Baby Face (1933)

A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.

Director:

Alfred E. Green

Writers:

Gene Markey (screen play), Kathryn Scola (screen play),

Stars:

Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Lily
George Brent	...	Trenholm
Donald Cook	...	Stevens
Alphonse Ethier	...	Cragg
Henry Kolker	...	Carter
Margaret Lindsay	...	Ann Carter
Arthur Hohl	...	Ed Sipple
John Wayne	...	Jimmy McCoy Jr.
Robert Barrat	...	Nick Powers
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Brody (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Theresa Harris	...	Chico

Storyline

Lilly (Baby Face) sleeps her way from basement speakeasy bartender, literally floor by floor, to the top floor of a New York office building. Bank sub-manager Jimmy McCoy finds her a job in the bank only to be cast aside as she hooks up with the bank's president. When he complains of not seeing her she says: "I'm working so hard I have to go to bed early every night."

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Plot Keywords:

bank | speakeasy | new york city | nietzsche | greed | 

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Taglines:

She climbed the ladder of success - wrong by wrong!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

December 1933 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Mulher que Nos Perde

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$187,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min 76 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In spring of 1933 this film was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.

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Goofs

After Lily mentions to Courtland she would like to be a Mrs., there are two shots of newspapers announcing the wedding. The second shot is a close up of two paragraphs. The first paragraph misspells Courtland's name as "Courtney" and the word company as "comany."

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Quotes

Lily Powers: Oh, not here. Somebody might...

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Let Me Call You Sweetheart"
(1910) (uncredited)
Music by Leo Friedman
Played on a player piano in Powers' speakeasy

User Reviews

Stanwyck Sizzles

Arriving by boxcar in New York City, the shrewd young woman with the BABY FACE begins to methodically canoodle her way to the top floors of power in a great bank.

Barbara Stanwyck is fascinating as the amoral heroine of this influential pre-Code drama. Without a shred of decency or regret, she coolly manipulates the removal or destruction of the men unlucky enough to find themselves in her way. A wonderful actress, Stanwyck has full opportunity here to display her ample talents.

Appearing quite late in the story, George Brent is a welcome addition as the one fellow possibly able to handle Stanwyck; his sophisticated style of acting makes a nice counterpoint to her icy demeanor. Douglas Dumbrille, Donald Cook & Henry Kolker portray a succession of her unfortunate victims.

John Wayne appears for just a few scant seconds as an unsuccessful suitor for Stanwyck's affections. This would be the only time these two performers appeared together on screen.

Movie mavens should recognize Nat Pendleton as a speakeasy customer, and Charles Sellon & Edward Van Sloan as bank executives - all unbilled.

The music heard on the soundtrack throughout the film, perfectly punctuating the plot, is ‘Baby Face' (1926) by Benny Davis & Harry Akst and ‘St. Louis Blues' (1914) by W.C. Handy.

BABY FACE is a prime example of pre-Code naughtiness. In its frank & unapologetic dealing with sex, it is precisely the kind of film which the implementation of the Production Code in 1934 was meant to eliminate.