Pretty Baby (1978 film)

Pretty Baby
Pretty Baby
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Louis Malle
Screenplay by	Polly Platt
Story by	Polly Platt; Louis Malle;
Produced by	Louis Malle
Starring	Brooke Shields; Keith Carradine; Susan Sarandon;
Cinematography	Sven Nykvist
Edited by	Suzanne Fenn
Music by	Ferdinand Morton
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	April 5, 1978; (USA) December 1977; (limited) (Europe)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$5.8 million

Pretty Baby is a 1978 American historical drama film directed by Louis Malle, written by Polly Platt, and starring Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine, and Susan Sarandon. Set in 1917, it focuses on a 12-year-old girl being raised in a brothel in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, by her prostitute mother. Barbara Steele, Diana Scarwid, and Antonio Fargas appear in supporting roles. The film is based on the true account of a young girl who was sexually exploited by being forced into prostitution by her mother, a theme which was recounted in historian Al Rose's 1974 book Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District. It is also based on the life of photographer Ernest Bellocq, who photographed various New Orleans prostitutes in the early twentieth century.^[6]^[7] The title, Pretty Baby, is derived from the Tony Jackson song of the same name, which is featured on the film's soundtrack.

The project marked Malle's first American film production, as his previous works had been produced in his native France.^[6] Filming took place, on-location, in New Orleans in the spring of 1977.

The film was released, theatrically, in the United States in April 1978, and screened at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or, winning the Technical Grand Prize. Ferdinand Morton's score also earned the film an Academy Award-nomination for Best Music. Although the film itself was mostly praised by critics, it caused significant public outcry and media controversy due to its depiction of child sexual exploitation, as well as the nude and semi-nude scenes featuring Shields, who was 11 years old at the time of filming, and whose character was a child being abused by grown men.

^ "Pretty Baby". Library of Congress.
^ Variety Staff (December 31, 1977). "Pretty Baby". Variety.
^ "Pretty Baby (1977) – SFDB".
^ Cite error: The named reference Festival de Cannes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Sirove 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference AFI Catalog was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Gleiberman 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] "Pretty Baby". Library of Congress.

[2] Variety Staff (December 31, 1977). "Pretty Baby". Variety.

[3] "Pretty Baby (1977) – SFDB".

[Festival_de_Cannes-4] Cite error: The named reference Festival de Cannes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Sirove_2019-5] Cite error: The named reference Sirove 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[AFI_Catalog-6] Cite error: The named reference AFI Catalog was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Gleiberman_2023-7] Cite error: The named reference Gleiberman 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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