Baby Face

1933
Approved
1h 11m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

8.4K

YOUR RATING

Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent in Baby Face (1933)

Play trailer1:57

1 Video

57 Photos

Tragic Romance Workplace Drama Drama Romance

A young woman, sexually exploited all her life, decides to turn the tables and exploit the hapless men at a big city bank by gleefully seducing her way to the top.A young woman, sexually exploited all her life, decides to turn the tables and exploit the hapless men at a big city bank by gleefully seducing her way to the top.A young woman, sexually exploited all her life, decides to turn the tables and exploit the hapless men at a big city bank by gleefully seducing her way to the top.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

8.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win

Brody
(as Douglas Dumbrille)

Theresa Harris

Chico

Joan Barclay

Job Seeker
(uncredited)

James Bush

Paris Bank Clerk
(uncredited)

Charles Coleman

Hodges
(uncredited)

Heinie Conklin

Speakeasy Waiter
(uncredited)

Jack Curtis

Speakeasy Customer
(uncredited)

Frank Darien

Paris Bank Agent
(uncredited)

Arthur De Kuh

Lutza
(uncredited)

Director
- Alfred E. Green
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

7.0

Night Nurse

7.0

Red-Headed Woman

6.6

Ladies They Talk About

7.1

7.4

6.9

6.4

6.9

6.9

6.1

7.6

7.7

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
In 2004, when Michael Mashon, a curator of the motion picture division at the Library of Congress, received a request for a print of this film, he discovered two negatives of the film: the original camera negative and a "duplicate negative" that was longer. The duplicate negative was the pre-release (uncensored) version of the film that was submitted to the New York State censorship board in 1933 for approval. The uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made. The existence of these negatives allows pristine quality prints to be made as compared to other surviving films of that era.

Goofs
When Lily reads from Nietzsche's book, Thoughts Out Of Season, the page that's highlighted repeats the same paragraph above, and again below, the highlighted lines.

Quotes
Nick Powers: You little tramp, you!
Lily Powers: Yeah, I'm a tramp, and who's to blame? My Father. A swell start you gave me. Ever since I was fourteen, what's it been? Nothing but men! Dirty rotten men! And you're lower than any of them. I'll hate you as long as I live!

Alternate versions
The original release had to be cut by four minutes to pass inspection by the New York Board of Censors. The cuts were mostly very minor, but the most notable were the scene where Lily admits that she began working as a prostitute when she was fourteen and the scene in the boxcar with the yardman, the closeup of the hand turning out the light. These scenes were cut before the film's release in 1933 and were not seen publicly until 2004.

Connections
Featured in The Love Goddesses (1965)

Soundtracks
Baby Face
(1926) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Akst
Played during the opening credits
Played as background music often
Reprised on a phonograph record

User reviews179

Review

Featured review

7/10

Let's make lots of money

There was censorship in US cinema. The Hays code which was enforced from 1934 just added another layer and stifled American cinema.

This is starkly displayed in Baby Face which was a pre code film and it is more frank in its use of sex as a means of getting what you want.

Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck) has been pimped out by her father since she was 14 year of age. Her father runs an illegal drinking den in Pittsburgh. Most of the patrons want to get an eyeful and feel of Lily.

When her father is killed, an elderly friend tells Lily to take a leaf out of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and go for greater things even if she has to use men. Lily and her afro american friend Chico (Theresa Haris) hop on a freight train for New York.

When they arrive in the big metropolis, Lily uses her feminine charms to get a job in a bank and go up the corporate ladder by sleeping her way to the top. This leads to tragedy when one of her suitors commits a murder and then kills himself.

The film with its frankness feels like a breath of fresh air. It actually looks modern. Stanwyck is alluring, there is a small early role for John Wayne, one of Lily's amorous victims. The film is unusual with Lily being close to a black character. Watching the restored version was like viewing a lost classic.