Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Baby Face (1933)

Adolf Cragg: A woman, young, beautiful like you, can get anything she wants in the world. Because you have power over men. But you must use men, not let them use you. You must be a master! Not a slave. Look here — Nietzsche says, "All life, no matter how we idealize it, is nothing more nor less than exploitation." That's what I'm telling you. Exploit yourself. Go to some big city where you will find opportunities! Use men! Be strong! Defiant! Use men to get the things you want!

I am still obsessed with Barbara Stanwyck right now, in case y'all were wondering. And the more I watch, the more obsessed I'm becoming. What a dame! The above passage is dictated at her character in this super racy 1933 flick by an old cobbler that entertains her at her father's bar - a bar where her father whores her out to the customers, natch - and good grief does she seize a hold of her Nietzschean destiny!

From torn stockings to diamond sashes in five months flat!

With a vengeance. It's basically the ultimate sleep-your-way-to-the-top movie, and Miss Stanwyck's, to borrow the title of a later film of hers I've also watched recently, a real ball of fire. Man oh man. Love her.

ETA I forgot to mention that the passage I quoted above was actually edited from the film in order for it to get released back in 1933, as was a lot of the racier content. Only in 1994 did an unedited print get discovered and now we can watch the film the way it was intended (including a shot of her reapplying her lipstick after luring her boss into the ladies bathroom of their office after hours! Harlot!) You can read more about the censorship at its Wiki page (with worthwhile linkage at the bottom) and in Richard Corliss' piece on the film for Time Magazine's top 100 all-time movies.

Oh and you should read this piece by Kim Morgan on five of her favorite performances by Babs, including Baby Face - it's what set me off on this Stanwyckian binge in the first place (well that and serendipitously catching The Lady Eve on television). And then read this piece on six more. It never ends!
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