Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

The lives of a group of women in a New Orleans bordello.

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Nelson Algren (novel), John Fante (screenplay)

Stars:

Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Harvey	...	Dove Linkhorn
Capucine	...	Hallie
Jane Fonda	...	Kitty Twist
Anne Baxter	...	Teresina Vidaverri
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Jo / 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

Storyline

At the Doll House, a 1930's New Orleans bordello, Hallie is the main attraction both for clients and for Jo, the madame. Her comfortable if tedious life is disrupted by the arrival in town of Dove Linkhorn, her true love of three years before who is now searching for her. When Linkhorn learns the truth of her profession he triggers a chain of events involving a number of people, including the young Kitty with whom he travelled from Texas and who is now the Doll House newest recruit.

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Plot Keywords:

1930s | great depression | prostitution | based on novel | texas | 

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Taglines:

a new kind of love story starring ...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1962 (UK)

Also Known As:

Auf glühendem Pflaster

Filming Locations:

Jackson Square, French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Famous Artists Productions, Columbia Pictures, Famartists Productions S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Hollywood film to openly feature lesbianism. By appearing in the movie, Barbara Stanwyck became the first American actress to portray a lesbian character in a feature film.

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Goofs

Dove arranges to meet Hallie "the day after tomorrow", but when they meet, he says, "You look different, even since yesterday."

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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 ...

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: Texas, The Early Thirties

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Connections

Referenced in Biography: Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)

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Soundtracks

Somewhere in the Used to Be
(uncredited)
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Lyrics by Mack David
Sung by Brook Benton

User Reviews

Love for sale in New Orleans...

Laurence Harvey is terrific as a penniless Texas cowboy who hitches his way to New Orleans in the 1930s in search of a lost summer love, a French artist who--unbeknownst to him--is now working at a bordello; Barbara Stanwyck is the madame at the Doll House, married to a crippled tough but with heavy lesbian leanings towards Capucine, the girl who broke Harvey's heart; Jane Fonda is pretty good as a teen tramp who also ends up working for Stanwyck, and Anne Baxter is a proprietress of a diner who takes Harvey in. Though based on a novel by Nelson Algren, this screenplay sometimes plays like sub-Tennessee Williams, with the rather laughable story-conceit that New Orleans was just another small town in the '30s (walk up the street and you've seen it all!). Capucine, haughty and breathless, matches up well with Harvey, and her run-ins with benefactor Stanwyck are heated, but those hoping for some crackling gay subtext will be disappointed (Barbara's inclinations aren't hypothetical, but she's hardly out of the closet). There are some good, fruity lines of tough-talking dialogue and also some sentimental moments with surprising resonance (as when Baxter says, "Why can't two people care about each other...without the world making it dirty?"). Of course it's Hollywood-ized, with a camp score by Elmer Bernstein and Joanna Moore in the clichéd role of the good-hearted tootsie who gets taken for granted. But Fonda has a great scene near the end when she helps Capucine out of a jam, and Harvey makes a big impression on the audience without overstating his sleek handsomeness. *** from ****