The plot summary is as follows:
Lily Powers has led a difficult life working in her loutish father's speakeasy in Erie, Pennsylvania, he who coerced her into prostitution since she was 14. When she is given a chance to start a new life, she is advised by Adolf Cragg, her friend and a follower of the teachings of Friedrich Nietzsche, to use her power over men to get want she wants. Moving to New York City with her friend and conspirator Chico, Lily does exactly that. She decides to sleep her way up the corporate ladder at Gotham Trust, using men the way they have used her in the past. In her quest, she not only uses those men, but ruins them in the process. Her main goal is to find the man who can best afford to provide her a carefree lifestyle. Things for Lily and for Gotham Trust itself change when the bank's board appoints a new company president, playboy Courtland Trenholm.
This film stars Barbara Stanwyck, who plays one of the most notorious pre-code 'bad girls' due to her being characterised as using sex and violence to get what she wishes. This film (released in 1933) was banned in some US states due to its use of sexual innuendo. From the offset this film was to test the boundaries of censorship in the US having been rejected when it had been sent to the New York State of Censors to be checked before release; they demanded cuts and changes to various scenes which the film's studio (Warner Bros, of course) then made in order for the film to be shown to the general public. Below is one of the original deleted scenes- it conveys crudely how the character Baby Face uses her sexuality in order to fulfil a criminal act. The scene also hints at discriminative behaviour concerning racism, which at the time was still a troubling reality in the US.
One ultimate change that was made, to appease censors, was the ending. The original was labelled too bleak and negative, due to the character Baby Face/ Lilly finding out about the suicide of Courtland. Therefore the censors forced a change in which would end the film on a relatively more optimistic note. The altered ending therefore consisted of Courtland surviving and Baby Face changing her lifestyle, opting out of a mind-set where consumerism and material wealth was all that mattered, and instead choosing to pursue honest and true love.
Some reviews:
"...We’ve seen movies with powerful women before. We’ve even seen movies with ruthless women, but Baby Face will forever be in a class of its own..."-The Cinemaniac
"...Baby Face is an oddity. Perhaps one of the most ‘Pre-Code’ of the Pre-Codes, there are few movies in the history of cinema that have ever been so blunt about indulging in the power of sex..."- pre-code.com
"...Engagingly shocking to audiences who think of old movies as quaint and innocent..."- Rotten Tomatoes
Box office-
Baby Face had an estimated budget of around $187,000
But earned approximately $452,000 at the box office.
