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Rosemary's Baby Overview:

Rosemary's Baby (1968) was a Drama - Horror Film directed by Roman Polanski and produced by William Castle and Dona Holloway.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Ira Levin published in 1967.

SYNOPSIS

This terrifying film redefines and updates Gothic horror for the modern (and more explicit) age. Cassavetes and Farrow move into a huge, creepy - and suspiciously affordable - apartment. They're taken under the wing of elderly neighbors Blackmer and Gordon, and good things start to happen in Cassavetes's marginal acting career. When the couple decides to have a child, Gordon takes over Farrow's care, and a strange dream that Farrow has of mating with a hideous beast begins to seem possible. Farrow's suspicions are treated as paranoid delusions, until they take shape in the form of her baby, the spawn of Satan. Polanski creates a truly frightening world from Ira Levin's sensational novel in which no one is who they seem and the dreaded underworld exists side by side with everyday life.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Rosemary's Baby was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2014.

Academy Awards 1968 --- Ceremony Number 41 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActressRuth GordonWon
Best WritingRoman PolanskiNominated

Rosemary's Baby BlogHub Articles:

Rosemary’s Baby (1)

Bottom Line: A sly surprise. Directed by: Roman Polanski Rosemary Woodhouse: Mia Farrow Guy Woodhouse: John Cassavetes Also Starring: D’Urville Martin, Elisha Cook, Emmaline Henry, Hanna Landy, Hope Summers, Philip Leeds, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer It’s true only the good die young. A ... Read full article


ROSEMARY'S BABY...Roman Polanski's Horror Classic

A landmark film of the horror genre, Rosemary's Baby (1968) also marked Roman Polanski's directorial debut in the US. The film, a runaway hit on release, was the prototype that inspired the onslaught of big-budget "A" horror films that followed: The Exorcist, The Omen, etc. In the tradition of Hitc... Read full article


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Rosemary's Baby Quotes:

Dr. Abe Sapirstein: Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! What did you say the name was? Machado?

Rosemary Woodhouse: Unspeakable... unspeakable!

[First lines]
Mr. Nicklas: Are you a doctor?
Rosemary Woodhouse: He is an actor.
Mr. Nicklas: Oh! An actor! We're very popular with actors! Have I seen you in anything?
Guy Woodhouse: Well, I did "Hamlet" a while back, didn't I, Liz? Then we did "The Sandpiper"...
Rosemary Woodhouse: He's joking. He was in "Luther" and "Nobody Loves an Albatross" and a lot of TV plays and commercials.
Mr. Nicklas: That's where the money is, right? The commercials.
Guy Woodhouse: And the artistic thrill too!

Rosemary Woodhouse: Oh, God!
Roman Castevet: God is dead! Satan lives!

Minnie Castevet: Oh, are you *preg*nant?
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Rosemary's Baby Facts
William Castle: man near phone booth.

There is a popular rumor that Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey gave technical advice and portrayed Satan in the impregnation scene. This is false - LaVey had no involvement with the film.

According to Mia Farrow, the scenes where Rosemary walks in front of traffic were spontaneous and genuine. Roman Polanski is reported to have told her that "nobody will hit a pregnant woman."

Casting for this film presented its own problems: Polanski at first saw Rosemary as an "All-American Girl" and sought Tuesday Weld for the lead, but she passed on the role. Jane Fonda was then approached, but turned down the offer so she could make Barbarella in Europe with then- husband Roger Vadim. According to his memoirs, Polanski for a while had the idea of having his future wife Sharon Tate on the part of Rosemary, yet he desisted, thinking it would have been unethical. Other actresses considered for the part were Julie Christie, Elizabeth Hartman and Joanna Pettet. Robert Evans suggested Mia Farrow based on her TV work and her media appeal (at the time she was Mrs. Frank Sinatra). Both men wanted Robert Redford for the role of Guy Woodhouse, but negotiations broke down when Paramount's lawyers blundered by serving the actor with a subpoena over a contractual dispute regarding his pulling out of <a href="bio.php?person

The book that Rosemary reads in the cab is the Book of Ceremonial Magic, by A.E. Waite, Chapter IV: The Rituals Of Black Magic: Section 4: The Grimoire of Honorius. The italic section has been entered into the natural flow of the text; the previous paragraph has been shortened to make space for it.

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