Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Ira Levin (novel)
Roman Polanski (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 June 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Pray for Rosemary's Baby

Plot:

A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Neighbor | Dream | Pregnancy | Baby

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Mia Farrow	...	Rosemary Woodhouse
John Cassavetes	...	Guy Woodhouse
Ruth Gordon	...	Minnie Castevet
Sidney Blackmer	...	Roman Castevet
Maurice Evans	...	Hutch
Ralph Bellamy	...	Dr. Sapirstein
Victoria Vetri	...	Terry (as Angela Dorian)
Patsy Kelly	...	Laura-Louise
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Mr. Nicklas (as Elisha Cook)
Emmaline Henry	...	Elise Dunstan
Charles Grodin	...	Dr. Hill
Hanna Landy	...	Grace Cardiff
Phil Leeds	...	Dr. Shand (as Philip Leeds)
D'Urville Martin	...	Diego
Hope Summers	...	Mrs. Gilmore
Marianne Gordon	...	Rosemary's Girl Friend
Wende Wagner	...	Rosemary's Girl Friend (as Wendy Wagner)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Baldwin	...	Salesman (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin	...	Mr. Wees (uncredited)
Roy Barcroft	...	Sun-Browned Man (uncredited)
Charlotte Boerner	...	Mrs. Fountain (uncredited)
Gail Bonney	...	Babysitter (voice) (uncredited)
Carol Brewster	...	Claudia Comfort (uncredited)
Lynn Brinker	...	Sister Veronica (uncredited)
Sebastian Brook	...	Argyron Stavropoulos (uncredited)
William Castle	...	Man by Pay Phone (uncredited)
Gordon Connell	...	Allen Stone - Guy's Agent (uncredited)
Patricia Ann Conway	...	Mrs. John F. Kennedy (uncredited)
Tony Curtis	...	Donald Baumgart (voice) (uncredited)
Joyce Davis	...	Dee Bertillon (uncredited)
Paul Denton	...	Skipper (uncredited)
Duke Fishman	...	Man (uncredited)
Janet Garland	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Michel Gomez	...	Pedro (uncredited)
John Halloran	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
Ernest Harada	...	Young Japanese Man (uncredited)
Marilyn Harvey	...	Dr. Sapirstein's Receptionist (uncredited)
Jean Inness	...	Sister Agnes (uncredited)
Jack Knight	...	Investigating patrolman (uncredited)
Mona Knox	...	Mrs. Byron (uncredited)
Louise Lawson	...	Portia Haynes (uncredited)
Natalie Masters	...	Young Woman (uncredited)
Elmer Modling	...	Young Man (uncredited)
Floyd Mutrux	...	Man at Party (uncredited)
Patricia O'Neal	...	Mrs. Wees (uncredited)
Robert Osterloh	...	Mr. Fountain (uncredited)
Josh Peine	...	Man at Party (uncredited)
Gale Peters	...	Rain Morgan (uncredited)
Jack Ramage	...	Patron (uncredited)
Joan T. Reilly	...	Pregnant Woman (uncredited)
George R. Robertson	...	Lou Comfort (uncredited)
George Savalas	...	Workman (uncredited)
Almira Sessions	...	Mrs. Sabatini (uncredited)
Michael Shillo	...	Pope (uncredited)
Bruno Sidar	...	Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
Tom Signorelli	...	Man at the Party (uncredited)
Al Szathmary	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Clay Tanner	...	Devil (uncredited)
Viki Vigen	...	Lisa (uncredited)
Frank White	...	Hugh Dunstan (uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits
Ira Levin		(novel)
Roman Polanski		(screenplay)

Produced by
William Castle	....	producer
Dona Holloway	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Krzysztof Komeda		(as Christopher Komeda)

Cinematography by
William A. Fraker		(director of photography) (as William Fraker)

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen
Bob Wyman

Production Design by
Richard Sylbert

Art Direction by
Joel Schiller

Set Decoration by
Robert Nelson

Costume Design by
Anthea Sylbert

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair styles creator: Miss Farrow
Vidal Sassoon	....	hair styles creator: Miss Farrow
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist
Sherry Wilson	....	hair stylist

Production Management
William Davidson	....	unit production manager (as William C. Davidson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director (as Daniel J. McCauley)
Gene Marum	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Paolo Rocco Innamorato	....	first assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harold Lewis	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography

Stunts
Roger Creed	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank Orsatti	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Birtles	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Other crew
Hawk Koch	....	dialogue coach (as Howard W. Koch Jr.)
Luanna S. Poole	....	script continuity
Robert Evans	....	developer (uncredited)
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer (uncredited)
Stephen Frankfurt	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• William Castle Productions (as A William Castle PRODUCTION)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (as Paramount A Gulf+Western Company)
• Les Films Paramount (1968) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1968) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1973) (USA) (TV)
• Pioneer (1995) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Award Winning Collection)
• Mercurio Films S.A. (1969) (Spain) (theatrical)
• New Star (2011) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Paramount-Films (1969) (Finland) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (199?) (Australia) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Esselte Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Nelonen (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment Finland (2002) (Finland) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Renacimiento (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1987) (1997) (2010) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) (2001) | UK:X (original rating) (passed with cuts) | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #21674) | USA:R (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) | Spain:18 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | South Korea:18 | Brazil:14 | India:A | Italy:VM14 | France:U | UK:18 (tv rating) | USA:R | Germany:16 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Dakota Hotel - 1 West 72nd St. at Central Park West, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

In a scene where Rosemary is getting her blood drawn, Rosemary tells the doctor that she just saw the off- Broadway show "The Fantasticks." In that play, the parental figures arrange a "rape" of the ingénue (meaning, in this case, "abduction," from the Latin "rapere," rather than sexual assault), by a dark devilish character (named El Gallo), so a young man can save her, hoping that the young girl fall in love with the young man and marry him.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The doctor tells Rosemary June 28th is the day of her expected delivery, NOT the date for her next appointment. She found out she was pregnant at the end of October, and the doctor wanted Rosemary to come in the next week for the blood sample, hence why blood is written on the calendar in November.

Quotes:

[First lines]
Guy Woodhouse:Are you a doctor?
Guy Woodhouse:Yes. Yes.
Rosemary Woodhouse:He's an actor.
Mr. Nicklas:Oh,an actor. We're very popular with actors. Have I, uh, seen you in anything?
Guy Woodhouse:Well,let's see, I-I did "Hamlet" a while back, didn't I, Liz? And then we did "The, uh, The Sandpiper" and then...
Rosemary Woodhouse:He's joking. He was in "Luther" and "Nobody Loves an Albatross" and a lot of television plays and commercials.
Mr. Nicklas:Well, that's where the money is, isn't it? Commercials.
Guy Woodhouse:And the artistic thrills, too!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thirst (1979)

Soundtrack:

Lullaby

A Veneer Of Normalcy

It starts off like one of those 1950's Doris Day movies. Young, idealistic Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and new hubby Guy (John Cassavetes) move into a Manhattan apartment building called the "Bramford". Throughout most of the film we, as viewers, see and hear what innocent Rosemary sees and hears. There's a veneer of normalcy at the Bramford that belies what's really going on, behind our backs. It's the script's POV, therefore, that makes this film so chilling.

At the Bramford, which has quite a colorful history, you can hear through the walls. And, as Rosemary and we viewers soon find out, strange people lurk in other parts of the building. The strangest of all are Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon), superficially cordial, but a bit too inquisitive. Roman is retired. His wife, Minnie, wears tons of makeup and pawnshop jewelry, and gushes with praise for herbal cures, especially something called tannis-root. And Minnie's friend Laura-Louise (Patsy Kelly) wears thick glasses that make her eyes seem to bulge, and she talks with a strangely deep voice.

"Rosemary's Baby" is one of the great thrillers of all time. Given the underlying subject matter, can you imagine how this film must have come across to viewers in 1968? The strength of the film is the script, which through its plot and dialogue implies and suggests. Not until near the end do we, like Rosemary, find out the presumed truth. Suspense increases toward the end as Rosemary ventures into the inner sanctum of the Bramford.

The film's acting is great, and reinforces the strong script. I particularly liked Ruth Gordon, with her delightfully eccentric behavior and mannerisms. Production design and especially costumes are lavish and colorful. Clothes and hairstyles, as you would expect, are very 1960ish. Visual effects are minimal, and are used to enhance the story, not be the story.

Given the film's POV, the story is rather subjective. Its interpretation is based on Rosemary's perceptions, images, and fears. One could explain that Rosemary suffers from delusions. Or, alternately, one could explain that what happens is real. It's all in the interpretation. Either way, it's a great movie. It holds up well, forty years later, a tribute to its writer and director, Roman Polanski.