Rosemary's Baby

Yes it is that time of year again and I rewatched Rosemary's Baby for the hundreth time. Ruth Gordon never ceases to amaze me. She walks that fine line of humor and sinister threat. Even the most simplist of gestures, her grabbing Hutch's book from Rosemary's hand still sets me on edge. Pure brilliance! She is one I would have liked to sat down and had a drink with.

The movie holds up so well and I adore seeing 1960's New York.

Thanks for the link Jay. I have never seen her acceptance speech. You are right! Everyone was cast perfectly! Polanski's direction is flawless and being one of his earlier films, he stuck religiously to the book which worked tremendously in his favor.

The suspence, creep factor and paranoia hold upto this day! How I adore this film!

My favorite moment of hers is in the madness of the ending, when she goes to pick up the knife that Rosemary dropped and gives the little spit rub to the spot in the floor where it stuck.

The elevater scene at the end, still has me going crazy! Then the scene where we see the transgressors tip toeing in th background in the false back of the closet, is at the same time hysterically funny yet terrifying.

When Rosemary was having sex with her husband as the devil, she was having those surrealistic dreams from being drugged. I never knew exactly what we were looking at or what they meant.

"Unspeakable!"

I love that Maurice Evans, who played Samantha Stephens' father on "Bewitched" and Emmaline Henry who played Mrs. Bellowes on "I Dream of Jeannie" were in this movie.

It's also one of my favorites.

The Criterion Collection blu-ray is a must-have!

Jane, some of the images are the paintings from Roman and Minnie's walls which were removed then put back into place once the baby is born.

Thanks SNAFU. Crazy me always thought it was supposed to be JFK on a ship.

Jane, there were disjointed images on a ship with some of her friends who later show up at her baby shower. It is a real Jackie O moment.

"Small sanka, six eggs, pay ya back later."

The Criterion Blu-Ray is absolutely gorgeous. The phone booth scene will always leave me breathless. What a fantastic film.

So interesting about Cassavetes. I remember reading the book in high school, awaiting news of the film, and when we heard he had the role, and saw stills (he was not well known), we couldn't believe swarthy older looking Cassavetes would suggest the all-American Guy Woodhouse. And apparently he was no one's first choice in 1967. Yet it's impossible to view the film now and think he's anything but ideal, a perfect fit. He's entirely believable as a NYC stage actor, his career trajectory as listed by Levin even made sense (the part before Abe and Minnie's satanic assist). Watching it now, he is this Faustian narcissist who does the unthinkable. And Cassavetes makes the biggest turns in the character track. Watch him in the third act, when he is trapped with the truth. He squirms, he looks humiliated. A little put-out it's so messy. But also fully complicit at the same time. He has almost no dialog after the party sequence midway, yet in every shot manages to suggest the ways this man makes peace with this unspeakable bargain. It's a more skilled, thoughtful performance than he's given credit for.

Updated On: 10/28/15 at 02:23 PM