IMDb > Pretty Baby (1978)
Pretty Baby
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Pretty Baby (1978) More at IMDbPro »

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Pretty Baby (1978) -- YouTube
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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   3,244 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Polly Platt (story)
Polly Platt (screenplay) ...
more

Contact:

View company contact information for Pretty Baby on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

5 April 1978 (USA) more

Genre:

Drama | History more

Tagline:

In 1917, in the red-light district of New Orleans, they called her "Pretty Baby" more

Plot:

A pre-teen girl grows up in a house of prostitution in the Storyville section of New Orleans in 1917. full summary | full synopsis

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination more

User Comments:

Ultimately, a damp squib... though a controversial one. more (58 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Brooke Shields ... Violet

Keith Carradine ... Bellocq

Susan Sarandon ... Hattie
Frances Faye ... Nell
Antonio Fargas ... Professor
Matthew Anton ... Red Top

Diana Scarwid ... Frieda
Barbara Steele ... Josephine
Seret Scott ... Flora
Cheryl Markowitz ... Gussie
Susan Manskey ... Fanny

Laura Zimmerman ... Agnes
Miz Mary ... Odette
Gerrit Graham ... Highpockets
Mae Mercer ... Mama Mosebery
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Additional Details

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

Robert Redford was originally cast as Bellocq, but turned it down. more

Quotes:

Bellocq: [about Violet] What will become of her now?
Nell: What's going on with you? You don't have to worry about her. She's made a lot of money. She can do as she likes.
Bellocq: She's only twelve. She's completely alone.
Nell: Bellocq, you're in love with her.
Bellocq: Don't be absurd.
Nell: I've seen it a thousand times. I am old, and I know one thing - life is very long.
more

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (#6.6)" (2008) more

Soundtrack:

Winin' Boy Blues more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful.
Ultimately, a damp squib... though a controversial one., 20 April 2006
6/10
Author: Asa_Nisi_Masa2 from Rome, Italy

Pretty Baby started off very well and I immediately thought: This is gonna be a gem! But it seemingly lost steam in the second half, petering out quite disappointingly towards the end. It was as if Louis Malle had been in a bit of a rush to conclude the story. Brooke Shields really was an angelically beautiful child - she seemingly peeked so early! The atmosphere in the brothel scenes was the best thing about the movie, probably helped by the fact that the photographer Bellocq's real photographs were used to get a sense of the time and place and evoke it with authenticity. Viewers particularly touchy to the issue of underage sex beware, as the movie doesn't spare modern sensibilities with the fact that the concept of a girl being too young for sex (if she was deemed sexually attractive) wasn't even an issue for most men in the early 20th century! That said, there are thankfully no explicit scenes - you just know what is happening and painfully squirm in your chair while it does! One qualm I did have with the movie was some of the slightly sloppy costuming: some of the clothes worn here seemed a little earlier than 1917, more like a decade earlier. Furthermore, the way everyone reacted to the pictures Bellocq, the young photographer took of the prostitutes seemed very anachronistic, and made me lose respect for the movie (Bellocq is a figure that actually existed, though the specific story built around him in the movie is fictional). Photography was by 1917 no longer considered a sort of "magic", viewed with incredulous wonder (as the characters in the movie react to it). This would have been more historically exact for a story set in, say, 1850 or thereabouts! I found that aspect to be a ridiculous - its makers really should have known better.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Pretty Baby (1978)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Strange scene zaphod1957
Pretty Baby: Is it true? zaphod1957
$400 in 1917 daveharrison84
Nudity jminn1000
Wasnt she underdeveloped for her age????? plonkeh
'Papa' no hero, no love, no nothing kernal-3
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