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‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Behind-the-Scenes Documentary: Roman Polanski and Mia Farrow Discuss Making the Horror Classic

'Rosemary’s Baby' Behind-the-Scenes Documentary: Roman Polanski and Mia Farrow Discuss Making the Horror Classic
'Rosemary’s Baby' Behind-the-Scenes Documentary: Roman Polanski and Mia Farrow Discuss Making the Horror Classic


A masterwork of suspense, “Rosemary’s Baby” has as much claim to the title of “best horror movie ever made” as any other film. In a series of interviews recorded two years ago as part of Vice’s Conversations Inside the Criterion Collection series, director Roman Polanski, star Mia Farrow and producer Robert Evans speak at length about crafting the endlessly unsettling film. Watch the entire 47-minute video above.

READ MORE: Review: NBC’s ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Can’t Escape Satan, Or Roman Polanski Comparisons

Farrow — whose performance in the title role somehow didn’t receive an Oscar nomination — recalls a phone call from producer William Castle, who was considering dropping Polanski as director and helming the film himself. “My heart sank. A lovely man, but I knew that the power of the film would lie in Roman telling the tale.” Producer Robert Evans echoes that sentiment in his gravelly voice, saying the film was simply “too good for Bill Castle” but would be perfect for Polanski.

Evans faced resistance from executives at Paramount, as Polanski had yet to make a film in America, but eventually got his way.

READ MORE: The Films of Roman Polanski, Ranked Worst to Best

Farrow didn’t fare so well at first, as her dedication in the part factored into her divorce from then-husband Frank Sinatra, whose initial response to the script was, “I can’t see you in it.” He and other doubters along the way were proven very wrong indeed: “It was the happiest work experience, most fulfilling, that I ever had,” she says near the end.

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