FILM · 1956
Baby Doll
22 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (22)
- #001
Baby Doll was Eli Wallach's first feature film.
- #002
Baby Doll was Rip Torn's first feature film.
- #003
When Baby Doll was released in 1956, it was highly controversial for its extremely lewd subject matter. The Legion of Decency, an organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, condemned it for "sexual impropriety." Cardinal Spellman denounced it two days before its premiere in a striking attack delivered from the pulpit of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He said it had been "responsibly judged to be evil in concept" and that it would "exert an immoral and corrupting influence on those who see it." He urged all Roman Catholics to avoid patronizing it "under pain of sin." Cardinal Spellman's condemnation led the Legion of Decency to boycott a major American studio film nationwide for the first time. Roughly 20 million Roman Catholics across the country protested it and picketed theaters showing it. The Roman Catholic boycott nearly killed it; 77% of the theaters scheduled to show it canceled, and it earned as little as $600,000.00 in ticket revenue. It was also condemned by Time magazine, which called the film "the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited." Surprisingly, despite its dirty elements, the Production Code Administration gave it a seal of approval, though only after about a year of debate. This was one of many examples of how the loose attitude of the new Code official Geoffrey Shurlock, who succeeded the strict Roman Catholic militant Joseph Breen at the PCA, led to a split with the Legion of Decency and to the PCA's own collapse over the following few years. After this film, the PCA drifted increasingly from its traditional guidelines until it was replaced by the MPAA rating system in 1968.
- #004
Tennessee Williams's first choice for the lead role in the film was Marilyn Monroe (who at the time was struggling to develop herself as an actress and badly wanted the part), but Elia Kazan preferred newcomer Carroll Baker, whose work he knew from the Actors Studio in New York. According to Baker's autobiography, Monroe served as an usher at the film's premiere, which was an advantage for the Actors Studio.
- #005
In the scene where Silva Vacarro learns that his cotton gin is burning, Eli Wallach had trouble relating to the situation because he did not care about cotton gins being burned. Instead, he imagined that a friend's house had burned down with his wife and children inside, which gave him the correct response of anger and rage that the film needed.
- #006
According to Carroll Baker, she and everyone else working on the film had "no idea" that the material would be perceived as controversial. The main reasons behind the reaction were believed to relate to the seduction scene between Baker and Eli Wallach, in which Silva Vacarro successfully tries to seduce and awaken Baby Doll outside his farmhouse. There was also speculation that during the scene they played together in the rocking chair, Silva reached under Baby Doll's dress, since his hands are not visible in the close-up. According to both Baker and Wallach, the scene was deliberately shot that way because the weather was cold and director Elia Kazan had placed heaters around them.
- #007
Andy Williams recorded a song from the film's music ("Baby Doll," Cadence 1303). According to its producer, the song was on its way to becoming a big hit when the controversy surrounding the film caused radio stations to stop playing it.
- #008
Marlon Brando was offered the role of Archie Lee Meighan in the film but turned it down.
- #009
Carroll Baker's Baby Doll style in the film is believed to be the main inspiration for the 1990s "kinderwhore" fashion popularized by Courtney Love. The second song on Hole's debut album also took its name from the film.
- #010
Some local people were used in small roles in the film, and one of them, Boll Weevil, not only appeared in the film but was also a helper for the production unit.
- #011
The song "Baby, Please Don't Go" (at 1:20:00 in the film) was performed by bluesman Roosevelt Melvin Barnes.
- #012
This film contains Carroll Baker's only Oscar-nominated performance.
- #013
The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 critics' reviews.
- #014
Karl Malden and Carroll Baker played a husband and wife in this film, but would later play a father and daughter in How the West Was Won (1962).
- #015
According to studio production notes, African Americans from the Benoit area appeared in small roles in the film.
- #016
The short, suggestive women's nightgowns that were a fashion trend of the period (usually top-and-underwear-style dressing gowns) were called "Baby Doll" pajamas.
- #017
The Legion of Decency, an organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, condemned the film as immoral and, despite director Elia Kazan's efforts, had it withdrawn from exhibition in some states.
- #018
This was the last film Elia Kazan and Karl Malden appeared in together.
- #019
Baby Doll's three stars, Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach, all appeared in How the West Was Won (1962), though only Malden and Baker shared scenes in that film.
- #020
Baby Doll was Madeleine Sherwood's first feature film.
- #021
Baby Doll is the oldest film to carry an R rating, which it received when it was re-released in 1969. The MPAA rating system was created in November 1968, 12 years after the film's original release.
- #022
Baby Doll's cast includes one Oscar winner, Karl Malden, and three Oscar nominees: Carroll Baker, Mildred Dunnock and Rip Torn.
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