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Okay, let's put Barbara Stanwyck up with the greatest actresses AND vamps.

209.180.234.83

I just saw 1933's "Baby Face" and so should you.
She gives one of the most incredible, unforgettable female performances in film history, her cold-as-nails climber rivaling anything Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, or Louise Brooks ever did.
It's amazing the censors let many scenes through in fact, I don't think I've seen such verisimilitude in any modern films, either. Just what does a beautiful, very young girl do when she is orphaned? A far older admirer, a professor, shows her some Nietzche (imagine a modern film doing THAT!), pointing out his most cynical passages advocating a dog-eat-dog attitude if one wishes for success.
She takes these lessons very much to heart and almost immediately begins to treat men as rungs on a ladder.
This film is similar to Lulu's far more infamous "Pandora's Box" but it's superior. The supporting cast is excellent and there is little of the exaggerated acting or melodrama this period is famous for.
Look for a small John Wayne cameo, too.

Follow Ups:

RE: Okay, let's put Barbara Stanwyck up with the greatest actresses AND vamps. - Rod H. 11:38:50 08/10/08 (1)
When I was a kid she always scared me. It was her role in "The Big Valley" that did this, but probably her film roles too. I've seen several of her films recently, like "Stella Dallas" "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", "Crime of Passion", and "The Furies". She doesn't disappoint.

BTW, "Baby Face" was made pre-production code. I'll keep an eye out for it!

Rod
- Yeah, "Big Valley" made me sure she was butch, kind of like the aged - tinear 14:41:44 08/10/08 (0)
  Joan Crawford.
  When I saw Joan in "Grand Hotel," I rubbed my eyes. Couldn't believe that hottie was she.
  Both women, obviously, also had fine acting chops.
Oh, c'mon! NO one else appreciated the blonde vixen in "Double Indemnity?" - tinear 20:12:06 08/09/08 (0)
If you did, check out the far younger Barbara in "Baby Face."
She oozes more sensuality, more raw sexuality, too, than any other actress in a role in memory.
She also creates a very believable character that is complex, vulnerable, yet extraordinarily cruel.

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