In 1973 director Ted Post (Hang ‘Em High, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Magnum Force) teamed up with writer/producer Abe Polsky (The Gay Deceivers, Rebel Rousers) to release this oddball film about the Wadsworth family’s secret and the social worker that threatens to tear their world apart.
Mrs. Wadsworth (Ruth Roman) and her two beautiful daughters, Germaine (Marianna Hill) and Alba (Suzanne Zenor) have an idyllic life living off the government checks that they receive to care for Baby (David Manzy), a 21-year old man who behaves like a young infant. But their new social worker, Ann Gentry (Anjanette Corner), has taken a peculiar interest in Baby. Ann visits on a daily basis and is convinced that Baby is far more capable than the Wadsworths suggest.
In one of the bonus features director Ted Post suggests that he only made “The Baby” because he saw a chance to say something positive about a rather strange situation. I’m not exactly sure what that positive statement is. I don’t even know if the film’s ending is happy or seriously demented. It’s probably a little of both.
What makes The Baby effectively creepy is that it maintains a certain tone of seriousness that never gives completely into the film’s campy elements. Somehow Post and his cast have made a film that is substantially better than the script that Polsky gave them to work with. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all but was too captivated (not to mention a little horrified) to do so.
For this new DVD release Severin Films has created a new transfer from the original negative and the results are very pleasing. Bonus features are a bit slim with only the aforementioned interview with Post as well as an interview with Baby himself, David Mooney (AKA David Manzy), and a theatrical trailer. I might have preferred a commentary track but the two interviews actually cover most of what you’d want to know about the development and production of the film.
If you’re in the mood for something that is as good as it is different I highly recommend picking up The Baby.