Punctuation & Baby Killers
I’d never heard of this film till today, but maybe that’s due to the poster’s punctuation?
Does he kill babies who cry, or are they trying to raise a warning about an approaching baby killer? Do they mean he blubbers as he kills?
Wait – are they trying to taunt an infant murderer? (“Baby-killer gonna cry? Cry baby-killer, cry!”)
Whatever the case, at least he’s keeping the mad-dog population down – going from a teenage rebel to an animal control technician may not seem like that great of a film plot, but Corman was working with tight budgets back in the late-’50s.
The hyphenated compound noun is dying, and it shouldn’t be.
I realize it’s often a stylistic choice, but, when it’s a matter of clarity, I’d much rather a little extra-punctuation.
Cry, baby-killer (a command to cry)
Cry “baby,” killer (a command to cry the word baby aloud)
Cry-baby killer (as in the killer is a cry-baby)
Cry-baby killer (as in the killer of cry-babies)
The issue is even more confused by the song (it isn’t clear enough to see who sings it) Cry, baby cry. Either it is a command to cry a baby cry or a comma is misssing.
Of course, this is a Roger Corman film so it will have girls and guns, not grammar.
Very nice!
I suspect there may also be long scenes involving people doing nothing but sitting around and smoking.
An aside: this was apparently Nicholson’s first film.