''Baby Face'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Alfred E. Green for Warner Bros., starring

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

as Lily Powers, and featuring George Brent. Based on a story by Darryl F. Zanuck (under the pseudonym Mark Canfield), ''Baby Face'' portrays an attractive young woman who uses sex to advance her social and financial status. Twenty-five-year-old

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

appears briefly as one of Powers's lovers. Marketed with the salacious tagline "She had ''it'' and made ''it'' pay", the film's open discussion of sex made it one of the most notorious films of the

Pre-Code Hollywood Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

eraTuran, Kenneth (2004) ''Never Coming to a Theater Near You: A Celebration of a Certain Kind of Movie''. Public Affairs . p.375 and helped bring the era to a close as enforcement of the code became stricter beginning in 1934. Mark A. Vieira, author of ''Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood'' has said, "''Baby Face'' was certainly one of the top 10 films that caused the

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

to be enforced." In 2005, ''Baby Face'' was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

Plot

Lily Powers, a beautiful young woman, works for her father, Nick, in a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

. Her father has been prostituting her to his customers since she was 14 years old. An influential politician threatens to have the speakeasy shut down after Lily turns him down for sex. Nick berates Lily for rejecting him. Lily then tells Nick she's moving out and that she'll hate him forever for forcing her to have sex with strangers. Minutes later Nick is killed in an explosion while repairing his burning

still A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been use ...

. After her father's funeral, Lily visits Cragg, an old cobbler and the only man she trusts. She tells him she was offered a job as a

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. ...

at a local

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

club. Cragg disapproves and encourages her to adopt

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's philosophy of exerting one's personal power over others to get what one wants. In Lily's case, that means exploiting men sexually rather than allowing men to exploit her. Later she and her best friend, a young black woman named Chico who was her co-worker the speakeasy, illegally board a freight train to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

but are discovered by a railroad worker. He threatens to report them to the police but Lily seduces him and the two women remain on the train. In

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, Lily seeks work at Gotham Trust, a large international bank. She seduces the personnel worker to land a clerical job. In the filing department, Lily begins an affair with Jimmy McCoy Jr., who recommends her for promotion to his boss, Brody. She easily seduces Brody, and he promotes her to the mortgage department. Later, Brody and Lily are caught having sex in the ladies' room by a rising young executive, Ned Stevens. Ned fires Brody on the spot. Lily then falsely claims that Brody forced himself on her and that she was afraid of losing her job if she resisted. Ned believes her and he gives her a position in his accounting department. Ned is engaged to Ann Carter, the daughter of First Vice President J. P. Carter. Despite this, Lily seduces Ned as well. When Ann calls Ned's office to say she will be visiting, Lily arranges to have Ann see her embracing Ned. Ann runs crying to her father, who tells Ned to fire Lily. He refuses so J.P. advises Ned to take a vacation and kindly offers to handle the situation. J. P. calls Lily to his office to fire her. Lily claims she had no idea Ned was engaged and that he was her first boyfriend. Lily salvages her situation by seducing J. P. and he installs her in a lavish apartment with Chico as her maid. Ned, who is in love with Lily, quits the bank and breaks off his engagement with Ann. He then tracks Lily down on Christmas Day but she spurns him. He later returns to her apartment to propose but finds J. P. there. He shoots J.P. to death and then shoots himself and dies. Courtland Trenholm, the grandson of Gotham Trust's founder and a notorious playboy, is elected bank president to handle the resulting scandal. The board of directors learns Lily has agreed to sell her diary to the press for $10,000 which includes the stories of her multiple office affairs. Consequently, the board members summon her to their meeting room. She tells them she is a victim of circumstance and wants to move far away, change her name and earn an honest living. The board considers giving her $15,000 to withhold her diary. Courtland, however, sees through her ruse and instead offers her a position at the bank's Paris branch and to pay for her travel expenses. She reluctantly accepts and later changes her name. When Courtland travels to Paris on business, he is impressed to find Lily promoted to head of the travel bureau. He then falls in love with her while the pair vacation together. Lily suggests marriage and Courtland agrees. Soon afterwards, the bank fails due to mismanagement which the board unfairly pins on Courtland. He is indicted and tells Lily he must raise money to finance his legal defense, insisting she return all the bonds, stocks and jewelry he's given her. She refuses, saying that would impoverish her. She then leaves and books passage on a ship back to Paris. While waiting for her ship to leave port, she reconsiders. She deboards and searches for Ned. She finds him in his office where he has shot himself in the abdomen but is still alive. She tearfully professes her love for him and tells him he can have all of her money. During the ambulance ride, a

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

assures her Ned will likely survive. Lily accidentally drops her jewelry case, spilling money and jewels on the floor. When the paramedic points this out, she tearfully tells him they do not matter anymore. Courtland opens his eyes and sees Lily.

Cast

as Lily Powers * George Brent as Courtland Trenholm * Donald Cook as Ned Stevens *

Alphonse Ethier Alphonse Ethier (December 10, 1874 – January 4, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1910 and 1939. His first name was sometimes spelled Alphonz. Ethier acted on stage before he began making films wi ...

as Adolf Cragg, a cobbler *

Henry Kolker Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 ome sources 1870– July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and director. Early years Kolker was born in Quincy, Illinois. Career Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Wa ...

as J. P. Carter * Margaret Lindsay as Ann Carter *

Arthur Hohl Arthur Hohl (May 21, 1889 – March 10, 1964) was an American stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s. He played a great number of villainous or mildly la ...

as Ed Sipple *

as Jimmy McCoy Jr., one of Lily's early bank conquests *

Robert Barrat Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor. Early years Barratt was born on July 10, 1891, in New York City and was educated in the public schools there. He ...

as Nick Powers, Lily's father *

Douglass Dumbrille Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s. Life and career Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed ...

as Brody *

Theresa Harris Theresa Harris (December 31, 1906 – October 8, 1985) was an American television and film actress, singer and dancer. Early life Harris was born on New Year's Eve 1906 (some sources indicate 1909) in Houston, Texas, to Isaiah and Mable Harris ...

as Chico, Lily's friend and maid * Charles Coleman as Hodges ''(uncredited) '' *

Nat Pendleton Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (August 9, 1895 – October 12, 1967) was an American Olympic wrestler, film actor, and stage performer. His younger brother, Edmund J. Pendleton (1899-1987), was a well-known music composer and choir master ...

as Stolvich ''(uncredited)'' *

Harry Tenbrook Harry Tenbrook (born Henry Olaf Hansen, October 9, 1887 – September 4, 1960) was an American film actor. Henry Olaf Hansen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. His family migrated to the United States in 1892. Under the stage nam ...

as laborer ''(uncredited)'' *

Edward Van Sloan Edward Van Sloan (born Edward Paul Van Sloun; November 1, 1882 – March 6, 1964) was an American character actor best remembered for his roles in the Universal Studios horror films such as ''Dracula'' (1931), ''Frankenstein'' (1931), and '' T ...

as Jameson, Bank Director ''(uncredited)'' * Harry Wilson as laborer ''(uncredited)''

Production

This film was Warner Bros.' answer to MGM's ''

Red-Headed Woman ''Red-Headed Woman'' is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Katharine Brush, and a screenplay by Anita Loos. It was directed by Jack Conway and stars J ...

'' (1932) starring

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

, another

pre-Code Hollywood Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film with a similar theme. Production head Darryl F. Zanuck wrote the treatment for the film and sold it to Warner Bros. for a dollar. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

was having a devastating effect on the film industry at the time, and many studio personnel were voluntarily taking salary cuts to help. Zanuck did not need the money because he was drawing a weekly salary of $3,500. He later left Warner Bros. and became the head of production at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. Aside from its depiction of a seductress, the film is notable for the "comradely" relationship Lily has with African-American Chico, who is her co-worker in Erie, Pennsylvania, and comes with her to New York City. She later becomes Stanwyck's maid, but their relationship remains friendly, and not that of a mistress and her servant. When Lily's father tries to fire Chico, Lily tells him that if Chico goes, she goes. At one point in the film, J.P., annoyed by Chico's singing (“

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

”—see below) says, "I wish you'd get rid of that fantastic colored girl,” to which Lily responds, with grim finality, "No. Chico stays." Stanwyck had influence on the film's script. It was her suggestion that Lily had been forced by her father to have sex with the customers of his speakeasy. ''Baby Face'' was shot in 18 days, and cost $187,000. A publicity still from this film aptly shows Barbara Stanwyck posing next to a stepladder, representing Lily's step-by-step up the ladder of success, as she seduces one man after another.

Music

An instrumental version of the 1926 hit song "Baby Face", composed by Harry Akst, is played over the

opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen ...

and in later scenes. However, the soundtrack is dominated by an instrumental version of " Saint Louis Blues" by W. C. Handy, particularly when Lily is working on her latest victim. This theme plays as the camera pans from floor to floor on a model of the bank building as she works her way up through the ranks.

sings lines and phrases from “St. Louis Blues” in character as “Chico" throughout the film, and a triumphant brass finish plays at the close of the final scene. Ralph Erwin's “I Kiss Your Hand Madame”, from the 1929 film of the same name, serves as the theme for the romance between Lily and Trenholm.

Censorship

After its initial limited release, the Hays Office recommended that the film be pulled from distribution entirely because of multiple violations of the

. Extensive correspondence took place between Zanuck and

Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...

of Warner Bros. and the

Association of Motion Picture Producers The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is a trade association based in Sherman Oaks, California, that represents over 350 American television and film production companies in collective bargaining negotiations with ent ...

(AMPP) about ways to make the film more acceptable to state and city censors. The primary change was to alter the ending to one which showed Lily losing everything and returning to her roots in her home town, where she is content to live a modest lifestyle, thus showing the audience that her sexual vices were not ultimately rewarded. Also, Lily's status as a "kept woman" was made less obvious, and the scene where she seduces a railroad worker in a boxcar, while her friend Chico is on the other side of the car, singing "Saint Louis Blues", was cut. Another significant change was that the cobbler's enthusiasm for

Nietzschean philosophy Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Repres ...

was replaced by his becoming the moral voice of the film, showing that Lily had been wrong to use her body to succeed. The cobbler's original speech was:''Sin in Soft Focus'', pp.148-49 The altered version, with the cobbler as the voice of morality, was: The new lines were dubbed onto an over-the-shoulder shot of the cobbler. The

New York State Censorship Board The Motion Picture Division of the State of New York Education Department, also known variously as the New York State Censorship Board, New York Censor Board, and New York Board of Censors, was an organ of film censorship in the Pre-Code film era ...

rejected the film's original version in April 1933, and Warners made the changes described above, as well as cutting some sexually suggestive shots. In June 1933, the Board passed the revised version, which then had a successful release.Kehr, Dave (January 9, 2005
"A Wanton Woman's Ways Revealed, 71 Years Later"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' The film was also initially rejected by the censorship board in Virginia. The uncensored version remained lost until 2004, when it resurfaced at a

film vault in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

. George Willeman is credited with the discovery. The restored version premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

in November 2004. In 2005, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States

Staff (December 20, 2005
"Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry" (press release)

and also was named by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine as one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years.

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

shows the uncensored version.

Reception

Box office

According to Warner Bros., the film earned $308,000 domestically and $144,000 foreign.

Critical response

Reviews contemporary with the film's release were not positive.

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' panned the film, calling it "an unsavory subject, with incidents set forth in an inexpert fashion," while a review in '' The New York Evening Post'' said "You cannot escape the belief that Lily is a vixen of the lowest order and that the men who play with her are doomed to perish in the flames." Modern reviews are more appreciative: Ty Burr of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' called it "a fascinatingly conflicted artifact of Depression-era do-me feminism. Lily Powers is one of the screen's great hard girls, and "Baby Face" can't decide whether to celebrate her or string her along." Mick La Salle, movie critic for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'', said "The differences between the original and the release versions of "Baby Face" are small, and yet combined they spell the difference between a good three-star movie and a delightful four-star movie."

References

Notes Bibliography * Doherty, Thomas Patrick (1999) ''Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930–1934''. New York: Columbia University Press; *

External links

*''Baby Face'' essay by

Gwendolyn Audrey Foster Gwendolyn Audrey Foster is an experimental filmmaker, artist and author. She is Willa Cather Professor Emerita in Film Studies. Her work has focused on gender, race, ecofeminism, queer sexuality, eco-theory, and class studies. York College of ...

br>
*''Baby Face'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 213-21

* * * *
Review by Chris Dashiell from July 2000 (pre-restoration)

Blog entry from Filmradar.com, May 20, 2005

Article by Kendahl Cruver, Senses of Cinema, September 2005

"Revealing the Racy Original Cut of 'Babyface'", Scott Simon, January 29, 2005

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baby Face (Film) 1933 films 1933 drama films American black-and-white films American drama films 1930s English-language films Films about businesspeople Films directed by Alfred E. Green Films set in New York City Murder–suicide in films United States National Film Registry films Warner Bros. films Films with screenplays by Kathryn Scola Films set in Paris Rediscovered American films 1930s American films