Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

71% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 58% Audience Score 5,000+ Ratings Hattie (Susan Sarandon), a New Orleans hooker, meets a photographer named Bellocq (Keith Carradine) at her brothel one night and, after he photographs her, he befriends her 12-year-old daughter, Violet (Brooke Shields). When Violet is brought on as a working girl by her mother's madam and Hattie skips town to get married, Violet quickly loses her innocence and focuses on reuniting with Bellocq. But a life with Bellocq is compromised for Violet after her mother returns to town. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

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Critics Reviews

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Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Tom Milne Sight & Sound A sentimental education beautifully played by both Carradine and Brooke Shields. Mar 17, 2020 Full Review Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Judith Martin Washington Post It takes a robust and humorous approach to life in a brothel, where the work done is less important than the community spirit; and "naughty" would be a far better word to describe the sex scenes, while the rest is decidedly nice. Feb 1, 2018 Full Review Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Louis Malle's Pretty Baby is a pleasant surprise: After all the controversy and scandal surrounding its production, it turns out to be a good-hearted, good-looking, quietly elegiac movie. Rated: 3/4 Feb 1, 2018 Full Review Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com As compelling as it is humane. Rated: 3.5/5 Oct 20, 2020 Full Review Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Bernard Drew Gannett News Service Weak on every level. Nov 1, 2019 Full Review Pretty Baby | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Eleanor M. Gates Sojourner In a large sense, Pretty Baby's style makes its own statements; yet the aesthetic appeal of what we are shown remains strangely inconsistent with much of the film's content. Aug 14, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ram L To use a snippet from a critic's review out of context and in isolation—"...all the cries of child p*rnography..." — If one could go beyond those cries, one would see here a sensitive depiction of human nature, of human-ness (not humaneness), of the tenderness of the heart that one seldom gets to see in movies. This is most definitely not a movie to one whose mind is confined to societal sensibilities; it *will* be enjoyed by people who can appreciate sensitive portayals of the manner in which the human heart—and mind—works. "Der Wille des Herzens," as we say; the will of the heart. Rather many hearts in the case of this movie. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/29/24 Full Review Sarah W The manner they made this movie is so appalling to the point I had to read the script in order to avoid further watching the movie.At this point let's just renamed the movie to "Child exploitation 101". Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/24 Full Review Janice M The movie was fair, a little slow moving, but Brook Shields should have been removed from her mother's home for letting her or putting her in this movie.. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/24 Full Review Cees T Controversial but slow and uneventful. 6/10 Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/22/23 Full Review Bobby G Child p*rnography that would never be allowed today. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/15/23 Full Review Georgan G Saw this when it came out and again in 2023. One of those rare films that is excellent in many ways. The sub-culture is captured, as is the children born into that era's prostitution. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Pretty Baby

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Cast & Crew

Louis Malle Director Brooke Shields Violet Keith Carradine Bellocq Susan Sarandon Hattie Frances Faye Nell Antonio Fargas Professor
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Movie Clips

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Pretty Baby

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Violet Gets Married Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Violet Gets Married 1:49 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Can I Stay Here? Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Can I Stay Here? 2:12 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Hattie Takes Violet Away Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Hattie Takes Violet Away 2:10 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Prepping Violet Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Prepping Violet 2:01 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Bidding on Violet Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Bidding on Violet 2:11 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - I Want to Be Respectable Pretty Baby: Official Clip - I Want to Be Respectable 2:07 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - The Girls at the Lake Pretty Baby: Official Clip - The Girls at the Lake 2:08 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - We're Going to Be Married Pretty Baby: Official Clip - We're Going to Be Married 2:13 Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Violet, You Alright? Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Violet, You Alright? 1:39 View more videos

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Pretty Baby

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Movie Info

Synopsis Hattie (Susan Sarandon), a New Orleans hooker, meets a photographer named Bellocq (Keith Carradine) at her brothel one night and, after he photographs her, he befriends her 12-year-old daughter, Violet (Brooke Shields). When Violet is brought on as a working girl by her mother's madam and Hattie skips town to get married, Violet quickly loses her innocence and focuses on reuniting with Bellocq. But a life with Bellocq is compromised for Violet after her mother returns to town.

Director
Louis Malle

Producer
Louis Malle

Screenwriter
Polly Platt

Production Co
Paramount Pictures

Rating
R

Genre
Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 5, 1978, Original

Release Date (Streaming)
May 1, 2012

Runtime
1h 49m
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