Baby Doll: An Autobiography

Freudians may explain Baker's attraction to controlling men by the absence of fatherly affection in her life, since he is noticeably missing from her autobiography. However no matter how difficult her relationships with these men were, she admits to having a sensitive disposition which eventually crumbles into 2 breakdowns and 3 year depression, which kept her unemployed. Baker presents her major breakdown in the late 1960's with inner dialogue which is painful to read, although this style is used amusingly in her coverage of the making of the film Harlow. Perhaps Baker's reasoning can be faulted since her inner logic reveals the way up and out of her depression, whereas other sufferers of depression are often trapped within their repetitive circlic thoughts. From a showbiz autobiography view, Baker's book is entertainly written, with anecdotes from her days in vaudeville, the Actors Studio, Hollywood, and her 8 year stay in Europe, where she would meet her current (at the time of writing) husband, and finally choose a non-dominating partner. She has tales of Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Shelley Winters, Elia Kazan, Ben Gazarra, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Mitchum and Jerry Lewis. She considers Dean to be asexual rather than homosexual, based on the non-threatening nature of his friendships with women, and says he spent time with the cowboys only for "research" for his role in Giant. Baker vividly describes the riot at the premiere of Giant, the factions on the set, Dean's cruelty to Natalie Wood and his dislike of Dennis Hopper, which is ironic since Hopper has always claimed to have been close to Dean. Apparently Tennessee Williams first choice for Baby Doll was Monroe but we aren't told why the casting never eventuated, but Baker's description of Monroe at the Actors Studio - "She let her body language do most of the talking" - is funny and accurate. Baker mentions that in But Not For Me Clark Gable had shared secrets about being in front of the movie camera that no amount at the Actor's Studio could have provided, but doesn't disclose those secrets. She also lists titles that her contracts with first Warner Bros and later Paramount made her was unable to play - The 3 Faces of Eve, The Brothers Karamazov, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and a TV special dancing with Gene Kelly. When Monroe is fired from Fox, Baker says that she saw her sitting every night at La Scala's looking unkempt and despondent, highlighting the falseness of Monroe's claim that Fox wasn't "where she lived". Baker had suggested Monroe go to Europe but Marilyn said she couldn't because she was alone. Baker too would be fired from her studio, be despondent, but eventually go to Europe, alone, but perhaps because Baker had children to send over to be with her, she survived.