DAVID BIANCULLI

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BABY DOLL
August 25, 2018  | By David Bianculli

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

 

This 1956 drama, adapted by Tennessee Williams from his one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, stars Karl Malden as a cotton gin owner who has been married for two years – to his “Baby Doll” wife, played by Carroll Baker, who is just about to turn 20. That impending birthday marks the age at which, according to a prearranged agreement with her father, the cotton gin owner is allowed to finally consummate the marriage with his virgin bride, who has spent the marriage thus far teasing him, and everyone else within sight, with her ripening sexuality. (Good old Tennessee Williams.) Elia Kazan directed this steamy Southern story, which, upon its release, was given a “C” by the Roman Catholic National Legion of Decency. And that wasn’t a “C” as in a passing grade. It was “C” for “Condemned.” And tonight at 8 p.m. ET, it’s highlighted in prime time as part of an all-day salute to Carroll Baker by TCM – a.k.a., in this case, Turner Condemned Movies.

 
 
 
 
 
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