Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby is an American feature film of the occult and supernatural thriller genres. It is based on the novel of the same name written by author Ira Levin and published by Random House in hardcover edition in March, 1967. The film was written and directed by Roman Polanski and produced by William Castle Productions. It was distributed through Paramount Pictures and premiered theatrically on June 12th, 1968. Rosemary's Baby stars Mia Farrow as the film's titular protagonist, Rosemary Woodhouse, with John Cassavetes as her husband, Guy Woodhouse. Co-starring in the movie is Ruth Gordon as neighbor Minnie Castevet, Sidney Blackmer as her husband Roman Castevet, Maurice Evans as family friend Hutch, and Ralph Bellamy as Doctor Sapirstein. The premise of the film involves a secret Satanic cult that lives in the Manhattan apartment building that Rosemary and Guy move into. Guy is likewise indoctrinated into the cult and impregnates Rosemary while purportedly being possessed by the Devil.

Notes & Trivia

 * Rosemary's Baby (1969) redirects to this page.


 * The tagline for this film is "Conceived in terror, born in fear". Another tagline is "It's not what you're expecting".


 * Production on Rosemary's Baby began on August 21st, 1967. Principal filming concluded on December 6th, 1967.


 * Rosemary's Baby was filmed at the Dakota Hotel at 1 West 72nd Street, Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City, New York.


 * There are seventeen credited cast members in this film. There are eight female cast members and nine male cast members.


 * Rosemary's Baby had its premiere in New York City, New York on June 12th, 1968. It premiered in the United Kingdom on January 23rd, 1969 in London, England.


 * Rosemary's Baby was screened at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece on September 18th, 1968.


 * A home video version of Rosemary's Baby was released on DVD by Paramount Home Video on October 3rd, 2000. It was released on Blu-ray on November 5th, 2013.


 * A sequel film titled Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby? was produced as a television movie and premiered on ABC on Friday, October 29th, 1976 under ABC's "Friday Night Movie" banner. The movie starred Patty Duke in the role of Rosemary Woodhouse. George Maharis played the part of Guy Woodhouse. The child of Rosemary and Guy is identified as Adrian in the film. Coincidentally, Patty Duke originally auditioned for the role of Rosemary Woodhouse, but lost out to Mia Farrow.


 * Rosemary's Baby was remade as a television miniseries in 2014 on NBC. The movie starred Zoe Saldana as Rosemary Woodhouse and took most of its narrative cues from the Ira Levin novel rather than the original movie.


 * The central setting for this movie is the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York.


 * This is Roman Polanski's fifth film as a director. It is his second movie in the horror genre. He previously directed The Fearless Vampire Killers in 1967. This is Polanski's first U.S. produced film.


 * Actress Wende Wagner is also known for playing the role of secretary Lenore Case on the superhero action series The Green Hornet.


 * Actor Maurice Evans is also known for playing ape community leader Doctor Zaius in Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes.


 * Composer Krzysztof Komeda is credited as Christopher Komeda in this film.


 * Director of photography William A. Fraker is credited as William Fraker in this film.


 * Actress Victoria Vetri is credited as Angela Dorian in this film.


 * Actor Elisha Cook, Jr. is credited as Elisha Cook in this film.


 * Actress Hanna Hertelendy is credited as Hanna Landy in this film.


 * Actor Phil Leeds is credited as Philip Leeds in this film.


 * Actress Wende Wagner is credited as Wendy Wagner in this film.


 * Actor Ralph Bellamy is also known for playing the role of Colonel Paul Montford in the 1941 Universal Pictures film The Wolf Man as well as Erik in Ghost of Frankenstein.


 * Actor Charles Grodin is also known for playing ambitious oil magnate Fred Wilson in the 1976 version of King Kong.


 * Actor Phil Leeds is also known for playing character named Howard Gough in the "They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be..." episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker in 1974.


 * In the "Forbidden Fruit" episode of American Horror Story, the character of Miriam Mead chronicles how she went to see Rosemary's Baby in the theater and fell in love with horror movies.


 * The lullaby that is played in the beginning of the film called "Sleep Safe and Warm". It was composed by Krzysztof Komeda and sung by actress Mia Farrow.


 * This is Mia Farrow's first major film work, and her first work in the horror genre. She previously had a minor uncredited appearance in John Paul Jones in 1959, and played Karen Eriksson in the 1964 war film Guns at Batasi and a woman named Caroline in A Dandy in Aspic, which was also released in 1968.


 * In 2014, Rosemary's Baby was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.


 * Famed Satanist and founder of the Church of Satan Anton LaVey once claimed to have worked as a consultant on the film and even had a cameo appearance in it. However, there is no evidence that has surfaced to support LaVey's claim.

Recommendations

 * American Horror Story: Murder House
 * American Horror Story: Apocalypse
 * Exorcist, The
 * Exorcist II: The Heretic
 * Exorcist III, The
 * Lucifer's Women
 * Omen, The

Keywords
1960s | Antichrist | Babysitter | Births | Boat | Butcher knife | Cemetery | Coven | Cult | Cultist | Demons | Doctor | Dream | Hospital | Incantations | Knife | Manhattan | New York | New York City | Nurse | Occult | Partier | Possession | Priest | Rape | Satan | Satanism || Suicide | Witchcraft