Rosemary's Baby
Short description
Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into a New York apartment building with a troubling reputation, hoping to settle down and start a family. Guy is an ambitious actor still waiting for his break, and the couple soon fall in with their older neighbours, Minnie and Roman Castevet, who take an unusually keen interest in them. Guy gets a major role under strange circumstances, and the two decide to have a child. As Rosemary's pregnancy advances, the behaviour of those around her grows harder to explain, and she comes to suspect that the people closest to her have plans for her unborn baby.
Roman Polanski directed and wrote the screenplay for this American horror film, the fourth of the twenty-three features he directed, following The Fearless Vampire Killers and preceding Macbeth. Mia Farrow plays Rosemary, with John Cassavetes as Guy, Ruth Gordon as Minnie and Sidney Blackmer as Roman, in a credited cast of thirty-four. William Castle and Robert Evans produced.
Made for about 3 million dollars, the film took roughly 33 million at the worldwide box office, a strong return on its budget. Audiences rate it highly, with a 7.8 out of 10 on TMDB across more than four thousand votes, and critics rate it even higher, at 9.1 out of 10 from eighty-eight reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Roman Polanski had planned to cast Tuesday Weld as Rosemary Woodhouse and Robert Redford as Guy. However, Paramount Studios decided that Mia Farrow should play Rosemary, and Redford was busy with another project at the time. Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Guy for some time.
- According to Kenneth Anderson, author of a book about the making of the film, actress Lauren Bacall, who lived in The Dakota, often went outside to watch the filming.
- According to Kenneth Anderson, author of a book about the making of "Rosemary's Baby", the famous actress Lauren Bacall, who lived in "The Dakota", often went outside to watch the filming along with the other residents.
- Polanski's first American production.
- The Dakota apartment building, located in Manhattan, is referred to as "Bramford" in the film.
- During filming, the lead actress Mia Farrow was divorcing her then-husband Frank Sinatra.
- While working on his first film adaptation, Polanski tried to adhere strictly to all the details described in the novel. He once even asked the book's author, Ira Levin, in which issue of The New Yorker Guy Woodhouse had seen the shirt he wanted to buy. Levin confessed that it was pure fiction.
- The rights to the film adaptation belonged to producer and director William Castle. When Paramount Studios launched the project, they stipulated that Castle not direct the film, as he had a reputation as a director of low-budget horror films. However, Castle was allowed to appear in a cameo (a man standing by a telephone booth).
- Roman Polanski’s deeply pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered in 1969 by the Charles Manson gang, who named their series of crimes after the Beatles song “Helter Skelter.” John Lennon was killed in 1980 near the Dakota building, where he lived and where filming took place.
- The film's editor, Sam O'Steen, later directed its television sequel, "What Happened to Rosemary's Baby" (1976).
- Sharon Tate starred in the party scene that Rosemary organized for her friends.
- The film was directed by Roman Polanski, whose pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969 by the Charles Manson gang, who named a series of their crimes after The Beatles song "Helter Skelter." Notably, one of the band members, John Lennon, was killed in 1980 near the "Dakota" building where he lived and where "Rosemary's Baby" was once filmed.
- Rosemary says to Terry Ginnofrio (Angela Dorian): "I thought you were actress Victoria Vetri." Terry replies that everyone thinks so, but she herself doesn't see the resemblance. Victoria Vetri is Angela Dorian's real name.
- In one scene, Mia Farrow actually ate raw liver on camera.
- The film is based on Ira Levin's novel "Rosemary's Baby" (1967).
- This film was Polanski's first American production.
- The film's production was offered to Alfred Hitchcock.
- Rosemary is due to give birth on June 28, 1966 (6/66).
Auditions in India
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