Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Hitchcoc This movie was a showcase for Brooke Shields. Let's face facts. A lot of the people who went to see this had heard about her tender age. I'm sure there were pedophiles in every theater. Shields was a beautiful child and was probably exploited to get her into the movies. The story is that of a young girl who grows up in a brothel. She is being "held back" until she turns twelve. Eventually, the place they live becomes off limits to their top clientele. Brooke is simply a part of the family but has had a lifetime of experiences. Is she capable of going back to being just a girl. That's the issue that she faces. This film is lush with images of the south. It is a striking movie, but I did feel a little sick having seen it.

Syl Brooke Shields became a household name for her performance as twelve year old Violet, a prostitute's daughter, raised in a New Orleans whorehouse. Susan Sarandon does a terrific job playing her mother, Hattie. Frances Faye is a scene stealer in her final film performance as Nell who owns and operates the whorehouse. Keith Carradine plays a photographer who takes a serious interest in the women and girls as more than objects. Brooke Shields' Violet is the pretty baby who is surrounded by sex and knows nothing else. The scenes in which Violet's innocence, youth, and virginity are exploited by Nell and the others who live there as a suitable way to make a living is disturbing. Violet's virginity is auctioned off as a commodity to the highest bidder is definitely something that would shock film audiences of 1978. Nell says "there are two things to do in New Orleans on a rainy day and I don't like to play bridge!" Is a classic film line. Violet's life in New Orleans is tragic and sad but she manages to understand and comprehend her surroundings.

hall895 Upon its release in 1978 Pretty Baby was shocking and controversial. Maybe all the controversy obscured the fact it was not a particularly good film. The film was famous for displaying a naked 12 year-old Brooke Shields. And that does indeed prove to be as uncomfortable to view as you would imagine. Yes, it's a story about child prostitution but that story surely could have been told without putting Shields on such display. And what of that story? Is it a good enough one to hold your interest and make for a compelling, entertaining film? Not really.The film is set in New Orleans in 1917. Life moved a little more slowly back then and Pretty Baby mirrors that. The whole film has a very languid feel to it. The pacing is slow bordering on glacial. The action, such as it is, centers on a brothel. Shields plays Violet, who lives in the house with her prostitute mother Hattie, played by Susan Sarandon. The film establishes the goings-on and routines of the house. Young Violet is not herself a prostitute. Yet. A photographer, Bellocq, shows up to take some portraits of the prostitutes. He also takes an interest in Violet, though certainly not in a sexual way. He actually seems quite asexual, hanging around the brothel constantly but with no interest in partaking in the goods on offer. The time inevitably comes for Violet to start selling herself. Her virginity is auctioned off to the highest bidder. She's excited, her mother's excited. Bellocq's not excited, he sees it for the disgusting spectacle that it is. But the deed is done, Violet becomes a full-fledged mini-prostitute and things unsurprisingly unravel from there.There is a potentially interesting, if very uncomfortable, story in here. But the film never really takes off. Right from the beginning it's a film desperately struggling for momentum and it's a struggle it never wins. It's just dull. The dialogue is rather forced and clunky with Sarandon and Keith Carradine, playing Bellocq, forced to spout lines which sound completely unnatural. The most natural, and probably best, performance in the film comes from the young Shields. Discomfiting nudity aside she's the best thing the film had to offer. Of course nobody puts the nudity to the side, that's the first thing people talk about when discussing the film. If it was a good film the Shields controversy would be an unfortunate distraction. As it is, it's not a very good film. The whole thing is just unfortunate.

preppy-3 Set in 1917 New Orleans. This is the story of a brothel and the women working there. One of them, Hattie (Susan Sarandon), has a 12 year old girl named Violet (Brooke Shields). Bellocq (Keith Carradine) pays to photograph the women but doesn't have sex with any of them. However he seems strongly attracted to Violet who is being set up to be a prostitute like her mom.This sounds a lot worse than it plays. It was hugely controversial when it came out mostly because Shields was 12 and has nude scenes. The subject matter alone caused outrage but seriously...this film has no impact. It's extremely low key to a ridiculous degree. Everything is done in such a calm laid-back manner that it doesn't seem even remotely exploitive. Considering the subject matter the film is incredibly tame. The only nudity comes from Sarandon and Shields and it's never sexual in context. The film looks great too and it's (purportedly) factual. The low key tone works--but after a while it gets downright boring. EVERYBODY acts low key. I was just hoping somebody would overreact to something. Also the story gets more than a little unbelievable towards the end. The acting is good by Sarandon and the other women. Frances Faye as the head of the house is great and it's always good to see Barbara Steele. However Shields is terrible--but she WAS only 12. Carradine is even worse. Very stiff and wooden. This isn't a bad movie just a dull one. Hard to believe a movie about a 12 year old prostitute could be dull--but it is. It definitely would not be made today. I give it a 6.