On B List of Movie Reviews

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Baby Doll (1956)

Rate: 2
Viewed: 3/10

BabyD
3/10: Where's the fun in watching a film about a spoiled, uneducated brat?

Elia Kazan tries to make a statement in Baby Doll, but there's one thing that's clear: he needed Marlon Brando or James Dean to make a successful drama picture. That's why A Streetcar Named Desire and East of Eden worked out.

Unfortunately, there's too much hubris in Eli Wallach which makes his character unlikeable. Karl Malden looks corny going batshit crazy and trying to tear it up à la Stanley Kowalski. Carroll Baker is plain, useless, and not worth caring because she's a 20-year-old brat who sucks her thumb endlessly, sleeps in a crib, and has consensual sex relations. It's called "low IQ." A rumor has it that Marilyn Monroe wanted the role. I think she would've been the better choice.

Baby Doll was once labeled as "scandalous," "dirty," and "unholy." I chuckle at these adjectives because it's anything but. By the way, the sight of these people looking healthy and pretty despite living in a dilapidated house with barely any food has to be impossible.

All in all, the only films in Elia Kazan's oeuvre that have stood the test of time are the ones with Marlon Brando and James Dean.