BABY FACE. Warner Bros., 1933. Alfred E. Green, director; Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker, Margaret Lindsay, Arthur Hohl, John Wayne, Robert Barrat. Shown at Cinecon 41, September 2005.

   This screening of the original cut of a pre-code film restored scenes that contributed to editing and re-shoots that the Hays Office demanded to make the film less morally reprehensible.

   Stanwyck, in one of her most striking roles, plays a gold-digger who makes her way up the corporate ladder by seducing her bosses and moving to the next level when the opportunity presents itself. She leaves destroyed lives behind her until she reaches the top where she finds a love that restores her moral sense even as she loses almost everything she’s schemed for.

   There’s a somewhat happy ending in both versions (with the ending more jarring in the edited version). Arthur Hohl is especially good as her depraved father, while a besotted Donald Cook is the most damaged of her conquests.

   This is a black comedy whose taut direction and uniformly good performances keep it from veering into the absurd.

[EDITORIAL NOTE] Click here for a two minute trailer for the film, and here for nearly five minutes from the movie itself, courtesy of YouTube.   — Steve