Wild Girl (film)

Plot

Walsh's only Western between The Big Trail (1930) and Dark Command (1940) is an affectionate parody of the silent westerns Walsh himself made as a young director at Mutual that evolves into a lyrical romance filmed with tenderness and sincerity. Joan Bennett is "the eponymous irrepressible tomboy, who bewitches card sharps and escaped murderers in equal measure in the Redwood forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains".

Cast

During the opening credits all the main characters are presented in a few sentences by the actors that portray them.

• Charles Farrell as The Stranger/Billy
• Joan Bennett as Salomy Jane
• Ralph Bellamy as Jack Marbury
• Eugene Pallette as Yuba Bill
• Irving Pichel as Rufe Waters
• Minna Gombell as Millie
• Willard Robertson as Red Pete
• Sarah Padden as Lize
• Morgan Wallace as Phineas Baldwin

Production

Pre-production began in July, 1932, with members of the Fox company visiting locations in Sequoia National Park. Most of the cast was announced by early August. Shooting began in Sequoia on August 7, and lasted two weeks that same month. The primary farm set, built at picnic ground, became a brief tourist attraction while it stood. Upon the crew's return to Los Angeles on August 31, director Raoul Walsh told the press that he was very excited about Joan Bennett's performance: "Joan Bennett's came alive in this film... And I think I am a lucky guy to have directed her in it." An additional Western set was built at the Fox Studios.

Reception

"Beautifully photographed and robustly directed adventure set in the West, centering around a backwoods girl, delightfully played by Joan Bennett, and her dealings with several men: a good-hearted gambler, a hypocritical, lecherous politician, a two-faced rancher, and a young stranger..." — Peter Bogdanovich

Restoration and legacy

The film was restored by the MoMa in 2015.https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/664

It was part of the 2023 Walsh retrospective at the Cinémathèque française.

References

References

1. "Salomy Jane 1907-01".
2. "Salomy Jane 1907-09".
3. (20 January 1907). "'SALOMY JANE'S KISS' WITH ELEANOR ROBSON; Harte's Story Basis for Paul Armstrong's Play. SOME CAPITAL ACTING But the Last Two Acts of the Play Not Up to the Standard of the Others.". The New York Times.
4. [http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=7303 The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:''Wild Girl'']
5. (30 October 2012). "Restorative Properties: More on MOMA’s To Save and Project".
6. Advance Movie Party In Park. ''Vasalia Times-Delta'' Vol. IX, No. 128, page 2. 28 July 1932. Accessed 12 June 2021.
7. Sequoia Film Is Progressing. ''Tulare Daily Advance-Register'' Vol. LII, No. 27, page 6. 2 August 1932. Accessed 12 June 2021.
8. Movies Filmed In Giant Forest. ''Vasalia Times-Delta'' Vol. IX, No. 138, page 5. 9 August 1932. Accessed 12 June 2021.
9. (1932). "WILD GIRL, from left: Joan Bennett, Ralph Bellamy, director Raoul Walsh on set in Sequoia National Park". Everett Collection.
10. Are Cleaning Up After Movies In Sequoia Park. ''Vasalia Times-Delta'' Vol. IX, No. 152, page 6. 25 August 1932. Accessed 12 June 2021.
11. Shaffer, Rosalind. Mormon Blood Earns Contract In Irish Rebel. ''New York Daily News'' Vol. 14, No. 57, page 31. 31 August 1932. Accessed 12 June 2021.
12. Frontier Days Being Relived. ''Arizona Republic'' Vol. 43 No. 88, section 4, page 27. 14 August 1932. Accessed 12 June 2021.
13. "Action, Action, and Comedy: Raoul Walsh's WILD GIRL". [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]].
14. (2023-09-01). "A la Cinémathèque française, Raoul Walsh ou l’action comme seule morale". Le Monde.fr.