Rosemary's Baby (1968)

What have you done to its eyes??!

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Chocolate mouse!

The film is so good, that you start to believe that even Dr. Hill (Charles Grodin) is in "on it."

Maurice Evans character was gay, right?

How scary is this? I’ve never seen it and I positively loathe scary/horror movies.

Is it more psychological or is there actual bloody things happening ?

Paging Dr. SAPARSTEIN, Dr. Saparstein will you please pick up?

Does anyone have a Scrabble game I can borrow?

R5. Well, we do meet his daughters at his burial but he also writes 'guide books' for young boys so who knows.

Mia was robbed of an Oscar nomination. She's in every friggin scene and no one could have played Rosemary like she did.

R6 It is more psychological. Think elevated horror before elevated horror. It is not a slasher or a gore fest.

It is a slow build with complex character development. The entire cast give excellent performances, with Mia Farrow, Ralph Bellamy, and Ruth Gordon being the standouts.

It made me run out to buy some tannis root.

That's not fair to Saperstein!

Biggest takeaway is don't talk to your neighbors.

He's a Charlie Nobody!

Oh shut up with your "Oh, Gods" or we'll kill ya, milk or no milk.

I'm dying for a Vodka Blush.

Sidney Blackmer is no slouch either

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

They’re a bunch of not very bright bitches who ought to mind their own goddamn business!

This is my very favorite horror movie - maybe my favorite movie period.

It’s too bad Roman Polanski is such a horrible person, because that guy could DIRECT!

I love that all the witches are portrayed by old Hollywood character actors.

Just seeing Hope Summers scream “Hail Satan” is worth the price of admission.

with Tony Curtis.

[quote Just seeing Hope Summers scream “Hail Satan” is worth the price of admission.

Yes. Miss Summers would just randomly shout "Hail Satan!" Sometimes she varied it with "Worship the Dark Lord!" That's why she was kicked out of Mayberry Bapto-Methodist Church in a lost episode of TAGS, R21.

Rosemary's lullaby

My mother used to sing this song to me when I was little.

I liked the porn version, Rosemary's Booby.

When a discussion turns to the idea if "a perfect film" this is usually the first that comes to mind for me. It's also a great favorite.

I've seen it many times and there is always some new detail or aspect to appreciate.

Damn. This discussion is going to make me watch it again because I haven’t seen it in about 10 years and some bits are getting hazy.

[quote]Just seeing Hope Summers scream “Hail Satan” is worth the price of admission.

I never really trusted Clara. There was something a little frightening about her.

John Cassavetes was SO hot 🥵 in this movie.

I was in 5th grade the first time I saw this with a friend, and just the intro credits with Rosemary singing REALLY creeped us both out, we were soo excited. It's been a favorite ever since the first viewing.

Yes Mia was robbed of The Oscar, probably because no one wanted to piss off Sinatra. Who won that year? Streisand and Hammy Hepburn?

It’s so good, especially for the period imagery of NYC and also the set and costume designs.

Ruth Gordon was amazing as Minnie. The whole idea of your irritating, nosy neighbors worshiping Satan feels close to plausibility when you own an older co-op in Manhattan.

Polanski’s use of nudity with elderly characters was probably shocking at the time.

The horror of Rosemary’s Baby was what it represents on a nonsupernatural level - an abusive marriage to a malignant narcissist. That’s why the film still resonates, because there will always be that kind of relationship.

My interpretation of the story was always that Levin was writing about his parents. In that context, he himself would be “Rosemary’s Baby” - and that it represented the guilt he felt in being the cause of his mother staying in an abusive relationship with his father. Most women stay in abusive relationships for the sake of keeping their family together.

I know very little about Levin so I have no way of corroborating this. It just seemed like the kind of ironic autobiographical thing a writer would do.

There is not a single bad performance

How charmed was Mia Farrow’s life at this time? This film was such a big hit, and she was married to Sinatra, and had a hit tv show in her tailwind, too, I think.

She was served with divorce papers during filming. Polanski ran over schedule so Mia wasn't able to co star with Frank in The Detective and he ended the marriage.

Mia was on every movie magazine cover imaginable from 64-68.

What makes the film more uncomfortable is that the coven is played by comfortable actors the audience would have known from their comedy film and television roles.

Is there a curse attached to the film?

R40. Nope

I read the book a number of times as a teen and this is one of those books where I am convinced the book would be much better than the movie. So I've never seen it.

Ira Levin has written a number of great novels, my favorite being a 1970 gem entitled "This Perfect Day." Eerily prescient. Read it if you can find it. Do not read the Wikipedia, as it is entirely made up of spoilers!

R42 Polanski gave a very accurate and close adaptation of the novel. It is worth a watch

I like my movies extraordinary faithful two.

The undertaste!

[Quote] Is there a curse attached to the film?

Mafucken

r43 the novel was easy to adapt to film. I think Levin purposefully wrote it that way. Very pragmatic author.

Wasn't the husband meant to be a Robert Redford type? I think it's obvious from the start that Cassavetes is a bad guy. He's so shifty.

[quote] Maurice Evans character was gay, right?

Grace Cardiff: Fag hag or FWB?

John Cassavetes was good looking

R50 = Gena Rowlands

He was in Luther and Nobody Loves An Albatross.

Be quiet, you're in Dubrovnik, I can't hear you.

Yes Mia was robbed of The Oscar, probably because no one wanted to piss off Sinatra. Who won that year? Streisand and Hammy Hepburn?

Yes.

Also nominated were Patricia Neal for The Subject Was Roses, Vanessa Redgrave for Isadora, and Joanne Woodward for Rachel, Rachel. All excellent performances.

“Its plain old Lipton’s Tea, now drink it!@

“It is the Year ONE!”

How scary is this?

I think you see a naked woman when Rosemary is being babied. But it's not Mia.

You look like a piece of chalk.

God is dead! Satan lives!

I love how Elishia Cook Jr. is the real estate agent in the beginning.

You even think HE is in on it by the end!

Isn't there a plot hole about the former tenant being an old lady who would have been incapable of moving the furniture to block the linen closet entrance to next door?

R61 No, she dragged the wardrobe. You can see the drag marks. The characters thought it was odd too, given how old she was

Not content with being Satan's mistress.... MIA IS BITCH!

[quote]Also nominated were Patricia Neal for The Subject Was Roses, Vanessa Redgrave for Isadora, and Joanne Woodward for Rachel, Rachel. All excellent performances.

And it was Patricia Neal's comeback film after she suffered a debilitating stroke.

Elf Shot Lame Witch

No gore, just horror. Just the way I like it. Too, bad APARTMENT 7A sucked so badly. I wanted to like it. Only watch for the costumes and Minnie.

This is no dream! This is really happening!!

Is it a mental breakdown or is it really happening? Polanski did a great job directing. Whatever shortcomings he has as a person, he made several great films. I like his version of Oliver Twist. Also, like Chinatown.

and The Pianist.

Tennis, anyone?

Frigging auto correct....

Tannis anyone?

It’s in my top 10 favorite horror films for sure. I like it more than The Exorcist to be honest. The feeling of dread and oppression in it just grows and grows as the film goes on. Unforgettable. I highly recommend the book as well, which the film sticks to very closely.

ooh this thread is still alive

In the 1968 film, Minnie said that Terry had stayed with them in their apartment. I wonder why in the prequel, "Apartment 7A" Terry is gifted her own apartment by the wealthy Castevets. The prequel producers could have simply made better choices so as to honor the classic original. A horror in and of itself.

the satan costume which my much younger husband rolls his eyes at.

I don't remember this.

[quote]R48 Wasn't the husband meant to be a Robert Redford type? I think it's obvious from the start that Cassavetes is a bad guy.

Yes. And the film was offered to Redford first, to star opposite Tuesday Weld. This would have given the newlywed couple a sunshiny, Barbie and Ken style wholesomeness.

Monsters… monsters! Unspeakable. Unspeakable!

I do believe Sharon Tate is in the party scene. She is not the first blonde extra, she's the smiling (unmistakable) one with the headband. The mink fur you see in that scene belonged to Sharon. She lent the coat to the production. One of Sharon's best friends was also in the party scene, Wende Wagner. Alongside them in the same scene was Joanna Barnes who worked with Sharon in both THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES and DON'T MAKE WAVES which were both Ransohoff productions

Sharon wasn't showcased in RB because she wasn't loaned out by her studio, Filmways, which she was under contract to AND Polanski and Sharon's producer had a major falling out over the editing of a previous collaboration, THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. I love that film, too.

As a New Yorker, I am very jealous of the Woodhouses rent controlled apartment.

If I had a child I’d probably sacrifice it in exchange?

^Been there, done that.

r79 That floorplan is flipped backwards and there wasn't a second bathroom, there was a butler's pantry between the kitchen and the living room.

and Joan Crawford and Van Johnson.

A scene was shot, but not used, of the characters attending an off-Broadway play. Mia Farrow and Emmaline Henry attend a performance of "The Fantasticks" and meet Joan Crawford and Van Johnson as themselves. This was deleted to reduce the film's running time.

[quote]Mia was on every movie magazine cover imaginable from 64-68.

Incidentally, she was on the very first cover of People magazine in 1974 to promote THE GREAT GATSBY.

[quote]R81 That floorplan is flipped backwards and there wasn't a second bathroom, there was a butler's pantry between the kitchen and the living room. — the floorplan troll

Well, that’s the floor plan author Ira Levin did for the book, so he could keep the setting straight in his head as he was writing. Roman Polanski wanted to follow the book as closely as possible… but he did make changes here and there (ie, adding the butler’s pantry so there’s the tension of more than one kitchen door to lock when Ro’s friends want to be alone with her at the party.)

The original Terry 1968 Playboy playmate of the year Angela Dorian.

[quote] my favorite being a 1970 gem entitled "This Perfect Day." Eerily prescient. Read it if you can find it.

R42, This Perfect Day is on Amazon, with a short, non-spoiler description.

I love the party scene. Their eclectic group of friends says so much about Roe and Guy. They were the cool couple.

R1's clip says it all---Mia was the weakest player in this melodramatic campfest. Tuesday Weld would have been interesting. Sandy Dennis would have been perfect, except it was too close to her role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf".

Mia Farrow is enchanting in her fragility; she's just about perfect for the role- Pauline Kael

I agree with Kael. Farrow's vulnerability works for the role. Dennis would have seen too old for the role and isn't the actress to get audience empathy.

R74

“Given” not “gifted”

Gift is a niun

Give is the verb you’re looking for

Dennis isn't the actress to get audience empathy.

She had it in a few other roles but she was too Actors Studio quirky to be an American sweetheart.

R39- Imagine Lucy and Viv in those roles. Lucy could have played the role of Ruth Gordon.

Tuesday Weld would have been interesting

But Tuesday was notorious for turning down quality roles.

R93 yes, she famously turned down "Bonnie & Clyde" (1967) which made Faye Dunaway a superstar and earned her an Oscar nomination.

Weld explained that she had chosen to reject these roles precisely because she believed they would be commercial successes: "Do you think I want a success?

What an idiot.

Don't think Weld would convey the same fragility and vulnerability as Farrow. IMO, the casting was perfect.

[quote]she famously turned down "Bonnie & Clyde" (1967) which made Faye Dunaway a superstar

It would have been like having Bonnie and Clyde played by Thalia Menninger and Warren Armitage.

Weld also turned down Lolita, True Grit, Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice, Cactus Flower, Norma Rae, The Stepford Wives, Poltergeist, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Roman Polanski’s Macbeth - because she didn’t want to appear nude.

(European Francesca Annis had no such compunction.)

Mia's haircut took on a life of its own in the media at that time. I thought it looked great on her.

They should have had Minnie get a Vidal cut too.

R84 I've always thought the woman in the green pants suit at the party who is visible in that photo was played by Kenny Roger's ex-wife, Marianne Gordon, very early in her career (well before marrying Kenny). Marianne is listed as being in the movie and this is the only person who possibly could be her.

That is her, r101.

He was the object of Julie Christie's affections in Richard Lester's Petulia (1968)

^ I think this was meant for the George C Scott thread.

Making of video.

Conversations Inside The Criterion Collection

Hey...let's make love

Perhaps you’d better have your legs tied down, in case of convulsions.

The R106 interviews talk about the tension between Roman Polanski and John Cassavetes.

"Satan is his father now!"

Cassavetes is very sinister as Guy and I love it. There's no doubt that this man would make a pact with the devil. He's also very sexy and you can understand why Rosemary is attracted to him. But Hutch clearly doesn't like him.

I wonder if that hideous water fountain is still at the Dakota.

I’m tired of hearing about how great Dr. Sapirstein is!

"Why would she cover up her vacuum cleaner and her towels?"

I knew this would happen. I kept telling my wife that she would kill herself, but she pooh-pooh'd me.

Vodka blush? They're very popular in Australia.

Carpet! (coughing and pointing) Carpet!

John Cassevetes is sooooooo sexy in this film.

John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands made one sexy couple!

I wish they had won Best Director and Best Actress for A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE.

They lost to Francis Ford Coppola for THE GODFATHER PART II and Ellen Burstyn in ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.

He also directed her in her other Oscar-nominated role, GLORIA.

And their son, Nick Cassavetes, directed his mom in THE NOTEBOOK.

My mom really liked this movie. When I got older I rented it and I thought it was great. I just watched it a few days ago. I know Roman Polanski is controversial and sick, but this movie still fascinates me. Especially John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon. Later on I watched "Look what Happened to Rosemary's Baby" which wasn't all that great, but I wanted to see what happened to him. Steven McHattie reminds me of Joachim's Joker for some reason.

All of them Witches

There are no witches...really

[quote]Mia Farrow is enchanting in her fragility; she's just about perfect for the role

Agreed; she's not just petite, but has a child-like quality about her, which is about the only way she could put up with an asshole like Guy. If anything, it's surprising the Devil didn't already *have* his soul (or even want it for that matter)

[italic]Typhoon! Typhoon! It killed fifty-five people in London!

I’m watching it again right now. I want to suck Dr. Hill’s dick. He’s hot.

I don't find Cassevette hot in this film. I keep picturing him morph into Satan and it doesn't make me hot. Horrified, yes.

You...while I was out?!

John Cassavetes is NOT hot in this.

He’s creepy and annoying… as he was every second of his LIFE!

I [italic]won’t [/italic]have an abortion!

As long as she ate the mouse, she can't see nor hear. Now sing!

I can no longer associate myself with............

"He was in LUTHER and NOBODY LOVES AN ALBATROSS."

Redundant..

Reply 132, metaphor for that line of dialogue that Luther=evil and albatross=curse that cannot be escaped from.

[quote]As long as she ate the mouse, she can't see nor hear. Now sing!

Eeeeuww.

It's the first day of my period....

What the hell is that?

^It was intentional. Watch the damn movie.

[quote] It's spelled mousse

Please leave this thread immediately.

I ff’ed.

Rosemary: I dreamed someone was raping me. Someone inhuman.

Guy: Thanks a lot!

You don't mean my tie do you?

Well, he's got mine, and I've got his.

Can anyone elaborate on the character Grace Cardiff? Is there more about her in the novel? Why is her last name a city in Wales but her accent is Eastern European?

Don't you think we should talk about it? The way you haven't been looking at me.

Catholics only. I wish we weren't bound by these prejudices...

He sounds like a sadistic NUT!

"...and those sisters"

What's that?

I've been to Vidal Sassoon.

Don't tell me you paid for that?!

The first few times I saw RB was on network tv where the devil rape sequence was cut to bits. It was nothing but Roe passing out, hearing chanting and seeing the look of horror on her face as she says THIS IS NO DREAM, THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING. So, imagine my peasant surprise when I finally saw the whole thing for the first time. What an amazing, trippy scene.

r143, there's not much more about her in the book. I think just a passing reference to her calling Rosemary from time to time to let her know there's no change in Hutch's condition. The accent was purely an actor's choice; there's no mention of her background in the book at all.

I'm sure someone smarter than I could theorize about the meaning behind her name. I feel like Ira Levin often uses names to imply or evoke other meanings. Cardiff isn't far off from cardinal, a key role in the Catholic church.

I think Grace Cardiff is kind of a red herring. Rosemary doesn't know who she is and she has this exotic European accent.

Is she a Satanist? A friend? Is she giving Rosemary the book to mislead or help her?

You never really know and THAT is a little terrifying.

But does the book mislead her R151?

You look great. It's that haircut that looks awful. If you want the truth, honey, it's the worst mistake you ever made.

Oh, are you preg-a-nant?

No marijuana?

A “Let’s Be Rosemary’s Baby” thread is needed!

We must assume Dr. Saperstein knows whereof he speaks. He should. He charges enough.

"It's not fair to Saperstein!" for that reason alone, Rosemary should've been a kitchen knife in Guy's neck.

I guess they didn't rehabilitate her very well....

Muriel never visits a city when the press is on strike.

I've seen this film countless times. There are a ton of interesting side facts about this movie. I just discovered that one of the minor coven members was played by Ryan O'Neal's mother, Patricia O'Neal. She is in the clip below, wearing a gray dress and remarks "We're your friends, Rosemary." (I'm not talking about Hope Summers/Clara from the "Andy Griffith Show; I'm referencing the other woman).

I just wonder if this film would still work if it was set in present times. The 1960s were really the last time women were meek and subservient to their husbands as a whole. Without a dominant patriarchal society, would Rosemary allow herself to be meek and isolated today? Would she let her override her on every decision?

Err him

R162 I mean maybe in a more subtle way the dynamic could still play out. I mean Guy basically told her, “Listen you dumb bitch. I’m not paying both Saperstein and Dr. Hill”. The dynamic could still play out to an extent if he is the breadwinner.

Tannis root? You sure you don't mean anise or orris?

[quote]I just wonder if this film would still work if it was set in present times.

What difference does it make? It would be pointless to remake it.

r162 wasn't Mother sort of a remake of Rosemary's Baby?

No pills.

Minnie Castevet has a herbarium. I'm gonna have her make a daily drink for you that'll be fresher, safer, and more vitamin-rich than any pills on the market.

[quote] wasn't Mother sort of a remake of Rosemary's Baby?

Not at all

R165, is that a quote from the film, or are you asking?

There's no such thing as tannis root. Ira Levin made it up. I guess he thought "Satan root" would be unsubtle.

It's a quote from Hutch to Rosemary.

Shhhh. I think I hear the Trench sisters.

"Aren't you his mother?"

Shhh. I think I hear the Trench sisters chewing.

MAD magazine called it "Rosemia's Booboo" and it ended with the baby having Alfred E. Newman's face.

I’ve always thought the Branford apartment building was American counterpart to the Three Mothers in Dario Argento’s Suspiria trilogy. The Trench sisters were probably on par with Mater Suspiriorum, Mater Tenebrarum, and Mater Lachrymarum.

I just noticed he has pierced ears.

Pierced ears and piercing eyes.

At first I thought they wanted me for some kind of a sex thing -Terry

Dianne Wiest is amazing as Minnie in the prequel Apartment 7A.

The old bat slaved all day, now eat it!

Pain begone I will have no more of thee.

Question. Was Dr. Hill (Charles Grodin) in on it or did he just think she had lost her marbles?

R182 Saperstein was well respected in their profession. He's obviously going to think she lost it and Abe was to be trusted.

111 West 50th Street.