Baby Face
A fiercely pragmatic woman weaponizes desire and intelligence to climb New York's financial hierarchy, exposing the bargains behind Depression-era respectability.
Overview
A woman's ambition knows no bounds as she climbs the social ladder in 1930s New York City.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- sardonic
- provocative
- unsettling
- classic cinema night
- film history viewing
What critics said
Modern critics broadly admire the film's provocative pre-Code sexual politics, Barbara Stanwyck's commanding performance, and its conflicted treatment of female ambition, despite dismissive contemporary reviews.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lily deliberately uses relationships with powerful men to rise from a speakeasy to the upper floors of a New York bank.
Lily's ascent through the bank is built on transactional relationships that damage marriages and institutional trust.
The plot openly centers on Lily's sexual bargaining, mistress relationships, and rejection of submissive respectability before the Production Code tightened censorship.
Lily advances literally floor by floor from a basement speakeasy to the top floor of a New York office building.
Films like Baby Face, and why
red-headed woman
shared pre-code provocation, sexually assertive antiheroine, and critique of economic power
mildred pierce
shared hard-edged female ambition, workplace manipulation, and morally conflicted melodrama
the woman
shared cynical social satire, class mobility, and a protagonist exploiting patriarchal institutions
Movie Details
- Director
- Alfred E. Green
- Release Date
- 1933-07-13
- Runtime
- 76 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (163)
Cast
- Barbara Stanwyck
- George Brent
- Donald Cook
- Alphonse Ethier
- Henry Kolker
- Margaret Lindsay
- Arthur Hohl
- John Wayne
- Robert Barrat
- Douglass Dumbrille
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Baby Face about?
- A fiercely pragmatic woman weaponizes desire and intelligence to climb New York's financial hierarchy, exposing the bargains behind Depression-era respectability.
- What is Baby Face like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Baby Face as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Baby Face violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Baby Face as mild.
- What did critics think of Baby Face?
- Modern critics broadly admire the film's provocative pre-Code sexual politics, Barbara Stanwyck's commanding performance, and its conflicted treatment of female ambition, despite dismissive contemporary reviews.
- Which films are like Baby Face?
- Films with a similar feel include red-headed woman, mildred pierce, and the woman.
- How long is Baby Face?
- Baby Face runs 76 minutes.
- Where can I watch Baby Face?
- In United States, Baby Face is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
