February 21, 1962
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE, a tawdry tale freely adapted from the Nelson Algren novel set in the 1930s, opens in New York on this date. Laurence Harvey (1959 Best Actor Oscar nominee for Room at the Top and costar of The Manchurian Candidate) stars as a lovelorn Texan looking for the gal that got away, Hallie (played by Capucine). He finds her in a New Orleans brothel owned by a steely madam (Barbara Stanwyck) who only has eyes for Hallie. Also featuring Anne Baxter and Jane Fonda, who plays a runaway orphan finding gainful employment in Stanwyck’s “Doll House.” Fonda enjoys a breakout year in 1962, costarring in three movies, including Period of Adjustment and The Chapman Report. The Village Voice critic cited Fonda’s “spirited performance” in an otherwise roasting review of the film.
Most critics gave their best notices, however, to screen titan Barbara Stanwyck, returning to the movies after a five year sojourn in television. She had taken a hiatus from the big screen for lack of good roles, and was hoping for a boost to her stagnant movie career. Her bold performance as the “lavender” madam solicited, deservedly, her best reviews in a decade. Hollywood lore has gossip columnist Louella Parsons asking Stanwyck what she felt about playing a lesbian madam (considering no actress of her stature had ever undertaken a role like that before). Stanwyck, as more than one biographer relates, was not taking the bait; she allegedly retorted, “What were you expecting them to do, get a real lesbian and a real madam?” At any rate, Stanwyck’s dominating (and pioneering) performance marks a milestone in movie history.
