Baby Doll (1956)

(Mississippi; roughly contemporary, possibly 1952 based on the comment of one character)
IMDb

Risky film from the play by Tennessee Williams, about a middle man whose life is complicated by his teen aged bride. Karl Malden is that man, Archie Lee Meighan, a now struggling cotton miller who has gone deep in debt to secure the favor of his unenthusiastic child bride 'Baby Doll' (Carroll Baker). Archie Lee had been smitten by the young lase for some time, and had to negotiate an unusual agreement with her dying father to get her. In fact he doesn't really get to get her, or in Biblical parlance 'know' her, until her 20th birthday, and then only if his economic situation is favorable (even though they had legally married more then a year before that point). Archie's economic outlook however is not favorable, on account of a new county resident who has opend up his own mill, the Italian from El Paso Silva Vacaroo (Eli Wallach). With Baby Dolls 20th birthday approaching a desperate Archie burns down his competitors mill so as to satisfy both his economic needs and his lust.

Vacaroo figures out whats up in fairly short order, teasing the vital pieces of information, and a signed confession out of poor Baby Doll. In fact the young beauty ends up as something of battle field on which the two men wage there war, which becomes explicitly overt in the last half hour of the picture (though probably not in the way that your thinking). In fact most of the real good scenes occur between Wallach and Barker, as he alternatively seduces and frightens the young women as per his needs. Baker is pretty good in her part, though I haven't decided yet if her 'growing up' towards the end of the film is good or bad plotting, though I should probably give Williams the benefit of the doubt and say that its good (I'm still thinking about the Williams film I saw last week, The Night of the Iguana). Ms. Baker was given a large promotional buildup for this film and touted as a great new find, despite already scoring with a winning role in the previous years Giant (which is in strong contention to be my favorite film of all time). Trivia buffs will remember that Baker was featured on the biggest billboard of all time as part of the promotion for this movie. As for living up to her potential, Carroll's a solid actress but probably best known today for her role in Kindergarten Cop. Baby Doll though is her legacy film. Finally that delapedate plantation house is an inspired setting for a Williams drama.