for the ultra-ultra politically correct and easily offended out there, do NOT watch this film. Trust me on this one, folks.