Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
by Edward Dmytryk
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck, Capucine, Jane Fonda, Laurence HarveyDirector: Edward Dmytryk
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 114 minutes
Release Date: 1999-01-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
VHS Movie Reviews of Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
Movie Review: Atmospheric and engrossing, but eventually comes up short
Summary: 2 Stars
First of all, just to clear the boards, this really can't be considered an adaptation of Nelson Algren's novel. Although it flirts with some taboo subjects, things never get beyond mere flirtation. And, given Kennedy-era year it was made, it's impossible to expect a faithful depiction of the text from that time and place.
Laurence Harvey's lovesick Dove Linkhorn arrives in New Orleans searching for the gal that stole his heart. Complications arrive in that the "gal" is a) now a popular and highly-paid prostitute in a brothel called The Doll House and b) she's played by Capucine, who is absolutely captivitating in her beauty and refinement but, as such, also mindbogglingly miscast. It's difficult to imagine her Hallie and Harvey's Linkhorn ever sharing a passing conversation, much less a small-town romance.
For his part, Harvey -- whose strange intensity usually gives me the willies and/or leaves me cold -- manages to make for an interesting Texas drifter even though he constantly seems to be playing a character far younger than his age. He projects an oddly likeable nobility through, especially during a confrontation with a storefront preacher.
Barbara Stanwyk gets props for playing an out-of-the-closet lesbian -- which is the movie's prime claim to fame -- but her portrayal is a bit of a Model-T. Nowadays, her attempts to control and possess Hallie seems to have more to do with grouchiness than the desire that dare not speak its name.
A very young Jane Fonda stands out in the juicy role of Kitty, a hitch hiker Dove falls in with. Even as she morphs from Depression-era scamp to full-bosomed harlot to call-girl-in-training, she still seems the realest thing onscreen.
After giving a nod to the great black-and-white cinematography, and the style and compositions of the shots, I have to point out that "Walk" has some of the worst editing I've ever seen in a major motion picture that's otherwise confident and assured. Takes go on forever, past the point of monotony; there are lots of strange and unnecessary cuts and cut-aways, and it all feels about an hour longer than it should be.
When the big denouement comes -- involving two men who struggle with a gun that shoots the wrong person, and summarized by a quickie epilogue (delivered by way of a windblown newspaper headline) -- there's a suspicion that the film has walked *up to* the wild side, but hasn't fully crossed that crucial border.
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