Elia Kazan's Baby Doll is a little gem from the 1950s, a lascivious tale of fractured masculinity and budding sexuality. Not surprisingly, it caused a huge stir when it came out, and was even banned by the Catholic League of Decency, among other things. Having been released around Christmas time, it was too unwholesome for many viewers who were over-steeped in family values of the kind this film casually shatters. Today, it is still surprisingly titillating, despite its lack of the modern quota of flesh (and probably because of that). I have read that Kazan was a fantastic director of actors, jump-starting the careers of some of the greatest talents like Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Eva Marie Saint. Not that the following hypothesis necessarily holds with that statement, but I have a theory that Kazan used Karl Malden for this role simply because he has the most phallic-looking nose that has been or ever will be. Perhaps, Malden method-acted from the tip of his nose outward, thereby creating the frigid, frustrated persona that is so memorable in this film.
