Walk on the Wild Side
by Edward Dmytryk
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck, Capucine, Jane Fonda, Laurence HarveyDirector: Edward Dmytryk
Producer: Charles K. Feldman
Producer: Joseph Lebworth
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Edmund Morris
Writer: John Fante
Writer: Nelson Algren
Writer: Raphael Hayes
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Walk on the Wild Side
Movie Review: For the eclectic collector
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd rate this 4.2 stars but gave it 5 above to encourage buyers to support DVD manufacturing of smaller, more obscure titles. Consumers need more rarities to continue to surface :)
Interesting film with a young Jane Fonda very effective in a supporting role, she's terrific as the immoral, thieving temptress from Hell. I disagree with a previous Amazon review; Fonda's Southern accent works just fine in the context of the film. Certainly, she was young enough here to portray a just-about-legal sociopath. The film could have used even more of Fonda than the screen-time she has, in my opinion.
Anne Baxter is very interesting and takes chances outside of the comfort zone which many film stars tend to cling to; not all of her choices necessarily work, but she's victorious, overall, and creates a memorable, likeable characterization. Hers, too, is a supporting role, though somewhat larger than Fonda's.
In yet another striking supporting performance in the film, Barbara Stanwyck was years ahead of her time (as is the film) in portraying a lesbian character; she's believable- complex, dangerous, sad, lonely, corrupt, all-the-while dealing with unrequited love as the proprietor of a New Orleans brothel. Ultimately, the film chooses to characterize her as a hardened, "bad" woman due to her sexuality, likely the 'Hayes Code' wouldn't allow 1962 American cimema to show a 'good' lesbian.
The male lead, Laurence Harvey, is sympathetic and the 'hero' of the piece, searching in New Orleans for a lost-love he hopes to find, with Capucine the object of his affection in her not-bad/not-great portrayal of an indifferent woman who is 'kept' by Stanwyck.
Stunningly memorable opening credits with an incredible black cat lurking about, with director Edward Dmytryk actually getting the cat to give a conscious performance (!) taking a 'walk on the wild wide'. Okay, that sounds loopy, but the cat definitely appears aware of being photographed and filmed. An artful, great opening sequence, judge for yourselves :)
Buy it before it goes out of print. A great looking, stylized 'seedy movie' with a lot to appreciate along with its imperfections.
For those who like their DVD collections to be electic, this one's a keeper. The movie-poster-quality photo of Jane Fonda on the dvd cover also is on the disc itself, minus the cat-eyes behind her.
You won't easily find this movie in stores or in the used bins, thank you Amazon! I bought it 13 months ago, then re-watched it this week, and I look forward to revisiting it again in the future.
A final note of possible interest is that actress Joanna Moore, who the following year would give birth to Tatum O'Neal, has a small role in which she has her moments. You can see more than a bit of the late actress in Tatum's current television work, in both looks and performance, she seems to be more-so her mother's, than Ryan's daughter.
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