Rating: 
Summary: Bravo!
Review: For years, I had heard all the controversy about this film and since I'm interested in New Orleans history, I decided to pick this up and see what all the fuss was about. I was surprised to find it different than how others had described it to me. Yes, the nudity was over the top but the story itself was tragic and well done. Violet is a child living in an adult world who doesn't realize prostitution is wrong and follows in her own mother's footsteps. When Bellocq comes to the Storyville district to photograph the prostitutes, he becomes enchanted with Violet's beauty and falls in love with her. I never felt this movie glorified child prostitution. It told the story of the way things were back then. Life now is much different than it was in the early party of the last century and I think this film shows the ugliness of the brothels of that era. Poor Violet having her virginity auctioned and really not knowing any better. When the creepy old guy pays the money, it made me feel sick to my stomach. I guess that was the point of the movie. It made me feel so many things on so many different levels. All in all, it was a movie that made me think. It was also beautifully shot and very realistic to the time it portrayed. The costumes, the music and the setting were breathtaking. I definitely thought about it after the film was over. A great film but one that is definitely not for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and heartbreaking film!
Review: For years, I had heard all the controversy about this film and since I'm interested in New Orleans history, I decided to pick this up and see what all the fuss was about. I was surprised to find it different than how others had described it to me. Yes, the nudity was over the top but the story itself was tragic and well done. Violet is a child living in an adult world who doesn't realize prostitution is wrong and follows in her own mother's footsteps. When Bellocq comes to the Storyville district to photograph the prostitutes, he becomes enchanted with Violet's beauty and falls in love with her. I never felt this movie glorified child prostitution. It told the story of the way things were back then. Life now is much different than it was in the early party of the last century and I think this film shows the ugliness of the brothels of that era. Poor Violet having her virginity auctioned and really not knowing any better. When the creepy old guy pays the money, it made me feel sick to my stomach. I guess that was the point of the movie. It made me feel so many things on so many different levels. All in all, it was a movie that made me think. It was also beautifully shot and very realistic to the time it portrayed. The costumes, the music and the setting were breathtaking. I definitely thought about it after the film was over. A great film but one that is definitely not for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely a great movie
Review: Great movies, like great literature, are capable of evoking a definite atmosphere, that of the time and setting of the story, the plot of which, then, almost loses significance. The atmosphere in this case is that of New Orleans at the turn of last century - a slight anachronism here sets the story in 1917 to match the timing of the closure of Storyville, New Orleans's red light district, located roughly between Rampart and Robeson, Iberville and St. Louis, of which nothing remains today. That atmosphere is well expressed by the music, especially that of the pianist in the movie, who is modeled after Jelly Roll Morton, a pioneer jazz pianist and composer, and plays his compositions. For the curious listener, I have listed here some of the works by Jelly Roll and when they get played in the movie:
3:30 - 4:45, Winin's Boy Blues #1
5:05 - 7:21, Tiger's Rag, from the typical NO repertory, including the tiger's roar
24:35 - 25:00, Jelly Roll
26:11 - 27:12, Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say #1
30:10 - 31:30, Winin' Boy Blues #2
38:39 - 43:20, (composing of ) King Porter Stomp, in the background when the Susan Sarandon character poses half-naked for the photographer
54:46 - 56:35, (Original Jelly Roll?) Blues, with clarinet and bass
1:47:15 - 1:49:15 Blues
We can add to this the sweet, though perhaps already outdated by 1917, music played by the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra, with the nice Creole clarinet of Louis Cottrell, who used to play in the Preservation Hall.
It is impossible to underestimate the importance of New Orleans in the world of culture, since it can be stated, as Jelly Roll Morton did, that it was for the musical world what Florence of the 14th and 15th century was for the visual arts. The fact that such culture flourished in whorehouses instead at the courts of princes is thus just a reflection of the cultural level of racist American society - which should be proud of its lupanars - which has prevented its own great culture to be accepted by its puritanical obsession, which led to the disaster of prohibition and the present overfilling of prisons for acts, such as possessing marijuana, which are not criminal in most of the civilized world.
Beside the music, there are great moments in this movie. Brooke Shields, besides being pretty, has an interesting role, oscillating between her behavior as a future [prostitute] and that of an immature girl, with a lot of innocence - which incidentally is to be found among all those ladies certainly despised by the pseudo-moralistic mainstream, that same one which seems so popular these days in the US. The Madam looks like a true character, a worn out woman with distinguished manners who keeps up with absinthe and cocaine (not without some humor, as when she says: "there are only two things you can do in a rainy day, and I don't like playing cards!"). And I am sure that the character of the distinguished photographer existed in reality, since I remember having seen an exhibition of pictures of such ladies taken in New Orleans at that time (in spite of the howling of some who wanted to label it degrading and censor it). Add to this the great photography, and the intelligence of Louis Malle, who has always used Jazz in a respectful way, as in "Elevator to the Gallows" with the music of Miles Davis and "Murmur of Heart" with that of Charlie Parker - the latter exploring an even more controversial subject than "Pretty Baby", that of an incest with the mother, in a poetic way.
The only reason I am not giving this movie five stars is because I would have loved to see more of the Jelly Roll Morton character. One has almost to strain his/her ear to listen to his composing of the masterpiece "King Porter Stomp" while the photographer tries to take pictures of Hattie (Susan Sarandon). Perhaps some viewers may prefer Sarandon's naked tits over Morton's playing, but that's not my case!
But on the whole this is a great movie and is to be recommended heartily to everybody, perhaps especially to Americans who generally know close to nothing of the great culture which has been created in the very places their society has systematically despised, by people which are still often considered as an inferior "race" (whatever that means).
Rating: 
Summary: Outrageous and Offensive
Review: I had a major crush on Brooke as a kid, so when I saw this video for sale at a movie rental place I picked it up. I couldn't (and still can't) believe that this movie is only rated 'R' -- I think that it should be either NC-17 or unrated. The subject matter itself is questionable, but the full frontal nudity of her (at 12 years of age!) is borderline pornography--or is that in the eye of the beholder? If they had kept her clothes on I might rate this movie more highly, because she WAS awfully cute at the time.
Rating: 
Summary: An alright movie, but not great
Review: I had always heard that "Pretty Baby" was a good movie, but after I saw it I didn't really know what to think about it. In a way it's a good movie, but in other ways it isn't. It's about Violet (Brooke Shields) and how she grew up around prostitutes and became a prostitute at the age of 12. She ends up marrying a much older photographer (Keith Carradine). The reasons that it can be considered a good movie is that it effectively tells the taboo story of the prostitutes, and it seems like it's realistic. However, none of the actors or actresses did that great of a job acting, at least not in my opinion. Keith Carradine seems lifeless, and it just seems that the director pretty much just jumbled up the story and threw it all in without thinking much about it at times. A lot of people won't like "Pretty Baby" because it's real controversial because of its subject and especially because of Brooke Shields shown nude at only age 12. However, if you look past the nudity and the controversy, you'll find out that it's not a terrible movie. A lot of people seem to really like the movie, so you might want to give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: AN EXPLICIT MOVIE
Review: I was a little shocked when I saw Brooke Shields take off her clothes at 12 years old in this movie. Besides that, the movie ran a little slow, and it didn't really seem to have a plot. It just talks about the everyday life of a child prostitute. A movie to watch if you want to see something racey.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was hoping for a story that would make me think; like Lolita. This was a disappointing movie. It was porely shot and there is a feeling that it was made by an amateur. The characters have no real depth and the acting is sub-par.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Review: I was very happy when PRETTY BABY became available on DVD. Soon as I found that out, I quickly ordered it from amazon.com and it arrived in only a few days.I wish to comment on the following:QUALITY OF FILM TRANSFER TO DVD: Outstanding! Picture was very clear and sharp. Colors were lively and brilliant! No noticeable defects in even the least slightest degree.MUSICAL SCORE: Soundtrack was very beautifull and moving. It represented the time period very well. It definitely contributed to the athmosphere of the time period.SET DESIGN and WARDROBE: This movie reminded me of the motion picture TITANIC, in regards to the representation and superb accuracy of the time period depicted. Just like the musical score, the set design and costumes were very true to the finest detail.ACTING: All performers, to include the supporting cast, did a remarkable job of acting. My favorite actress was Violet played by Brook Shields. She had this thick sassy southern accent and was remarkable for such a young age. The photographer who later married her was also very convincing. STORY: And now for the meat and main part of my review....I also own the movies LOLITA (Both versions), and BEAU PERE---which I received from amazon.com in a timely manner. These movies were HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL. They were a subject of much social/moral criticism! During all of this extreme negative press concerning these young girl movies, I never heard anything mentioned about PRETTY BABY...So I guess PRETTY BABY just sneaked right in and surprised me........AND BOY DID IT DO THAT!!!!!I knew the movie would be about a pre-teen prostitute...But I never would expect what the censors let the movie get away with!!!!!(a) 11 year old Brook Shields posing nude, a full body shot of her laying on a couch, from head to toes!(b) Several scenes of her walking around the house fully nude.(c) Many close-up shots of her bare chest.(d) Highly XXX dialogue, such as the line where 11 year old Violet tells her customer that "I can feel the steam just coming thru my dress"(e) The absolutely unbelievable scene where Violet is teasing this 10 year old black boy about him being a virgin. She then later throws the boy to the ground and jumps on top of him. She continues to tease him while pulling down his pants. Just as she begins to engage in forced sex with him, this black maid enters the barn and scolds Violet and gives her this lecture on how wrong it is for a WHITE girl to breed with a BLACK person.I will save the other examples for you to discover and find out yourself! I do not want to ruin the surprise and SHOCK!In terms of controversey, moral standards, and censorship....this movie blows both versions of the movie LOLITA and BEAU PERE out of the water!!!I really thought the above mentioned movies were the only three mainstream movies out their that challenged the censorships with highly controversial young girl "lolita" content.....But I JUST FOUND OUT THEIR IS A "FOURTH ONE" OUT THEIR IN THE WILD CALLED "PRETTY BABY" THAT BLOWS THEM ALL OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!!For those of you that enjoy and search the world over for mainstream "lolita type" content movies....THIS IS A 100% DEFINITE MUST OWN MOVIE!!!!!! (P.S. I do not want to waste space and your time by going into detail about what the movie was about or plot specifics...you can find out that information by reading the MAIN DESCRIPTION at the beginning, or the MAIN REVIEW...also many reviewers quote and state the same story specifics over and over...Reviews are supposed to give an EVALUATION/RATING REVIEW, not tell the story over and over again in different fashions)
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Baby!!!
Review: I will had put 3 and 1/2 for this movie. The movie had a good atmophere, it sure was different. The story is good but a bit disturbing. Brooke Shields act very good for her age but she get on my nerves with her attitude but that's how she was suppose to act so she was very good. I think for such a young girl we should not had seen her naked, the movie didn't need to see her, a young kid/teenager naked, well I think no movie should put up kids naked. All the cast are good. It's a okay movie but maybe a bit disturbing!
Rating: 
Summary: Why not call it what it is?
Review: I've seen many a description of this movie. But, no one seems to call it what it is...child porn. Seeing a 12 year old girl naked isn't entertainment, it's wrong. The movie could've made it's point without exploiting the body of a then 12 year old Brooke Shields. I'm not knocking nudity in film, there's a nice scene with a topless Susan Sarandon to be found here. But, she's a legal adult. If you were to take a 12 year old girl and take a picture of her in the nude, as it's featured in this film, then you go to get those pictures developed, the police will be waiting for you when you go to pick them up. Seeing a 12 year old girl naked isn't art and it isn't entertainment, it's wrong and regardless of how well this film was made, it's still child porn. Maybe it's not as extreme as some of the stuff that people go to jail for. But, still, it is what it is.
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