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Pretty Baby (1978)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
5 April 1978 (USA) moreTagline:
In 1917, in the red-light district of New Orleans, they called her "Pretty Baby" morePlot:
A pre-teen girl grows up in a house of prostitution in the Storyville section of New Orleans in 1917. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination moreNewsDesk:
(11 articles)
Brooke Shields Regrets Staying A Virgin Until Age 22 (From CinemaRetro. 26 May 2009, 3:40 AM, PDT)
Brooke Shields Wishes She Lost Virginity Earlier Than 22
(From Celebrity Mania. 26 May 2009, 2:57 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Beautiful, intelligent, evocative more (58 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Brooke Shields | ... | Violet | |
| Keith Carradine | ... | Bellocq | |
| Susan Sarandon | ... | Hattie | |
| Frances Faye | ... | Nell | |
| Antonio Fargas | ... | Professor | |
| Matthew Anton | ... | Red Top | |
| Diana Scarwid | ... | Frieda | |
| Barbara Steele | ... | Josephine | |
| Seret Scott | ... | Flora | |
| Cheryl Markowitz | ... | Gussie | |
| Susan Manskey | ... | Fanny | |
| Laura Zimmerman | ... | Agnes | |
| Miz Mary | ... | Odette | |
| Gerrit Graham | ... | Highpockets | |
| Mae Mercer | ... | Mama Mosebery |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
La petite (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]Niña bonita (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
Güzel bebek (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
I kouklitsa tis Neas Orleanis (Greece) [el]
La pequeña (Spain) [es]
Pretty Baby (Finland) [fi]
Pretty Baby (Italy) [it]
more
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
110 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Metrocolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Germany:16 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 (1988) | Finland:K-18 (1978) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Chile:18 | France:-16 | Norway:18 (1978) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Singapore:M18Fun Stuff
Trivia:
John Travolta was offered the role of Bellocq, but was forced to turn down the role due to his commitment with Grease (1978). moreQuotes:
Bellocq: Her father unknown, and her mother deserted the child.Violet: My mother's name was Hildegarde. Hildegarde Marr. M-A-R-R.
Priest: And she was Caucasian, or other?
Violet: She was a whore, Father.
more
Soundtrack:
Pretty Baby moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (58 total)
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Louis Malle did an amazing job of portraying the Storyville life (red light district), and the lives of the women caught up in it. He gets the finest work out of his cast, and demonstrates what it makes him a master filmmaker: not someone who just makes movies to impress other directors, but someone who touches an audience.
He begins and ends the film with the camera slowly closing in on the wide eyes of its child-lead, making you wonder how her life will proceed, having seen what she's seen. It makes you wonder whether marriage, in those times, was any different for a woman than prostitution. Mostly, you have to wonder how Violet could adapt to normal life, with the strange perspective she's had on it so far.
The petulance and "spoiled"ness described in the review below, are merely her childishness, to illustrate that she is an ordinary child in bizarre circumstances. For those not carried away by Shields' appearance, this made the film very poignant -- this child doesn't even know that there is any other way to live.
And the viewer can put away concerns for Shields herself: the nude scenes were done by a body-double, despite what is listed in the "trivia" section of this listing. (I know someone who later worked with the body double.)