Pretty Baby
Short description
Pretty Baby is set in New Orleans in 1917, in the final months before prostitution was made illegal in the city's red-light district. Hattie works at an elegant brothel run by Madame Nell, and her twelve-year-old daughter Violet lives there among the women and their clients. When the photographer Ernest J. Bellocq visits to take pictures of Hattie, Violet becomes fascinated by him. Nell puts the girl's virginity up for auction, and Hattie, having accepted a suitor's marriage proposal, leaves for St. Louis without her daughter, passing Violet off as her younger sister. Violet is left behind in the house.
Louis Malle directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by Polly Platt. It was the ninth of the thirteen features Malle directed, following Black Moon and preceding Atlantic City. Brooke Shields plays Violet, with Keith Carradine as Bellocq, Susan Sarandon as Hattie, Frances Faye as Nell, Antonio Fargas as Professor and Matthew Anton as Red Top, among a credited cast of twenty-nine. The production, made in the United States and France, cost about four million dollars and took roughly twelve million worldwide.
On TMDB the film holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from 438 votes, indicating a generally favourable response from those users.
What's left behind the scenes
- Glenn Close and Farrah Fawcett auditioned for the role of Hattie, but soon declined it.
- Candidates considered for the role of Violet included Isabelle Adjani, Melissa Sue Anderson, Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bo Derek, Laura Dern, Carrie Fisher, Bridget Fonda, Mariel Hemingway, Helen Hunt, Amy Irving, Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mary Steenburgen, and Charlene Tilton.
- Candidates considered for the role of Hattie included Candice Bergen, Cher, Mia Farrow, Angelica Huston, Diane Keaton, Liza Minnelli, Sybil Sheherd, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, and Sigourney Weaver.
- Debra Winger tried to get the role of Violet, but was forced to decline due to her age. According to the script, Violet was 12 years old, while Winger had turned 21 by that time.
- The role of Violet was initially intended for Jodie Foster, but the actress could not play it due to an informal agreement with the Walt Disney Company, according to which Foster was not allowed to participate in filming explicit scenes, as she was appearing in the family film 'The Candle in the Shoe' (1977).
- Those who auditioned for the role of Violet included Diane Lane, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Tilly, Ellie Sheady, Madonna, Kathleen Turner, Ellen Barkin, Geena Davis, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
- The role of Violet was turned down by Melanie Griffith, Linda Blair, and Christie McNicol.
- Initially, Robert Redford was intended to play the role of Belloc.
- Sylvester Stallone declined the role of Belloc in order to film the movie 'F.I.S.T.' (1978).
- Christopher Reeve also turned down the role of Belloc to star in the film 'Superman' (1978).
- Goldie Hawn turned down the role of Hattie to film the movie 'Foul Play' (1978).
- The title 'Lovely Child' is taken from a song by Toni Jackson, which is featured on the film's soundtrack.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
