Baby Doll

Alphabetical Listing of Movie Reviews

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  • Baby Doll -- Meandering social satire set in rural Mississippi where an Italian-American newcomer (Eli Wallach) takes revenge on the redneck (Karl Malden) who torches his cotton gin by seducing the man's bird-brained wife (Carroll Baker). Directed by Elia Kazan from Tennessee Williams' Script, the halted narrative and eccentric characters never quite jell into coherent story, though Boris Kaufman's photography provides haunting images of racial animosites, crumbling facades and deep-seated rural poverty. Stylized violence, implied marital infidelity and leering sexual situations. (A-IV)1956




    These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

    The classifications are as follows:

    A-I -- general patronage;
    A-II -- adults and adolescents;
    A-III -- adults;
    L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
    O -- morally offensive.

    Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.

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