In retrospect, Eli Wallach called the film "one of the most exciting, daring movies ever made." But he added, "People see it today and say, 'What the hell was all the fuss about?'"
The working titles of this film were "Twenty-Seven Wagon Loads of Cotton" and "Mississippi Woman". In her autobiography, Carroll Baker reports that on her last day of shooting, Elia Kazan offered to change the film's title from "Mississippi Woman" to "Baby Doll", her character's name, as a present to her.
Tennessee Williams' first choice for the title role was Marilyn Monroe (who was straining to improve herself as an actress at the time and wanted the role badly), but Elia Kazan preferred newcomer Carroll Baker, whose work he was familiar with from the Actors Studio in New York. According to Baker's autobiography, Monroe acted as an usherette at the premiere, which was a benefit for The Actors Studio.