The Baby (1973)

Theatrical Poster

A social worker visits one of her assignments, a case where a 21 year old man is being kept in an infantile state by his matriarchal family complete with diapers and a crib.

Sex, drugs and babies, oh my! This completely exploitative film is so politically incorrect that I don’t think there would be a snowball’s chance in hell it would be made in this day and age. The mother played by the grand dame Ruth Roman is on target in her campy, over the top performance and she appears here in those popular muumuus worn by the women of the seventies, ahh nostalgia! Baby, as he is aptly named, played by David Manzy in a career-killing role pulls off the infantile state for the entire runtime. It truly is a sight to behold, almost gag inducing and certainly cringe worthy. Poor Baby is breastfed by his babysitter at one point and of course he has two older sisters, one who is molesting him but both are crazy. Seems insanity runs in the family all stemming from the mother. Baby is really put through the ringer in this movie since the social worker played by Anjanette Comer has her own agenda for the little guy. This is classic exploitation at it’s finest and regardless of the subject matter, this is a well done piece with a big and loony twist at the end.

This is a disturbing piece and it doesn’t fall into the trap of being trashy.. More camp than trash. Of course one baby’s trash is anothers’ treasure I always say. To me, it’s treasure. Great shots and use of light and shadows, however, camerawork is typical of the style from this era. This really does beg the question, how on earth did they get Marianna Hill’s hair so high? I really do recommend this for adult/baby fetishists, fans of Ruth Roman or anyone who is a seventies film completist.