Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Nelson Algren (novel)
John Fante (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 February 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

a new kind of love story starring ...

Plot:

At the Doll House, a 1930's New Orleans bordello, Hallie is the main attraction both for clients and for Jo...

Plot Keywords:

Texas | New Orleans | 1930s | Cat | Policeman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Laurence Harvey	...	Dove Linkhorn
Capucine	...	Hallie Gerard
Jane Fonda	...	Kitty Twist
Anne Baxter	...	Teresina Vidaverri
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Jo Courtney
Joanna Moore	...	Miss Precious
Richard Rust	...	Oliver
Karl Swenson	...	Schmidt
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Dockery (as Donald Barry)
Juanita Moore	...	Mama
John Anderson	...	Preacher
Ken Lynch	...	Frank Bonito
Todd Armstrong	...	Lt. Omar Stroud (as Todd Anderson)
Sherry O'Neil	...	Reba
John Bryant	...	Spence

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Famous Artists Productions

Trivia:

Several contemporary reviewers mentioned that, although the film was set in the 1930s, Capucine seemed to be wearing contemporary (1962) fashions. Director Edward Dmytryk stated that it was because she was the "protege" of producer Charles K. Feldman, who decreed that, despite the film's 1930s setting, Capucine would be dressed in the latest Pierre Cardin designs.

Quotes:

Preacher: Jezebel! That's right, I mean you! Now both of you sinners are hurrying past.
Dove Linkhorn: You got no business with us mister.
Preacher: Oh, sinners is my business. You and that hip-slinging daughter of Satan. You know there's the smell of sulfur and brimstone about you. The smell of hellfire.
Dove Linkhorn: Who ordained preacher?
Preacher: I am self-ordained son; I had the call.
Dove Linkhorn: You were called by the wrong voice mister.
Preacher: Lord strike this sinner down. Send a bolt down to smite and consume the blasphemer now!
Dove Linkhorn: He won't hear you. Cause you no friend of God or man - standing there hollering hate to the world. God is love. God is mercy and forgiveness. Try preaching that sometime Mr. Preacher. Teach people to forgive, not to crawl in fear. Teach people to love, not hate. preach the good book - preach the truth.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Bass on Titles (1977)

Soundtrack:

Walk on the Wild Side

The Big Tease In The Big Easy

This film has a dynamite opening. A real life black cat prowls around a maze of pipes and fences, as Elmer Bernstein's jazzy musical score blares out the film's title song, a haunting invocation to low life everywhere.

Throughout, both the music and the B&W cinematography evoke a noirish, downbeat mood totally in sync with the film's theme of embittered sleaze. Although set in the 1930's, the film looks and sounds more like something from the hip, "beat" generation of the 1950's. And I'm comfortable with that.

What I'm not comfortable with is the casting and the screenplay. Lithuanian born Laurence Harvey is totally not convincing as a Texas tramp. French born Capucine, looking like she just walked in from the set of "La Dolce Vita", seems lost in the role of a Southern belle. A somewhat inexperienced Jane Fonda overacts the role of Kitty Twist. And American Anne Baxter, looking more like Suzanne Pleshette than Anne Baxter, plays a Mexican senorita, with the help of a big wig. Among the major roles, the only credible cast member is Barbara Stanwyck, as the bossy owner of the Doll House, your typical red light house of prostitution.

The film's red light title is a big tease. It advertises brothel life, but the screenplay delivers only boredom and preachy morality. But in 1962 the moralistic Hays Code still exerted influence on what Hollywood could say and show. The result here is a yellow light plot that merely hints at sleaze.

Forty years after its release, "Walk On The Wild Side" does have entertainment value, both as a curious period piece, and as a sudsy soap opera with some campy dialogue, helped along by the always engaging Barbara Stanwyck.