Baby Doll is a complex of mannerisms, some of which come perilously close to self-parody. Elia Kazan's uneasy blend of surface realism and theatrical exaggeration, Tennessee Williams' injection of the commedia dell' arte into the decaying corpus of the Deep South, and the unmotivated virtuosity of "method" acting give Baby Doll a dated, almost antique quality. This film is for Kazan what The Sun Shines Bright was for John Ford, Meet John Doe for Frank Capra … a stylistic throwback, too calculating in its effects, culturally anachronistic, and, as in all instances, a faithful reflection of the director's most popular weaknesses.

The violent climaxes that flawed Kazan's work in On the Waterfront and East of Eden are more pronounced, though less effective, in this curious chamber drama of avarice and cuckoldry, and the steady thematic drift from normality and logical characterization has culminated in the fantasy of aberration, a...