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Don't be deceived by the cute title. This nasty piece of business is a wild pre-code tale full of sin, immorality and lust. Its main character, played flawlessly by Barbara Stanwyck, is an openly amoral woman without a shred of decency or regret. We discover that Stanwyck's father has been pimping her at his speakeasy since she was fourteen. At his death, marrying a little Nietzschean philosophy into her need to climb social and financial ladders, she seduces one man after another with no regrets. The sex and immorality are left out of camera range, leaving questionable situations to the imagination of the viewer.

In "Baby Face," Warner Bros. breaks every rule in the book with wild abandon that had to have driven the religious conservatives of the day into nuts. In the spring of 1933 it was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.

Come see what all the excitement was about. It's actually a really fun, and racy, movie.

If I mention a film-noir setting, where does your mind go? Maybe to a damp alley at night or a detective's office or maybe a police interrogation room. Probably not to the New Mexican dessert. Yet that's exactly where this very dark film-noir is set.

A man is trapped in a cave. No problem. A local contractor can have him out in eighteen hours. Unfortunately that rescue gets in the way of other peoples' needs. Instead of a quick rescue a six days-long media circus (and then, later, an actual circus) is staged for maximum effect.

The reporter at the center of the story is played by Kirk Douglas in a powerful performance. He's cynical, unethical, unscrupulous and a master manipulator. He was fired from a high-profile newspaper because of his drinking problem, lying and even for having an affair with the wife of one of his bosses. He convinces a local corrupt sheriff to milk an underground rescue attempt to pile up votes for the next election, and together they bully the contractor to delay. Even the wife of the trapped man is a cold remorseless woman. As in most film-noirs, sympathetic characters are rare.

This movie comes from Billy Wilder who also gave us, "Double Indemnity" and "Sunset Boulevard." This movie is as dark and cynical as its cinematic siblings.

At is heart there is a basic meanness, a violence, a grit that makes this movie unforgettable. In its day it failed to find its audience. Today, its statements about the media and about mis-applied ethics are, perhaps, more timely than when this film was released 65 years ago. Take a look!

So I've got this thing that I do. If I see a film's coming on, I'm not sure if I want to see it, I'll record it. When I watch it I'll give it 15 minutes. If it hasn't given me anything in 15 minutes, no matter the rave reviews and rants, out it goes.

So I recorded IN America. At the 15 minute mark my thumb hoovered dangerously over the delete button. I wasn't sure. Maybe there was something there. I couldn't decide. Alright, I decided. I'll renew my 15 minute mark.

Around minute 30 I still wasn't completely certain. I paused the film. Delete? Watch? Ah nuts, maybe 15 more minutes.

By the 45 minute mark I realized what was happening. The movie was a constricting serpent. In those 45 minutes it had slowly coiled around my legs and was working its way up my torso. No sense fighting it now.

By the film's end it had done its trick. It squeezed all of the skepticism and reluctance out of me. They came oozing out of my tear ducts. I went from casual reluctance to realizing that I just found one of my all time favorite movies.

If you don't cry by the end of the movie schedule a doctor's appointment. Ask him to check you for a pulse.