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Baby Love (1968 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Baby Love' is a 1969 British drama film directed by Alastair Reid and starring Diana Dors, Linda Hayden Keith Barron and Ann Lynn.Simon Sheridan, 'Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema', Titan Books 2011 p 59-60
The film tells the story of a 15 year-old schoolgirl who seduces her adoptive family after her mother committed suicide.
Reid went on to work in television, while Linda Hayden, who was only 15 at the time of filming, later appeared in sexploitation movies, including two of the entries in the 'Confessions' film 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 'Withnail & I' (1987).
Plot
Luci Thompson is a 15 year old school girl whose mother Liz, suffering from cancer, commits suicide. She goes to live with Robert Quayle, a childhood friend of Liz's, who is married to Amy and has a son, Nick. Lucis arrival causes sexual and psychological tensions to surface, bringing the family close to destruction.
Cast
* Diana Dors as Liz Luci's Mother
* Linda Hayden as Luci
* Troy Dante as The Lover
* Ann Lynn as Amy (as Anne Lynn)
* Sheila Steafel as Tessa Pearson
* Dick Emery as Harry Pearson
* Keith Barron as Robert
* Lewis Wilson as Priest
* Derek Lamden as Nick
* Patience Collier as Mrs. Carmichael
* Terence Brady as Man in Shop
* Marianne Stone as Manageress
* Christine Proyor as Shop Girl
* Yvonne Hormer as Shop Girl
* Vernon Dobtcheff as Man in Cinema
* Linbert Spencer as West Indian
* Sally Stephens as Margo Pearson
* Timothy Carlton as Admiral
* Christopher Witty as Boat Crew
* Julian Barnes as Boat Crew
* Michael Lewis as Boat Crew
* Bruce Robinson Man in nightclub (uncredited)
Production
The film was based on the debut novel by Tina Chad Christian. Film rights were bought by producer Michael Klinger, who had just left Compton, a production company he had run with Tony Tenser. 'Baby Love' would be his first movie as an independent producer.
The first director attached was Henri Safran. Linda Hayden was cast after an extensive talent search. She was only fifteen years old and had to do her screen test topless.
Safran was fired by Klinger and replaced by Alistair Reid. Linda Hayden said "Michael got rid of him because I dont think he didnt like what he saw, or something, but ...er... it was just that little bits of it were a bit tacky."
Most of the finance came from Star Cinemas in the UK. Klinger sold the film to Joseph Levine of Anglo-Embassy for over $1 million.
Hayden later said the film was "one of those projects that could so easily have gone wrong. It could have been a bit sleazy. Alastair made the film more grounded, so it wasnt just done for sensationalism."
Hayden recalled Diana Dors "hadnt had a resurgence then; she was still yesterdays news. And then suddenly, as the film came out, she had a resurgence. She was terrific. They did use her name quite a lot to hang the film on and it certainly paid off. She was quite a coup, and a smashing lady. I loved her. Her character casts a long shadow over the film. It needed somebody like that to do it." The film helped revive her career.
Reception
Box Office
The film was the 11th most watched movie of the year in the UK in 1969."The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times [London, England] 27 Sept. 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 Apr. 2014The film took over half a million dollars in both the North America and the UK, and over $300,000 in other territories.
receipts.
Howard Thompson of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, he praised the technical brilliance and wrote: "Ugly as it is in flavor and content, the picture is a genuine pint-sized spellbinder in construction, mood and mounting tension."
References
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