Baby Face (1933)

This is an entertaining, albeit repetitive, script flip on behaviors clearly acceptable among men at the time. I appreciated that Lilly Powers was going after what she wanted in the world and was willing to use men as much as the men wanted to use her. Good for her. And I appreciate the progressiveness of Stanwyck's character looking out for and not leaving behind Chico. I think it's fare to say that Chico was probably paid more than the average "help" to afford such furs as she's seen wearing. Or at least I'd like to think so! Stanwyck's plays the part wonderfully. I liked the visible attempt of fitting in in higher class jobs and society - when she corrects herself on the phone when she slips and says "ain't" and turns it into "isn't." You can tell she sort of loses sight of herself in the facades she puts on for all of these men she uses and manipulates. And predictable finds the one who truly warms her heart. This movie shows/alludes to sex very boldly as it's pre Hayes code - it feels quite brazen at times. But I suppose that's the point. At times I felt sorry for Powers because her bold plans for upward advancement definitely alienated her from her female peers who clearly had disdain for her behind her back. Overall it's a well made movie with a stunning leading woman.

Alfred E. Greens film, Baby Face, gives the viewer a lot of different things to think about. Starting the film with Lily Powers being harassed by her own father's friends made me mad especially because he encouraged it. Instead of men taking advantage of Lily she realizes she can use her power to take advantage of men. The way Lily is portrayed as the girl sleeping her way to the top is stereotypical to a women and not a man. Even though it was her idea to sleep with her bosses it still had a bad reputation for women in general. Baby Face is an eye opening film and the viewers of the time had never seen any film like it before.

. . . because it began the Women's Liberation Movement in Real Life, and Wayne's role here is so pivotal. In fact, it is Wayne's character "Jimmy McCoy" who dubs Barbara Stanwyck's "Lily Powers" fast-track social climber as "Baby Face" 23 minutes, 12 seconds into the longer Pre-release version of this movie. Though Jimmy is the third of Lily's seven shown lovers on her Odyssey from Erie, PA to New York City to Paris and back, he's the most important one. The two bozos before him are one night stands (if that): a greasy Railroad Dick and a chunky office receptionist. Two of the four after Jimmy get fired from Lily's bank, one is shot, two shoot themselves, and the whole quartet are caught up in the tangled web of Public Sex Scandal. Meanwhile, Jimmy rescues Lily from the clutches of a Nietzsche-spouting Commie back in Erie. Only Jimmy is an average Joe, keeping Lily's best interests as a woman foremost in mind, unlike the Fat Cat Banker Sex Perverts out to enslave Lily as a "Kept Woman." BABY FACE inspired the Generation of Riveting Rosies who won World War Two. So when Hillary is sworn in Jan. 20, she had better thank John Wayne for her Triumph!

Don't be deceived by the cute title. This nasty piece of business is a wild pre-code tale full of sin, immorality and lust. Its main character, played flawlessly by Barbara Stanwyck, is an openly amoral woman without a shred of decency or regret. We discover that Stanwyck's father has been pimping her at his speakeasy since she was fourteen. At his death, marrying a little Nietzschean philosophy into her need to climb social and financial ladders, she seduces one man after another with no regrets. The sex and immorality are left out of camera range, leaving questionable situations to the imagination of the viewer.In "Baby Face," Warner Bros. breaks every rule in the book with wild abandon that had to have driven the religious conservatives of the day into nuts. In the spring of 1933 it was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.Come see what all the excitement was about. It's actually a really fun, and racy, movie.