It was Roman Polanski, and not Alfred Hitchcock, who directed and wrote the screenplay for "Rosemary's Baby". But the film has all the suspense of a good Hitchcock direction, and has nearly the horror of 1960's "Psycho".
"Rosemary's Baby" was produced by William Castle, best known for horror B-movies like "The Tingler" (He also has a cameo, waiting at a telephone booth). This film was a big step up in class, with a cast loaded with future stars and favorite character actors.
Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) are a young married couple who move into an old apartment house in New York City. They plan to have children, but Guy is struggling in his career as an actor. They meet their elderly neighbors, gregarious world traveller Roman Castevet (Sidney Blackmer) and his eccentric, busybody wife Minnie (Ruth Gordon). While Rosemary tries to avoid the Castevets, Guy is fascinated by them.
After Rosemary becomes pregnant, the Castevets intrude deeper into her life. she becomes increasingly isolated from her old friends. Unusual tragedies happen to people that Rosemary knows. She becomes paranoid, certain that the Castevets are witches and have recruited Guy as well.
Comic relief is provided by Gordon, who was well deserving of her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Gordon was perfect at playing a vivacious, pushy, free-spirited elderly woman, and essentially reprised her role in subsequent films ("Harold and Maude", "My Bodyguard".) She also appeared in the 1976 made-for-television sequel, "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby".
Guy wins the 1968 award for Worst Husband. In return for a part in a play, accomplished by crippling a fellow actor, he is willing to turn his sweet, innocent wife over to a coven of witches who have despicable plans for her. What a creep!
The rest of the cast includes veteran character actors Elisha Cook Jr. as the landlord, and Ralph Bellamy as the condescending Dr. Sapirstein. A young Charles Grodin shows up as Rosemary's pediatrician.
Some trivia: the Bramford is actually the Dakota, which is where Lennon was murdered. Tony Curtis has a cameo providing the voice of a blinded actor. Polanski's wife Sharon Tate has a cameo in the party scene. She would be murdered a year later by followers of Charles Manson. Farrow was wed to Frank Sinatra at the time, and he filed for divorce during the filming. It is Farrow that sings the spooky lullaby that opens the film. (79/100)
Quite possibly the finest horror film ever made, this brilliant adaptation of Ira Levin s story of a young couple nervously expecting their first chil...More at Buy.com
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