Walk on the Wild Side (film)
| Walk on the Wild Side | |
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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 |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Edited by | Harry Gerstad |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2 million |
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 American author Nelson Algren. The film had a star-studded cast, including Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda, Anne Baxter, and Barbara Stanwyck, and was scripted by John Fante. It was not well received at the time; Bosley Crowther of the New York Times described it as a "lurid, tawdry, and sleazy melodrama." While it passed its censors, it was an adult film noir with quite explicit overtones and subject matter. It walks its audience through the lives and relationships between adults (mostly women) engaged in the "business" of commercial prostitution at a stylish New Orleans brothel. The "boss" is a beautiful, stylish Madam (Stanwyck) whose combination of toughness and, a motherly (or sisterly?) intimate tenderness toward her "girls'" real lives is as disturbing as it is entertaining to watch.
During the Great Depression, Dove (Laurence Harvey) and Kitty (Jane Fonda) meet on the road in Texas as each travels separately to New Orleans. They decide to travel together, hitchhiking and hopping freight trains. Dove is hoping to find his lost love Hallie (Capucine), and is not interested when Kitty comes on to him sexually.
After Kitty steals from the New Orleans-area café where she and Dove stop for a meal, he leaves her and makes things right with the owner, Teresina (Anne Baxter). She gives Dove a job at the café and a place to stay while he searches for Hallie. He finds her working at the Doll House, an upscale French Quarter bordello, where Jo (Barbara Stanwyck) is the madam.
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Wikipedia