Baby Doll

Baby Doll, motion picture written by Tennessee Williams based on his two short plays, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and The Long Stay Cut Short. Released in 1956, this award-winning film stars Carroll Baker as Baby Doll, a flirtatious, infantile young woman whose late father married her off to a middle-aged man on the grounds that the man would not consummate their marriage until her 20th birthday. Baby Doll wears children’s clothes and sleeps alone in a crib, taunting her pathetic husband while allowing herself to be seduced by her husband’s enemy, Vacarro. The story begins only a few days before the bride’s 20th birthday, and as the film progresses the tension intensifies between Baby Doll, her husband, and Vacarro. Filmed on location in Mississippi, this outlandish comedy was banned by the Catholic Legion of Decency at the time of its release.

Director

• Elia Kazan

Cast

• Karl Malden (Archie)
• Carroll Baker (Baby Doll)
• Eli Wallach (Silva Vacarro)
• Mildred Dunnock (Aunt Rose Comfort)
• Lonny Chapman (Rock)
• Eades Hogue (Town Marshal)
• Noah Williamson (Deputy)

Awards

• Golden Globe Award for Best Director (1956): Elia Kazan

Quote

• Baby Doll: 'Just look at yourself. You're not exactly a young girl's dream come true, Archie Lee Meighan.'