Rosemary's Baby

"He chose you, honey! From all the women in the world to be the mother of his only living son!"

- Minnie Castevet

A novel by Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby became better known as a 1968 film by Roman Polanski. It starred Mia Farrow as the eponymous Rosemary, who moves in with her husband Guy into a New York apartment. Their neighbors are the Castevets, an elderly couple who seem nice enough at first. She has a dream where she is raped by a demon, only to learn she is pregnant a few weeks later. It is eventually revealed that and that.

The film was shot at the Dakota Apartments in New York City, where John Lennon lived and where he was murdered in 1980. The front entrance where Lennon was shot is shown more than once.


 * Adaptation Distillation / Pragmatic Adaptation: both averted. Ira Levin has stated that he was amazed by how faithful the film was to the novel; Stephen King described is as so faithful that you really only needed one or the other.
 * Affably Evil: The Castavets, particularly Roman.
 * All Just a Dream:
 * Though in the sequel novel, it turns out the first book really was a dream. A prophetic dream. DUN! DUN! DUN!
 * Aluminum Christmas Trees: Younger viewers may be a little surprised to see that Rosemary has to see if she's pregnant by visiting the doctor and getting her blood drawn, and then wait to find out the results later.
 * The Antichrist: They hope so, at least.
 * The Bad Guy Wins:
 * Big Applesauce
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Pretty much anyone who's in the cult.
 * The Cameo: Elisha Cook Jr! Hooray!
 * Wait a second... is that William Castle outside the phone booth?
 * That's Tony Curtis on the phone as the actor who's blinded and replaced by Guy in a play.
 * Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Inverted with Rosemary. She was raised Catholic but has drifted away from the church, and the Castevets find her a ripe target. Meanwhile, her stolidly Catholic sister can sense that Rosemary is in danger but Rosemary doesn't get anything of the sort.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The Scrabbleboard pieces.
 * Hutch's missing glove.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Dr. Hill.
 * Christianity Is Catholic: Roman criticizes the Catholic Church, but not a word is said about any other one.
 * Comatose Canary: Rosemary fills this role in the time between Rosemary's Baby and Son of Rosemary.
 * Cult: A Satanic one, at that.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Guy.
 * Developing Doomed Characters: This movie has a very slow start. But once it gets going...
 * Downer Ending
 * Evil Is Stylish: Definitely averted with the.
 * Extreme Doormat: Rosemary. Everything about Guy under Jerkass? She basically goes along with it.
 * Fetus Terrible: Although aside from causing her several months of unusually extreme pain, the fetus itself doesn't have that much influence while it's in Rosemary's womb.
 * Enfant Terrible: When it's finally born.
 * Friends Rent Control: A struggling actor and his non-working wife living in a prewar apartment in an exclusive Upper West Side building that, even in the '60s, a hedge fund manager could barely afford in real life.
 * Although there might be a reason for this. The previous tenant, Mrs Gardenia, was an old woman who had lived in the apartment for decades. New York rent control only allows a rent to be raised a certain percentage above its previous price (the building superintendent points this out, saying that they would raise the rent if they were allowed). Rosemary and Guy might be renting the apartment for only a fraction more than Mrs Gardenia's original lease some twenty or thirty years before.
 * The book also explicitly states that Rosemary and Guy are living off residuals from a commercial Guy did years before. He would get a check every time the commercial aired.
 * Hollywood Satanism
 * Incubus
 * Jerkass: From the beginning Guy was more than a bit of a jackass. Seriously, what man repeatedly states to his wife's face that he thinks her haircut makes her look hideous and that it's the worst decision she's ever made?
 * The night after, Rosemary notices some scratches on her. Guy tells her he got too excited last night and then handwaves it as "Baby Night." Outside of the fact that.
 * Large Ham: Ruth Gordon, and it earns her an Academy Award.
 * Meaningful Echo: "To 1966! The year one!"
 * Number of the Beast: Present throughout, right down to Rosemary's due date: 6/66.
 * Nightmare Face: In the final scene when Rosemary discovers her baby. While not disfigured, the look on Rosemary's face when she first sees her child, and her eyes go INCREDIBLY WIDE...you don't even have to see what the baby looks like, her horrified expression tells it all.
 * Also Satan, though (thankfully) we don't see too much of it.
 * Nosy Neighbor: Minnie and Roman.
 * People in Rubber Suits: Satan. It's not a very convincing suit, which is probably why they avoid showing you too much.
 * Phone Booth
 * Product Placement: Rosemary makes a big deal about the fact that her new haircut is Vidal Sassoon. All of the characters then say it doesn't look good on her.
 * Put on a Bus: In the made-for-tv sequel, Rosemary is literally put on a (driverless) bus in the beginning of the movie and is never seen again.
 * Religious Horror
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Terry Gionoffrio.
 * Satan
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Rosemary becomes suspicious of her husband and the neighbors he's befriended. What was at stake? Everything.
 * Shout-Out: Rosemary mentions in passing that she and Guy enjoyed watching a production of The Fantasticks the other day.
 * Significant Anagram: Steven Marcato the warlock. Roman Castevet the neighbor.
 * Through the Eyes of Madness: Hinted at,
 * Title Drop: In-universe example. Rosemary reads a book titled "All them witches". When she starts growing more and more paranoid she starts rambling "Witches... witches... all of them, witches... All them witches!" and then seems to laugh to herself.
 * Urban Legends: Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey wasn't actually involved in this film, and that isn't him in the demon costume.
 * Through the Eyes of Madness: Hinted at,
 * Title Drop: In-universe example. Rosemary reads a book titled "All them witches". When she starts growing more and more paranoid she starts rambling "Witches... witches... all of them, witches... All them witches!" and then seems to laugh to herself.
 * Urban Legends: Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey wasn't actually involved in this film, and that isn't him in the demon costume.