Baby Love (film)
Encyclopedia
Baby Love is a 1968 British drama film, directed by Alastair Reid
and starring Ann Lynn, Keith Barron
, Linda Hayden
and Diana Dors
. The film tells the story of a schoolgirl who seduces her adoptive
family after her mother commits suicide
.
Reid went on to work in television, while Linda Hayden, who was only 15 at the time of filming, went on to star in sexploitation
movies, notably two of the films in the Confessions series, Confessions of a Window Cleaner
(1974) and Confessions from a Holiday Camp
(1977). The film features an uncredited appearance by Bruce Robinson
, later to direct the cult film
Withnail & I.
) lives alone with her sluttish, alcoholic mother (a strange, mute, cameo by Diana Dors) in a poor suburb of London. Coming home from school one day Luci discovers her mother's body in the bathtub, her mother has slit her wrists.
Robert (Keith Barron), her mother's high school true love, discovers that she wrote a last letter pleading with him to look after Luci. Robert agrees and takes Luci to his home where she meets his rich wife Amy (Anne Lynn) and their teenage son, Nick (Derek Lamden).
Luci holds Robert responsible for her mother's tragic life and death because he not only left her to go on to university, but left her pregnant. Luci's wanton sexuality and resentment soon starts to cause friction in the household as one by one the family comes under her spell.
At a clinic, Luci subtly offers herself up to an older man (a mute role for the prolific Vernon Dobtcheff) in the seat next to her, awaiting his touch on her bare leg, barely disguising the obvious thrill of that touch until the disgusted (yet entranced) Nick pulls her away. But Luci comes across as a young woman simply craving the love and closeness she has never had, in the only way that seems possible to her due not only because of her upbringing but due to the fact that with her mother gone there seems no chance now for the parental love she really wants, so she makes do with the less innocent kind. Even the sexual 'love' of a stranger is better than no love at all.
The relationship with her 'adoptive' mother is a fascinatingly murky one at first. Amy feels a void in her life at never having a daughter. The coldly masculine influence of her son and husband (plus their now equally cold marriage, shown perfectly in a bedroom scene where she says goodnight to Robert but receives no kiss only a grunt.
Amy comes into the bathroom when Luci is in the bathtub and comforts her (due to Luci's obvious distress when the hot, steaming, water reminds her of her mother's suicide scene) and lightly bathes her takes on a pointed lesbian feel due to how old Luci is. Later Luci crudely offers herself sexually to Amy in a desperate attempt to secure her place in the household.
The easy-going family of Robert, a doctor, Amy, his wife, Nick, their teen-age son are each magnetized by the girl but, rather naively, are unaware of each other's reactions.
Alastair Reid (director)
Alastair Reid was a British television director whose credits include the TV series Traffik and Tales of the City....
and starring Ann Lynn, Keith Barron
Keith Barron
Keith Barron is an English actor and television presenter, well-known from numerous roles on British television from the 1960s to the present day.-Career:...
, Linda Hayden
Linda Hayden
Linda Hayden is an English film and television actress, best known for her roles in 1970s British horror films and sex comedies.-Career:...
and Diana Dors
Diana Dors
Diana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
. The film tells the story of a schoolgirl who seduces her adoptive
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
family after her mother commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Reid went on to work in television, while Linda Hayden, who was only 15 at the time of filming, went on to star in sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
movies, notably two of the films in the Confessions series, Confessions of a Window Cleaner
Confessions of a Window Cleaner
Confessions of a Window Cleaner is a 1974 British sex comedy film, directed by Val Guest.Like the other films in the Confessions series; Confessions of a Pop Performer, Confessions of a Driving Instructor and Confessions from a Holiday Camp, it concerns the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based...
(1974) and Confessions from a Holiday Camp
Confessions from a Holiday Camp
Confessions from a Holiday Camp is a 1977 British comedy film. It is the last film in the series which began with Confessions of a Window Cleaner.-Plot:...
(1977). The film features an uncredited appearance by Bruce Robinson
Bruce Robinson
Bruce Robinson is an English director, screenwriter, novelist and actor. He is arguably most famous for writing and directing the cult classic Withnail and I , a film with comic and tragic elements, set in London during the 1960s which drew on his experiences as 'a chronic alcoholic and resting...
, later to direct the cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
Withnail & I.
Plot
Luci (Linda HaydenLinda Hayden
Linda Hayden is an English film and television actress, best known for her roles in 1970s British horror films and sex comedies.-Career:...
) lives alone with her sluttish, alcoholic mother (a strange, mute, cameo by Diana Dors) in a poor suburb of London. Coming home from school one day Luci discovers her mother's body in the bathtub, her mother has slit her wrists.
Robert (Keith Barron), her mother's high school true love, discovers that she wrote a last letter pleading with him to look after Luci. Robert agrees and takes Luci to his home where she meets his rich wife Amy (Anne Lynn) and their teenage son, Nick (Derek Lamden).
Luci holds Robert responsible for her mother's tragic life and death because he not only left her to go on to university, but left her pregnant. Luci's wanton sexuality and resentment soon starts to cause friction in the household as one by one the family comes under her spell.
At a clinic, Luci subtly offers herself up to an older man (a mute role for the prolific Vernon Dobtcheff) in the seat next to her, awaiting his touch on her bare leg, barely disguising the obvious thrill of that touch until the disgusted (yet entranced) Nick pulls her away. But Luci comes across as a young woman simply craving the love and closeness she has never had, in the only way that seems possible to her due not only because of her upbringing but due to the fact that with her mother gone there seems no chance now for the parental love she really wants, so she makes do with the less innocent kind. Even the sexual 'love' of a stranger is better than no love at all.
The relationship with her 'adoptive' mother is a fascinatingly murky one at first. Amy feels a void in her life at never having a daughter. The coldly masculine influence of her son and husband (plus their now equally cold marriage, shown perfectly in a bedroom scene where she says goodnight to Robert but receives no kiss only a grunt.
Amy comes into the bathroom when Luci is in the bathtub and comforts her (due to Luci's obvious distress when the hot, steaming, water reminds her of her mother's suicide scene) and lightly bathes her takes on a pointed lesbian feel due to how old Luci is. Later Luci crudely offers herself sexually to Amy in a desperate attempt to secure her place in the household.
The easy-going family of Robert, a doctor, Amy, his wife, Nick, their teen-age son are each magnetized by the girl but, rather naively, are unaware of each other's reactions.
Cast
- Ann Lynn - Amy Quayle
- Keith BarronKeith BarronKeith Barron is an English actor and television presenter, well-known from numerous roles on British television from the 1960s to the present day.-Career:...
- Robert Quayle - Linda HaydenLinda HaydenLinda Hayden is an English film and television actress, best known for her roles in 1970s British horror films and sex comedies.-Career:...
- Luci Thompson - Diana DorsDiana DorsDiana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
- Liz Thompson - Derek Lamden - Nicholas 'Nick' Quayle
- Patience Collier - Mrs. Carmichael
- Dick EmeryDick EmeryRichard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
- Harry Pearson - Sheila SteafelSheila SteafelSheila Steafel is a South African-born actress who has lived all her adult life in the United Kingdom.Steafel, who was born in Johannesburg, appeared in many classic television series, including: The Frost Report, Z-Cars, Sykes, The Kenny Everett Television Show, Minder, The Ghosts of Motley Hall,...
- Tessa Pearson - Sally Stephens - Margo Pearson
- Timothy CarltonTimothy CarltonTimothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English character actor. Among other work, he appeared in the sitcoms Executive Stress, Next of Kin and in the television film The Scarlet Pimpernel....
- Jeremy - Christopher Witty - Jonathan
- Linbert Spencer
- Marianne StoneMarianne StoneMarianne Stone was a British character actress. She appeared in many films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s...
- Shop manageress - Troy Dante
- Bernard MilesBernard MilesBernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century....
- Julian Barnes - Second boy (uncredited)
- Terence Brady - Man in shop (uncredited)
- Danique - Woman in cinema (uncredited)
- Vernon DobtcheffVernon DobtcheffVernon Dobtcheff is a French and British actor.Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, to a family of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Preparatory School in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, in the 1940s, where he won the Acting Cup...
- Man In Cinema (uncredited) - Michael Lewis - First boy (uncredited)
- Bruce RobinsonBruce RobinsonBruce Robinson is an English director, screenwriter, novelist and actor. He is arguably most famous for writing and directing the cult classic Withnail and I , a film with comic and tragic elements, set in London during the 1960s which drew on his experiences as 'a chronic alcoholic and resting...
- Man in nightclub (uncredited) - Patsy Snell - Girl at disco (uncredited)
External links
- New York Times review
- Review at The Spinning Image
- http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001504-baby_love/Baby Love at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
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