Baby Love (1968)

Director:

Alastair Reid

Writers:

Tina Chad Christian (novel)
Guido Coen (writer)

Release Date:

September 1968 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

ask yourself .. or your son .. or your husband!

Plot:

Poor Luci, she is a 15 year old English schoolgirl about to embark on a promising career as the high-school mattress.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Accidental Death | Movie Theater | Lolita | Mini Skirt

Cast

Ann Lynn	...	Amy Quayle
Keith Barron	...	Robert Quayle
Linda Hayden	...	Luci Thompson
Diana Dors	...	Liz Thompson
Derek Lamden	...	Nicholas 'Nick' Quayle
Patience Collier	...	Mrs. Carmichael
Dick Emery	...	Harry Pearson
Sheila Steafel	...	Tessa Pearson
Sally Stephens	...	Margo Pearson
Timothy Carlton	...	Jeremy
Christopher Witty	...	Jonathan
Linbert Spencer
Marianne Stone	...	Shop manageress
Troy Dante
Bernard Miles

Runtime:

93 min | Brazil:98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-18 | France:-12 (re-rating) | UK:18 (1988) | Canada:18+ (Québec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | UK:X (1968) | Finland:K-16 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Avton Films

An opportunity missed...resulting in a rather sleazy film that just seemed unreal.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Warning: Explicit nudity, lesbianism and all-around bad behavior make this a very poor choice for showing your kids or your 80 year-old mother.

Wow. This is one sleazy movie and it's a shame, as a really good film seemed like it was hiding within and could have resulted had the direction and script been a little more clever and a little less sensationalistic. The disturbed relationships of all concerned did have the possibility of making a fine film.

The movie starts with a middle-aged woman (Diana Dors) committing suicide. Her 15 year-old daughter inexplicably goes to live with her old lover and his new family. This really doesn't make much sense--you'd think there'd be SOMEONE related to her or a foster home instead of this person who she'd never even met. This is very contrived, but so be it. Once in this home, you are never sure how much this girl connives or just happens to fall into bizarre sexual relationships with the son, wife and tries desperately to have sex with the father!! In many ways, she appears to seek emotional love and support in the only way she understood--with her body. All in all, a surprisingly dark and twisted series of events that is rather hard to believe--especially in the end of the film when she is revealed to be a bit less naive than in the rest of the film.

Sadly, had this movie taken more of the high road it actually could have been quite challenging but good entertainment. The Freudian aspects as well as as the idea of a sick family whose dynamics are thrown for a loop with the introduction of this troubled teen is fascinating. Think about it--because of their own inadequacies and unfulfilling relationships they each, in turn, seek it out in the girl. This could have been an interesting film that was less exploitation and more psychological. But, instead with glimpses here and there of the girl's body and lots of innuendo, the film just seemed more like soft-core porn than anything else.

By the way, the 15 year-old in the film really was 15--making you feel, perhaps, a bit dirty for watching it. I just assumed she was of consenting age and was surprised when I looked it up on IMDb to see that somehow they got away with making a skin flick with an underage girl. That's rather sad.