--- title: 'Pretty Baby (1978)' type: 'film' director: 'Louis Malle' released: '1978-01-01' runtime_minutes: 109 certification: 'R' genres: - 'Drama' - 'Romance' countries: - 'United States' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/pretty-baby-1978' review_count: 0 imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078111/' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Pretty Baby (1978) 1978 · R · 109 min · Drama, Romance · United States ## Synopsis Pretty Baby is a 1978 American historical drama film directed by Louis Malle, written by Polly Platt, and starring Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine, and Susan Sarandon. Set in 1917, it focuses on a 12-year-old girl being raised in a brothel in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, by her prostitute mother. Barbara Steele, Diana Scarwid, and Antonio Fargas appear in supporting roles. The film is based on the true account of a young girl who was sexually exploited by being groomed to engage in prostitution as a child, a theme that was recounted in historian Al Rose's 1974 book Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District. It is also based on the life of photographer Ernest Bellocq, who photographed New Orleans prostitutes in the early 20th century. The title, Pretty Baby, is derived from the Tony Jackson song of the same name, which is featured on the film's soundtrack. ## Credits - **Director:** [Louis Malle](https://cinepixo.com/people/louis-malle) - **Producer:** [Louis Malle](https://cinepixo.com/people/louis-malle) - **Screenplay:** [Polly Platt](https://cinepixo.com/people/polly-platt) - **Original Music Composer:** [Jelly Roll Morton](https://cinepixo.com/people/jelly-roll-morton) - **Director of Photography:** [Sven Nykvist](https://cinepixo.com/people/sven-nykvist) - **Editor:** [Suzanne Fenn](https://cinepixo.com/people/suzanne-fenn) ## Cast - [Mae Mercer](https://cinepixo.com/people/mae-mercer) - [Barbara Steele](https://cinepixo.com/people/barbara-steele) - [Susan Sarandon](https://cinepixo.com/people/susan-sarandon) - [Diana Scarwid](https://cinepixo.com/people/diana-scarwid) - [Brooke Shields](https://cinepixo.com/people/brooke-shields) - [Keith Carradine](https://cinepixo.com/people/keith-carradine) - [Gerrit Graham](https://cinepixo.com/people/gerrit-graham) - [Antonio Fargas](https://cinepixo.com/people/antonio-fargas) ## Criticism on CinePixo No reviews published yet. Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/pretty-baby-1978 Film facts: Wikidata (Q1889403); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.