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BABY DOLL (1956) (***)

Tennessee Williams sure made sudsy melodramas and this one’s like a giant bubble bath. Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Malden, PATTON) is a Southern good ol’ boy, who owns a rundown cotton gin. He lives in a rundown plantation house with his 19-year-old bride Baby Doll (Carroll Baker, GIANT), who has never had sex with her husband. She’s waiting until she’s ready. However, she did promise Archie that she’d be ready when she turned 20, which is two days away. Their relationship is tense and becomes more so when all their furniture is repossessed.

Spurred by sexual frustration, Archie lashes out and burns down the cotton gin of his rival, Silva Vacarro (Eli Wallach, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY). As Archie works, Silva pays Baby Doll a visit in an effort to get her to admit to Archie’s crime. However, it turns into a game of seduction as well.

The tale deals with issues of sex, racism and coming of age. Malden is solid as the archetypical good ol’ boy. Baker plays her immature Baby Doll naturally. However, Wallach steals the show with a vibrant performance as a successful man who is still suspiciously looked upon by his community because of this ethnicity.

Director Elia Kazan (ON THE WATERFRONT) handles the material well, however its stage origins shine through, creating a slow pace. I like how Kazan uses the black bit players to subtly emphasize the racism in the story as well as comment on the craziness of the white characters. As soapy entertainment, it works wonderfully.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks