Search - Pretty Baby on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1978 DVD Release: 11/18/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 49 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 17 Genres: Drama, Period Film, Erotic Drama, Coming-of-Age

After making a series of acclaimed and controversial films in his native France, director Louis Malle made his American debut with this disturbing but visually beautiful story about Hattie (Susan Sarandon), a prostitute working in New Orleans' Storyville district at the turn of the century. When Hattie becomes pregnant, she opts to keep her baby and gives birth to a daughter named Violet, raising her in the brothel where she continues to work. Twelve years later, Violet (Brooke Shields) is old enough to attract the attentions of the brothel's customers, but emotionally has one foot in the adult world of her surroundings and the other in the naïveté of childhood. With Hattie's consent, Violet's virginity is auctioned off to the customers of the house; but for Violet, the pull between childhood and adulthood becomes most clear -- and most painful -- when she draws the affections of Bellocq (Keith Carradine), a photographer who has been working on a photo series about Storyville prostitutes. Violet's blend of childlike innocence and adult sensuality is profoundly attractive to him, but their relationship quickly becomes problematic, especially when Hattie leaves Violet behind to get married. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Keith Carradine - E.J. Bellocq
Susan Sarandon - Hattie
Brooke Shields - Violet
Frances Faye - Mme. Nell Livingston
Antonio Fargas - Professor, Piano Player

Louis Malle's controversial drama Pretty Baby, featuring a very young Brooke Shields, comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of the film. Regardless of how one feels about the film's content, Pretty Baby is most assuredly a resounding visual success. The exquisite art direction, costumes, and lighting look fabulous on this disc. Certainly the film has never looked this good before on home video. English and French soundtracks have been rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, but seeing as how Malle is one of the most respected French directors of his era, this disc is worthwhile for any art film devotee. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide