Barbara Stanwyck and John Wayne, Baby Face
Baby Face (1933) isn’t just worth seeing because it’s a good movie, it’s also worth seeing for the cast, alone. Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Theresa Harris, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Cook, and a very young John Wayne are all outstanding in this one. When I first watched Baby Face (many, many years ago), I had no idea John Wayne (one of my personal favorite stars) was in the movie. When a man shows up in the workplace making eyes at Barbara Stanwyck’s character Lily, I froze and thought, “No way! Can’t be!” – but the camera went in closer and, sure enough, there he was in all his glory… just without a hat and not a horse in sight!
I hate to admit it now, because I’ve grown to like him a great deal, but this is actually the movie that made me a George Brent fan. Before Baby Face, I had only seen him in a few Bette Davis movies and I came away unimpressed each time. Due to the fact that I loved him so much in this movie (and in each one I’ve seen since), I suspect it had more to do with the boring characters he had played than it did with him. He was outstanding in this movie.
George Brent and Barbara Stanwyck