Lost and Found: Streetwalkin’

One of the more prevalent cult movie genres in the 1980s featured prostitutes navigating the dangerous streets of whatever big city in which they plied their trade (almost always New York or Los Angeles). Let’s name it the Streetwalkin’ genre, after the 1985 film that, in my humble opinion, best personifies this style: Streetwalkin’.

The Roger Corman Concorde Pictures release was directed by Joan Freeman, who co-wrote it with her husband Robert Alden. Filmed entirely at night in New York City over three weeks in June of 1984, Streetwalkin’ captures squalid, sleazy, and sexy NYC in the eighties perfectly. Today it serves as a crucial time capsule of the era before Times Square became Disneyfied.

It also captures its lead actress—Melissa Leo plays Cookie—at a time before she became an esteemed performer with an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Primetine Emmy, among other accolades. In Streetwalkin’ she looks barely old enough to vote (she was 24, though), but there’s no denying her screen presence is already there. Plus, her voluminous head of curly red hair ranks up there with the greatest eighties movie hair moments. But it’s Leo’s sad eyes that really tell Cookie’s story, reflecting her fears and insecurities. It’s a nuanced, tender performance, which might surprise you, given the film’s Roger Corman connections. The majority of the cast do good work, in fact. In this respect, Streetwalkin’ is a cut above most similar films from the time.

The biggest name in the cast has to be Julie Newmar, as the maternal prostitute Queen Bee, who looks out for the younger ladies of the night on her block. My jaw dropped the first time I saw her in this. The initial surprise was quickly followed by awe, as Newmar sauntered around the street corner in red lingerie, red thigh high stockings and garter belts, and red heels. She wears this eye catching ensemble throughout the entire film. She was 52 at the time and looked every bit as purrfect as she did during her iconic stint playing Catwoman in the 1960s.

Antonio Fargas (Starsky & Hutch), Leon (The Temptations), and Khandi Alexander (NewsRadio) round out the main cast and are uniformly joyous to watch. Fargus and Leon are cool as the other side of the pillow as relatively dignified pimps caught up in a street war, while Alexander brings some humor to the film as the no-nonsense, sassy streetwalker Star. If there’s a weak link in the cast, it’s Dale Midkiff as the abusive and unhinged pimp Duke. He overacts to distraction a few times, but he absolutely nails Duke’s psychopathic tendencies. He’s truly terrifying at times. It’s a very physical performance, so the bigness with which he plays it works, most of the time.

The film also rises above similar fare thanks to excellent use of midtown Manhattan sleaze spots, from dingy walk-up apartments to neon-drenched clubs. Fittingly, most of Streetwalkin’ was shot on the streets of New York, and the city comes alive onscreen. It’s a cliché that’s been uttered countless times before, but New York really does serve as a major supporting character in Streetwalkin’.

Interestingly, Freeman opens the film with a gorgeous shot, panning slowly up and across the majestic Manhattan skyline at dusk, before cutting to runaway teens Cookie and her brother arriving at Grand Central Station. The film then remains at street level, ever after. It’s as if Freeman’s saying, these characters will never experience the wonder and awe the beautiful cityscape has to offer. Instead, they reside in the part of the city where emotions like wonder and awe don’t exist. This is proven right away, as Cookie is quickly spotted and preyed upon by Duke. Soon after, she’s working the streets, totally subservient to her mentally and physically abusive pimp. The film’s central conflict begins once Cookie realizes she needs help breaking free of Duke’s stranglehold.

Streetwalkin’ is a well made, thoughtful, and hard-hitting film that really deserves a wider audience than it’s ever found.

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Streetwalkin’ is currently streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime, plus it was released on Blu-ray a few years ago. Unfortunately it looks to be out of print and going for high prices online.

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Previous Lost and Found films from New York City in the 1980s:

Call Me (1989)

Fear City (1984)