Pretty Baby is a 1978 American historical drama film directed by Louis Malle, written by Polly Platt, and starring Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine, and Susan Sarandon.

Set in 1917, it focuses on a 12-year-old girl being raised in a brothel in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, by her prostitute mother.

The project marked Malle's first American film production, as his previous works had been produced in his native France.

Although the film itself was mostly praised by critics, it caused significant public outcry and media controversy due to its depiction of child sexual exploitation, as well as the nude and semi-nude scenes featuring Shields, who was 11 years old at the time of filming, and whose character was a child being abused by grown men.

His photographic activities fascinate the precocious Violet, who believes the man is falling in love with her mother, something which, strangely, makes her jealous.

Violet is a restless child, frustrated by the lengthy precision of early photography that one must endure to compose and take photographs.

Violet eventually returns to Nell's after quarreling with Bellocq, but local social reform groups are forcing the brothels of Storyville to close.

Two weeks after the wedding, Hattie and her husband arrive from St. Louis to collect Violet, claiming that her marriage to Bellocq is illegal without parental consent.

Screenwriter Polly Platt developed the idea for the film after meeting with Louis Malle and learning of his love of New Orleans jazz music, which was an integral part of the Storyville red-light district in the city in the early 20th century.

[9][10]: 129–130  Platt based the screenplay on the life of a young girl who was forced into prostitution by her mother, which was recounted in historian Al Rose's 1974 book Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District, as well as the life of photographer Ernest Bellocq, who photographed various New Orleans prostitutes in the early 20th century.

[7][9] Following her acclaimed performance as a child prostitute in Taxi Driver (1976), the studio was keen on casting Jodie Foster as Violet.

[11] Due to its controversial subject matter, the production stated they were "being very cautious because of the nature of the material and ... following all the rules aimed at safeguarding child performers: teachers, psychological testing, parental cooperation and so forth.

"[7] Screenwriter Polly Platt stated that Malle insisted on continuous rehearsals throughout the shoot, which frustrated much of the cast and crew.

[13] Commenting on the production, Malle stated "Pretty Baby was harder than I expected, and in the meantime, I fell in love with America."

The continuing controversy over Shields's underage nude scenes resulted in the film being banned in the Canadian provinces of Ontario[5]: 39 [15][16] and Saskatchewan[17] (until 1995).

The Bill passed through the Commons last week and is expected to have a fairly easy passage in the Lords, in which case it should receive the Royal Assent some time during July [...] There is no doubt that this Bill will apply to any film which purports to show children under the age of consent engaged in scenes which may be found to be indecent “ Ferman went on to comment on the screening that had taken place with Home Office officials and representatives of the DPP, who while acknowledging the merits of the film, expressed a view that the film could fall foul of the bill (if passed), further internal discussion would be and prior to the passage of the bill, and the film was eventually seen after it became law, resulting in two cuts to indecent images being made in July 1978.

It performed poorly in terms of box office revenue, failing to even make it into the top 50 highest-grossing films of both 1978 and 1979.

Though the setting is a whorehouse, and the lens through which we see everything is Violet, who ... herself becomes one of Nell's chief attractions, Pretty Baby is neither about child prostitution nor is it pornographic."

Canby ended his review with the claim that Pretty Baby is "... the most imaginative, most intelligent, and most original film of the year to date.

"[29] On the other hand, Variety wrote that "the film is handsome, the players nearly all effective, but the story highlights are confined within a narrow range of ho-hum dramatization.

"[30] Mountain Xpress critic Ken Hanke, looking at the film from the perspective of 2003, said of Pretty Baby: "It was once shocking and dull.

[7] While majoring in French literature at Princeton University, Shields went on to write her senior thesis, The Initiation: From Innocence to Experience: The Pre-Adolescent/Adolescent Journey in the Films of Louis Malle, Pretty Baby and Lacombe, Lucien (1987), comparing the themes of lost innocence in both films, as well as its role as a predominant theme across the director's filmography.