Pretty Baby

R

Released Apr 5, 1978

1 hr. 49 min.

Drama

List

71%

28 Reviews

Tomatometer

58%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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

Premiered Mar 20

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Pretty Baby on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Ram L

To use a snippet from a critic's review out of context and in isolation—"...all the cries of child pornography..." — 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 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 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 out of 5 stars

01/18/24

Full Review

Cees T

Controversial but slow and uneventful. 6/10

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/22/23

Full Review

Bobby G

Child pornography that would never be allowed today.

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 out of 5 stars

05/10/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Louis Malle

Director

Brooke Shields

Violet

Keith Carradine

Bellocq

Susan Sarandon

Hattie

Frances Faye

Nell

Antonio Fargas

Professor

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Violet Gets Married

1:49

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Can I Stay Here?

2:12

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Hattie Takes Violet Away

2:10

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Prepping Violet

2:01

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Bidding on Violet

2:11

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - I Want to Be Respectable

2:07

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - The Girls at the Lake

2:08

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - We're Going to Be Married

2:13

Pretty Baby: Official Clip - Violet, You Alright?

1:39

View more videos

72%

50%

American Gigolo

45%

46%

Heartburn

63%

76%

The Day of the Locust

81%

78%

Children of a Lesser God

TRAILER

for Children of a Lesser God

45%

73%

Losing Isaiah

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Tom Milne

Sight & Sound

A sentimental education beautifully played by both Carradine and Brooke Shields.

Mar 17, 2020

Full Review

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

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

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

As compelling as it is humane.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 20, 2020

Full Review

Bernard Drew

Gannett News Service

Weak on every level.

Nov 1, 2019

Full Review

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

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
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

Most Popular at Home Now