Baby Love (1969)
7/10
" Ooh baby love, my baby love, I need you, oh how I need you."
6 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
With having spotted beautiful British actress Linda Hayden years ago thanks to UK TV Channel 5 airing the British Sex Comedy Confessions of a Holiday Camp,I was delighted to recently stumble upon a title,which marked Hayden's film debut.

View on the film:

Filmed when she was only 15 years old,Linda Hayden gives a remarkable debut performance as Luci,as Hayden (who controversially appears naked in the movie) shows Luci's sensuality to slowly blossom,whilst also keeping Luci's deeply rooted psychological problems cast across her highly expressive,vulnerable face.Joining Hayden,Keith Barron gives an excellent performance as Robert,with Barron showing Robert to have a real sincerity towards Luci,but also being terrified about secrets from his past with Liz being uncovered.

Adapting Tina Chad Christian's novel, Alastair Reid, Guido Coen and Michael Klinger attempt to combined gritty Kitchen Sink Drama with teen coming-of-age flirtatiousness,which whilst offering a fascinating viewing,is sadly never able to be joined into a cohesive whole.For the first hour of the film,the writers superbly show Luci's unintended sensuality to be linked with the psychological scares she received from her mum,Disappointingly,as the title nears its conclusion,the writer's completely change Luci into being rather aware of what she is doing,which leads to the film ending on an incredibly ill-fitting note.

Filming a good amount of the movie on location,director Alastair Reid and cinematographer Desmond Dickinson use stylish,long running tracking- shots which allow for the actors to really dig deep into the characters.Edited in an great raw manner by future 007 director John Glenn,Reid and Dickinson also use sweeping,distorted angles to show that Robert and his family are never able to get a full view of Luci.
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