WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

US, 1962, 115 minutes, Black and white.
Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda, Anne Baxter.. Barbara Stanwyck.
Directed by Edward Dmytryk.

Walk on the Wild Side was somewhat sensational when first released, although it definitely seems less so now. The basic story is interesting enough, but some of the dialogue is particularly weak and corny and the ending is melodramatic, probably too melodramatic. What saves the film is the energy of the cast. Laurence Harvey plays a sympathetic, rather naive young Texan during the. depression, looking for his girlfriend. She, however, is not so lively. She is Capucine, who has grace, bearing and beauty but looks too languidly regal to be really at home in the Doll's House of ill-fame, New Orleans. But Jane Fonda, as a young thing on the make, shows that she has talent and skill as the beginning of her career. And Anne Baxter is good as a sympathetic Mexican. Barbara Stanwyck acts as if the character she portrays were imitating Barbara Stanwyck movies.

1. Did you think this was a genuine human interest film or was it just popular sensationalism? Why?

2. The film was set in the depression. Did this have an important part to play in the development of the plot or was it merely incidental? Was the Southern - New Orleans setting important?

3. What kind of man was Dove? Did you find him likeable and sympathetic. what qualities did he have? How idealistic and naive was he?

4. Was Kitty a typical product of the depression? What kind of girl was she -hitchhiking. stealing. gaol. prostitution?

5. What kind of woman was Hallie Gerard? Had she loved Dove? Why did she leave? Why did she finish up in the Doll House? She looked out of place; she was an artist. Why did she stay? What was her reaction of meeting Dove? Why?

6. What help did Dove receive from his Mexican employer? what kind of woman was she?

7. How was the Doll House presented - sympathetically? Critically? Neutrally? What kind of woman was Jo Courtney? How did she pick girls for her cafe? Why did she pick Hallie and want her to stay? Was her legless husband important for the film? Why?

8. What was the purpose of the preacher's sequence? What did this reveal about Dove? About Hallie? What should Hallie have done? why did Dove react the way he did when he found out the truth about Hallie?

9. Was the last part of the film too brutal? Was it too melodramatic? Why did Kitty change her attitude?

10. Was Hallie's death too contrived? Would there have been any future for Dove and Hallie?

11. Comment on the effectiveness of the newspaper showing the gaol sentence for the Doll House group.

12. Was the music used well? The songs? What was the symbolism and effectiveness of the cat's walk during the credits and at the end?