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7.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Baby Face remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have any interest in how movies looked before the censors got their hooks into everything, yes, absolutely. Watch it. If you want a sweet romance or a tidy moral ending, you are going to be very disappointed. It’s for people who like their protagonists a little bit mean and very determined.
Barbara Stanwyck is the whole reason to be here. She plays Lily Powers, and she doesn't just walk through the scenes, she owns them. There is this one moment early on where she looks at a man and you can practically see the math happening behind her eyes. She’s counting his bank account, not his heart.
The pacing is lightning fast. It moves through jobs and men like a hot knife through butter. Some of these guys she hooks are so naive it’s almost painful to watch. You can practically hear the director shouting at the set to keep it moving. No time for deep character studies when there’s a promotion to grab.
The office dynamics are just brutal. It’s funny in a dark way how she plays everyone against each other. Everyone’s so focused on their own little world that they don't see her coming until she’s already taken their desk. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Fifty-Fifty Girl, but with way higher stakes and a lot more cynicism.
I noticed a weird background extra in the bank scene who kept looking at the camera. It’s distracting for a second, but then you realize the movie is so focused on Stanwyck’s face that nothing else really matters anyway. The lighting in the apartment scenes gets really dramatic too. It feels like she’s always being watched, even when she thinks she’s in control.
It’s a bit jarring how quickly the men fall for her. Like, do they not notice what she’s doing? Maybe they don't care. Or maybe they are just that blinded by the performance. It feels like a precursor to the kind of hard-boiled stuff you’d see in a noir flick years later. Except here, the protagonist is the one holding the gun—figuratively, of course.
There’s a scene near the end that feels a bit rushed. The whole thing just clicks shut, and you’re left wondering if she actually got what she wanted or if she’s just moved on to the next floor. It’s not a movie that holds your hand. It’s messy, it’s sharp, and it’s remarkably short.
Don't look for deep, intellectual themes here. Just watch Stanwyck work. She’s the boss, and everyone else is just furniture. 🍸
IMDb —
1917
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