Internationally acclaimed director Louis Malle has taken a taboo subject --child prostitution-- and created in Pretty Baby a film of humanity and beauty. E.J. Bellocq (Keith Carradine) is a photographer in 1917 obsessed with the prostitutes in New Orleans' red-light district. Violet (12-year-old Brooke Shields), a young girl, bewitches Bellocq with her curiosity and naive coquettishness. Malle's level-headed treatment of this controversial theme and exceptional performances by the entire cast (especially Susan Sarandon as Violet's prostitute mother) make Pretty Baby a must-see for all serious film fans.