Rosemary's Baby Offered The Great Scenery Spot

Rosemary's Baby is a 1967 best-selling horror novel by Ira Levin, his second published book. Just outside of the Dakota, a landmark apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, John Lennon was shot, this is the building Rosmary was living at in the film. The Dakota Building on Manhattan's Upper West Side was renamed The Bramford for the film.

It centers on Rosemary Woodhouse, a young mother-to-be, who begins to suspect her elderly neighbors are not the kindly souls they appear to be. She soon discovers they are the leaders of a coven of witches and her husband, a struggling actor, allowed the devil to impregnate her in exchange for a successful career, but she is unable to convince anyone to believe her.

Interestingly, themes explored in "Rosemary's Baby" also appear in Levin's The Stepford Wives; both books involve women who sense something wrong is happening, but no one believes them. And in both books, the plot is set in motion by their husbands' goals (for a successful acting career in "Rosemary's Baby" or a perfect wife in "Stepford Wives.")

The movie was filmed partially on location at the the Dakota, off Central Park West in New York City. The Dakota apartment building has had a series of ghost sightings and strange happenings. A little girl, appearing in 19th century clothes, said "today is my birthday," to a workman and the next day a co-worker was killed, Patterson recounted. He also noted bad luck that befell some of the people involved in the film Rosemary's Baby which was partially filmed at the Dakota, such as producer William Castle who received death threats. Interestingly, a scene in the movie that depicts where a woman jumped from a balcony, is the same part of the sidewalk where John Lennon was shot, notes Author R. Gary Patter.
Levin published a sequel to the novel, titled Son of Rosemary in 1997. Levin dedicated it to Mia Farrow. The TV movie, "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby" was made in 1976, but was not connected to the novel.

Roman Polanski's 1968 film told the story of a young Manhattan woman whose husband trades their unborn child in a Faustian pact with a group of devil worshippers. A year after its release, Polanski's own wife, the actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family. Tate was pregnant with the couple's first child when she died.

It was on the set of this film that Mia Farrow received divorce papers from then-husband Frank Sinatra.

There was a popular belief that Alfred Hitchcock was originally offered the chance to direct this movie. This has been deemed false. The director was never approached.

There is a popular rumor that Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey gave technical advice and portrayed Satan in the impregnation scene. This is false - LaVey had no involvement with the film.

Directed by Roman Polanski, whose pregnant wife actress Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969 by Charles Manson and his followers, who titled their death spree "Helter Skelter" after the 1968 song by The Beatles, one of whose members, 'John Lennon,' would one day live (and in 1980 be murdered) in the Manhattan apartment building called The Dakota - where Rosemary's Baby had been filmed.

There is a heatedly disputed rumor that Sharon Tate appears unbilled at the party Rosemary gives for her "young" friends.

Mia Farrow does the vocals on the title-sequence lullaby.
This was Roman Polanski's very first adaptation, and it is very faithful to the novel. Pieces of dialog, color schemes and clothes are taken verbatim.

William Castle acquired the movie rights to the novel. Robert Evans of Paramount agreed to green-light the project if Castle did not direct. This was due to Castle's fame and reputation as a director of low budget horror films. Castle was allowed to make a prominent cameo appearance.

According to Mia Farrow, the scenes where Rosemary walks in front of traffic were spontaneous and genuine. Roman Polanski is reported to have told her that "nobody will hit a pregnant woman."

This film, along with Repulsion (1965) and Locataire, Le (1976), forms a loose trilogy by Roman Polanski about the horrors of apartment/city dwelling.
This was Roman Polanski's first American film. His first American film was going to be Downhill Racer (1969), but Robert Evans of Paramount decided that "Rosemary's Baby" would be more suited to Polanski.

Casting for Rosemary's Baby presented its own problems: Polanski at first saw Rosemary as an "All-American Girl" and sought Tuesday Weld for the lead, but she passed on the role. Jane Fonda was then approached, but turned down the offer so she could make _Barbarella (1968)_ in Europe with then- husband Roger Vadim. According to his memoirs, Polanski for a while had the idea of having his future wife Sharon Tate on the part of Rosemary, yet he desisted, thinking it would have been unethical. Other actresses considered for the part were Julie Christie, Elizabeth Hartman and Joanna Pettet. Robert Evans suggested Mia Farrow based on her TV work and her media appeal (at the time she was Mrs. Frank Sinatra).

Both men wanted Robert Redford for the role of Guy Woodhouse, but negotiations broke down when Paramount's lawyers blundered by serving the actor with a subpoena over a contractual dispute regarding his pulling out of Silvio Narizzano's film Blue (1968). Other actors considered were Richard Chamberlain, Jack Nicholson and James Fox. Laurence Harvey begged to do it, Warren Beatty turned it down claiming "Hey! Can't I play Rosemary?", before the part was offered to John Cassavetes. For Minnie and Roman Castevet, William Castle suggested Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the famous Broadway acting duo. He even tried to convince Polanski to let him play the part of Dr. Sapirstein, a role eventually filled by Ralph Bellamy.

According to John Parker's recent biography of Jack Nicholson, Robert Evans suggested Nicholson to Polanski but, after their meeting, the director stated that "for all his talent, his slightly sinister appearance ruled him out".