A fabulous, region-free, Blu-ray box set from Imprint just came out, devoted to one of my favorite actresses- Carroll Baker. Baker studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and her film Baby Doll, based on an original screenplay by Tennessee Williams and directed by Elia Kazan, became a major scandal at the time and was even denounced by Cardinal Francis Spellman from the pulpit of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Revisiting that film now is to wonder what the fuss was about- Baby Doll is a sardonic, dark comedy, and Baker gives a sly, sexy, and smart performance. This box set includes three films she made in the 1960s before she bolted for Italy, where she was treated with the respect she deserved.
Sylvia (1965) Produced by Joseph E. Levine, this was part of a group of films that attempted to turn the Actors Studio-trained star Carroll Baker into a blonde sexpot. Based on a book by E. V. Cunningham (actually blacklisted author Howard Fast– who refused to give names before the Committee of Un-American Activities in the 1950s and served prison time for contempt of court). Sylvia is the story of Alan Macklin (George Maharis), a private investigator summoned to the mansion of millionaire Frederic Summers (Peter Lawford), who hires Macklin to find out information on his mysterious fiancé Sylvia West (Carroll Baker). West lives comfortably, from smart investments, cultivates prize roses as a hobby and has written a book of poetry. But her past is an enigma. “I want to know who she is,“ Summers says to Macklin. “I want to know everything there is to know about Sylvia West. Everything a prospective husband has the right to know.” The movie is Macklin’s investigative journey through the sordid, often heartbreaking, background of this fascinating woman of mystery.
Sylvia wasn’t a box-office smash by any means. Bosley Crowther of the NY Times called it a, “hopelessly cheap and mawkish tale,” but I loved the movie when I saw it first-run. I’ll admit I adored the ludicrous melodrama and trashiness of it first and foremost. And I always had a soft spot in my heart for Carroll Baker– who gives a beautifully modulated portrayal of a very guarded woman. George Maharis I remember, lustfully, from TV’s Route 66, where he played the brooding hunk Buz Murdoch alongside Martin Milner. (I also remember his memorable nude layout in Playgirl magazine years later). He’s terrific in the film- giving a restrained, thoughtful performance. And Sylvia is filled with wonderful co-stars like Viveca Lindfors, Ann Sothern, Joanne Dru, Edmond O’Brien and Aldo Ray. Not to mention the daring (for that time) performance of Paul Gilbert as Lola Diamond, the cigar-smoking drag queen performer and whorehouse “madam.” The newly restored 4K Blu-ray includes another great introduction by film scholar Foster Hirsch, an interview with film professor Lucy Bolton, plus “Decoding the Screen Persona of Carroll Baker,” a video essay by film historian Daniel Kramer.
Something Wild (1961) An utterly fascinating 1961 film directed by Jack Garfein and starring (his wife at the time) Carroll Baker as a young college student in Manhattan who is brutally sexually assaulted by a stranger in the park one evening. Not being able to talk about the incident she begins to unravel. Leaving school and her family. Renting a seedy room in a tenement and getting a job at a Five & Dime store. But she continues to suffer after-effects from the trauma and attempts to take her life by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. She is saved by a seemingly kind stranger (Ralph Meeker– an underrated, great actor), who takes her back to his basement apartment and then imprisons her. “You’re my last chance,” he confesses to her. It’s an incredibly strange, unique film about two damaged souls and Carroll Baker gives a raw, fearless performance. With incredible location shots of the city by cinematographer Eugen Shuftan (The Hustler) and a glorious score by Aaron Copland. The incredible cityscape title sequence is by Saul Bass.
Jack Garfein was a Czechoslovakian Holocaust survivor who, in America, was the first theater director awarded membership in the Actors Studio. There he met Carroll Baker and they were married for 14 years and had two children together. His first film, based on End as a Man by Calder Willingham, was the The Strange One starring an electrifying Ben Gazarra as sociopathic bully at a Southern Military College. It’s such a brilliant, original film, filled with great performances and an unforgettable ending. Something Wild was based on the novel Mary Ann by Alex Karmel, and was independently financed by Garfein. In an excellent Blu-ray extra with film historian Foster Hirsch, Hirsch admits Something Wild is “a very challenging, difficult film,” but he also calls it “a quintessential New York film,” and loves it as much as I do. (Every morning I wake up to the framed half sheet of the film in my bedroom).
Harlow (1965) A big budget Joseph E. Levine biopic of the tragically short life of 1930s platinum blonde movie star Jean Harlow, loosely based on a juicy Irving Shulman biography. This was a bomb at the box office and unfairly blamed on Carroll Baker, who fled Hollywood for Italy afterwards, where she starred in some great “giallo” thrillers (often directed by Umberto Lenzi). In a terrific extra, film historian Foster Hirsch explains the problems that beset the film. Levine was panicked when he heard another Harlow picture was being made starring Carol Lynley and shot in “Electrovision” (a cheap high-resolution videotape process). So, he rushed his production, giving little time for rehearsals. He also was so fearful of lawsuits that Jean Harlow’s career at MGM was disguised and fictionalized. The film had a marked 60s feel, certainly not the 30s it was supposed to be set in. They also missed Jean Harlow’s good natured personality. She had a great sense of humor, according to many who knew her, and that is lacking in the film.
Hirsch also points out that Baker rises to the occasion dramatically in many scenes (especially towards the end). But to be honest, the movie is still trashy and fun, with a colorful cast that includes Angela Lansbury as her mother, Raf Vallone as her mom’s gigolo boyfriend, Red Buttons as Harlow’s devoted agent and Peter Lawford as her doomed, suicidal husband Paul Bern. The Blu-ray looks sensational- it’s a 4K restoration and the colors really pop. Included on the extras is “Carroll Baker: Looking Back,” a 2011 interview with Carroll Baker.
