DVD details for
Baby Doll (1956) More at IMDbPro »

A box set of 6 screen adaptations of the works of one of America's greatest and most eminent playwrights. The collection includes the restored edition of the most acclaimed adaptation of his work (and arguably his masterpiece) A Streetcar Named Desire: 2-Disc Special Edition (1951), a film that pushed the boundaries of screen sexuality and censorship and made a star of Marlon Brando. The film won 4 Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Vivien Leigh, Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hunter (as "Stella!"), and Best Supporting Actor for Karl Malden, and nominations for Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Screenplay (by Williams himself) and Best Picture among its 12 nominations. Also features the adaptations Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Deluxe Edition (1958), the sizzling drama with Elizabeth Taylor (in arguably her greatest performance), Paul Newman and Burl Ives and directed and adapted by Richard Brooks, Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) with Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn and Shirley Knight, and the John Huston-directed Night of the Iguana (1964) with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr, the original Williams screenplay Baby Doll (1956), starring Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach and directed by Elia Kazan, and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961), adapted from the Williams novel and starring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty. Each of the films are also available separately -- see below for reviews and details -- while the box set features the exclusive feature documentary Tennessee Williams' South (1973), an archival made-for-Canadian-TV production featuring interviews with many of the actors of his stage productions, and directed by Harry Rasky.

(1956) Karl Malden is a lascivious mill owner on the skids who is counting the days before he makes his child bride (Carroll Baker) his wife in fact as well as in title and Eli Wallach is rival businessman who takes revenge by seducing the girl. Directed by Elia Kazan from an original screenplay by Tennessee Williams, the film was condemned by the Legion of Decency and called "just possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited" by Time magazine.