<P> Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American psychological horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1967 novel of the same name by Ira Levin . The cast features Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Angela Dorian, Clay Tanner, and, in his feature film debut, Charles Grodin . The film chronicles the story of a pregnant woman who suspects that an evil cult wants to take her baby for use in their rituals . </P> <P> Rosemary's Baby earned almost universal acclaim from film critics and won numerous nominations and awards . In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant ." </P> <P> In 1965 Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), a bright but somewhat naive young housewife, and Guy (John Cassavetes), her husband, a struggling actor, move into the Bramford, an opulent but antiquated New York City apartment building . The couple learns from the building's manager, Mr. Nicklas (Elisha Cook, Jr .), that their new residence was previously inhabited by Mrs. Gardenia, an elderly woman who had seemingly gone senile . Mr. Nicklas also discovers a dresser concealing a simple closet which contains nothing except a vacuum cleaner and a stack of folded towels . Their friend Hutch (Maurice Evans) tries to dissuade them from taking the apartment, informing them of some of the Bramford's unsettling history of cannibalism and murder . Undeterred, Rosemary and Guy move into the building . </P> <P> Rosemary meets a young woman, Terry Gionoffrio (Angela Dorian), a recovering drug addict whom an elderly, eccentric couple in the building, the Castevets, took in from the street . As Rosemary admires a pendant necklace the Castevets gave to Terry, she notices its strange smell . Returning home one night, Guy and Rosemary find that Terry has thrown herself to her death from the window of the Castevets' seventh - floor apartment . </P>

Who played the lead female role in rosemary's baby