Paramount Pictures released Rosemary’s Baby on 12 June 1968 in Canada and the United States.

It’s a great film. Everyone should see it. But I want to talk about something else. You see, William Castle was first meant to direct the film. He bought the screen rights to the film before the book had even been published. And he ended up with sole producer credit. But Paramount would not pony up the money with him as producer. They wanted a man who would go down in history as a great director and child rapist.

I can’t find it, but I read a film critic once who claimed that we were so lucky that Polanski directed Rosemary’s Baby rather than Castle. I might work more to find the quote, but it is conventional wisdom. You know film critics! Regardless, the very idea rubs me the wrong way. There are many reasons.

1. William Castle was a very successful studio director for a decade and a half. It is absurd to claim that he lacked skill. On the other side is Roman Polanski. What is this secret sauce that he had as a director that made his work so great? Oh, that’s right! The bullshit auteur theory that no one who actually makes films takes seriously.
2. Most people only know Castle’s low-budget exploitation films and their associated distribution gimmicks. And even there, few critics know more than a handful of Castle’s exploitation films. Did the writer really think that if Castle had directed this film, devil dolls would have dropped from the ceiling at the end of the film?!
3. The budget of Rosemary’s Baby was ten to twenty times that of the classic films of Castle’s exploitation period. Again: are we really to believe that his film would have looked like those films?

Comments like this show that people don’t know much about William Castle as a director. But they also show that people don’t know what producers and directors do. And that tends to be the case with everyone who likes the auteur theory.

Having said that, I certainly think a Castle-directed Rosemary’s Baby would have been different. But I don’t see it being that different. For one thing: Castle produced it! But more important: the screenplay is famously close to the novel. And the film works because the story works.

Consider Polanski’s later film, The Tenant. It is equally well-made. But it was a flop — with audiences and critics. It’s gained popularity since, but that’s mostly as critics just apply “genius” to anything he does. But the film isn’t as entertaining. And that comes down to source material — the story.

I would love to see a William Castle-directed Rosemary’s Baby. But I don’t think it would much matter. What we have is great, and what we would have had would have been great. Let’s watch it!

Other 12 June Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Irwin Allen (1916-1991): Producer known for his disaster films like The Poseidon Adventure.
• Samuel Z Arkoff (1918-2001): Co-founder of American International Pictures.

Films

• 13 Frightened Girls (1963): William Castle’s kids film about children who uncover an espionage ring.
• Count Yorga, Vampire (1970): A vampire holds a seance.
• Clash of the Titans (1981): Greek gods do their thing.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): An archaeologist fights Nazis.
• Predator (1987): Army men are hunted by an extraterrestrial killer.
• The Witches of Eastwick (1987): Three women fall under the spell of a charming demon.
• The Boneyard (1991): Zombie children go wild at the morgue.
• Witchcraft 8: Salem’s Ghost (1996): A couple finds their new home has a gateway to Hell.
• Forest of the Dead (2007): Cannibalism at summer camp.
• Doghouse (2009): Women turn into cannibals.
• What Really Frightens You (2009): Three people face what they fear after they give interviews about it.

---

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.