| Walk on the Wild Side (film) | |
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Theatrical release poster inspired by Saul Bass's opening title sequence |
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| Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Produced by | Charles K. Feldman |
| Written by | John Fante Edmund Morris Ben Hecht (uncredited) |
| Starring | Laurence Harvey Capucine Jane Fonda Anne Baxter Barbara Stanwyck. |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1962 |
| Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Walk on the Wild Side is a 1962 film directed by Edward Dmytryk, adapted from the 1956 novel A Walk on the Wild Side by Nelson Algren. The film had a star-studded cast, including Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda (in one of her first roles, age 24), Anne Baxter, and Barbara Stanwyck, and was scripted by John Fante. Nonetheless, it was not well-received at the time. When it premiered, Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called it a "lurid, tawdry, and sleazy melodrama."
It is said neither Harvey nor Capucine found the other at all appealing. IMDB reports that "Capucine objected to filming kissing scenes with Laurence Harvey, feeling that he was not manly enough for her. Harvey reportedly replied, 'Perhaps if you were more of a woman, I would be more of a man. Honey, kissing you is like kissing the side of a beer bottle.'"
Lawrence Harvey was backed by actress Joan Perry, the widow of studio head Harry Cohn, (they later married in 1968) while the film's producer, Charles Feldman, was trying to make a star out of Capucine. Harvey said Capucine couldn't act, who then sulked for a week. This and other incidents added to tensions on set, including Jane Fonda's insistence on changing dialogue. The director resigned and the film took longer to shoot than expected, which caused difficulties for co-star Anne Baxter, who was six months pregnant by the time production ended. These incidents were published in Baxter's autobiography, Intermission.[1]
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The film's plot is quite different from the book. Set during the Depression, it starts with Dove and Kitty leaving Texas for New Orleans. Dove is hoping to find his lost love Hallie. After Kitty steals from the café, Dove makes things right with the owner, who lets him stay while he searches for Hallie. He finds Hallie at the Doll House, a 1930's New Orleans bordello, where Jo is the madam. We learn later that Jo's husband had lost his legs in an accident, after which Jo lost interest in him. It is subtly implied that there is a lesbian relationship between Jo and Hallie, because Hallie enjoys the support of Jo to pursue her interest in sculpting, but it is clear that Hallie works for Jo as a prostitute like the others. The relationship is not loving, more possessive. Annoyed with Dove, and using the accusation that he brought underage Kitty across state lines and raped her, Jo tries to force him to leave without Hallie. In the end, in a struggle at the café, an accidental gunshot kills Hallie.
The opening credit sequence directed by Saul Bass is perhaps the most famous part of the film, where a black tom cat, shown at shoulder length, prowls an urban landscape and picks a fight with another white cat. At the end of the film the same black tom cat walks over the headline of a newspaper, stating that the people who ran the bordello were arrested and sentenced to many years in prison.
Despite Walk on the Wild Side's scandalous story, the film adaptation's title song has become something of a gospel standard.
The title song "Walk on the Wild Side" was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Music, Original Song. The nomination went to Elmer Bernstein, who did the music, and Mack David, who was the lyricist.
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