BB17-081 — WALKING MY BABY BACK HOME
Shop Now

YEAR: 1953
FILM STUDIO / PRODUCTION: Universal-International Pictures
TAGLINE: No conventional tagline appears on this Australian design
DIRECTOR: Lloyd Bacon
CAST: Donald O'Connor, Janet Leigh, Buddy Hackett, Lori Nelson, Scatman Crothers
SCREENPLAY: Don McGuire and Oscar Brodney; Lenny Bruce also contributed uncredited material
PRODUCER: Ted Richmond
MUSIC: Henry Mancini contributed to the score
GENRE: Musical / Comedy / Romance
POSTER PRINTER: No printer credit is visible in the supplied image — left unrecorded
FORMAT: Australian Daybill

Walking My Baby Back Home is a 1953 Universal-International musical starring Donald O'Connor and Janet Leigh, with Buddy Hackett making his feature-film debut. The story follows a returning serviceman and musician who joins a travelling show and falls for the show owner's niece. AFI notes that it was Universal's first musical since 1948's Up in Central Park.

POSTER DESIGN FEATURES: A beautifully restrained Australian Daybill printed almost entirely in bright blue against white. Donald O'Connor dominates the design in a large dancing sailor pose, with the unusually shaped WALKING MY BABY BACK HOME title filling the lower half. Janet Leigh receives prominent billing despite not being pictured. The minimal two-colour artwork, oversized typography and generous white space give this poster a particularly strong 1950s mid-century graphic-design aesthetic.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE: There are some excellent names tucked into this film. Alongside Donald O'Connor and Janet Leigh, it marked Buddy Hackett's feature-film debut, while Scatman Crothers appears in the supporting cast. The film later gained an unusual second life through Columbo: clips from it appear in the 1975 episode Forgotten Lady, in which Janet Leigh plays an ageing former musical star watching one of her old films.