A tough young woman, played by Barbara Stanwyck, has been pushed around and pimped out by her father since she was 14. When he dies (his distillery blows up) she takes the advice of Neitzsche-reading professor and starts using men for her own gain - which she does with pre-Code gusto in NYC, accompanied by her friend Theresa Harris (IWWAZ, Out of the Past, The Velvet Touch).
And this was the unedited pre-release version. Our 'Forbidden Hollywood' edition includes this note: 'After being requested to strike a new print of the film for the London Film Festival in 2004, Library of Congress curator Mike Mashon discovered a duplicate negative than ran a few minutes longer than the original release version. In a "moment archivists live for", as Mashon has described it, he realized that he was the first person since 1933 to see the uncut Baby Face.' The cuts included Barbara negotiating train passage by sleeping with the brakeman, which is quite shocking really for a film of this vintage. The release version also had a new ending added, showing her returning to her home town with nothing.
And it's very liberating seeing Barbara responding to being groped by a corrupt politician by smashing a beer bottle over his head. And actually, she's a tough cookie, but really the men she sleeps with to get to the top almost universally are cheating on their wives or fiancees, so deserve what comes to them. And actually the ending does redeem her of her ruthlessness.
With George Brent, Donald Cook, John Wayne (briefly), Nat Pendleton (uncredited).
Brisk Warner Bros production, photographed efficiently enough by James Van Trees, whose most notable films are probably A Night in Casablanca and West of the Pecos.
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