You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat

You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat is a 1971 low-budget comedy-drama film directed by Peter Locke.[1] The story concerns a young hippie and his search in New York City for the meaning of life.

You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat
Official release poster
Directed byPeter Locke
Written byPeter Locke
Produced byPeter Locke
Gary Mehlman
StarringZalman King
Richard Pryor
Allen Garfield
Robert Downey Sr.
Liz Torres
Stan Gottlieb
Daisy Locke
Roz Kelly
Suzette Green
Edited byWes Craven
Music byThe Original Soundtrack
(Walter Becker
Donald Fagen)
Distributed byJ.E.R. Pictures
Release date
  • September 19, 1971 (1971-09-19)
Running time
85 minutes
LanguageEnglish

The film is notable for early-career appearances by several artists: Richard Pryor has a small role playing his signature "wino" character; Wes Craven made his professional debut as the film's editor;[2] the film's soundtrack was co-written and performed by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, who went on to form Steely Dan.[3]

As of 2023 the film is considered lost,[4] although the soundtrack survives.

Plot

Young idealistic hippie Carter Fields visits New York City's Central Park to try to find meaning in his life. He meets an array of strange characters, his girlfriend becomes pregnant, and he gets mixed up with a gang of pickpockets. He marries his girlfriend and finds a job in advertising on Madison Avenue. But Fields is one of life's losers: he's fired for incompetence, and his wife deserts him. He returns to Central Park with his child.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album, produced by Kenny Vance and credited to "The Original Soundtrack", was released in 1971 on Spark Records (SPA-02). In a review of the film in The New York Times,[5] Billy Cunningham is credited as music co-writer, but this is not reflected in any published album credits.[3]

  1. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It" (Becker, Fagen, Peter Locke, 2:47)
  2. "Flotsam And Jetsam" (Becker, Fagen, Kenny Vance, 3:25)
  3. "War And Peace" (John Discepolo, 1:33)
  4. "Roll Back The Meaning" (Becker, Fagen, Dorothy White, 3:39)
  5. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Reprise)" (Becker, Fagen, Peter Locke, 0:37)
  6. "Dog Eat Dog" (Becker, Fagen, 3:36)
  7. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" (Becker, Fagen, Kenny Vance, 7:47)
  8. "If It Rains" (Becker, Fagen, 6:52)

Personnel
  • Walter Becker – guitar, bass, arrangements
  • Donald Fagen – keyboards, vocals, arrangements
  • Denny Dias – guitar, percussion (credited as Denny Diaz)
  • John Discepolo – drums
  • Kenny Vance – lead vocals ("Roll Back The Meaning", "If It Rains")
  • Marty Kupersmith – lead vocals ("You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It")

Production

The film was shot entirely on location in New Yok City. In an interview on the Los Angeles KPFK Radio Captain Midnight Show in 1977, Walter Becker says of the film: "It was underbudgeted, which means that some of the exposures didn’t match some of the others so you could tell where the new pieces and the old pieces were".[6]

Critical reception

Critical reception was largely negative. A.H. Weiler in The New York Times wrote that the film: "projects lots of walking and talking but precious little heartfelt beat, despite its willing cast and a plethora of sight gags and surface philosophies."[5] Variety said: "The film moves in spurts of hilarity with too many lags in between."[7] In the New York Daily News Ann Guarino wrote: "Masquerading as satire, the comedy as written, produced and directed by 27-year-old Peter Locke, is sophomoric and absolutely dull."[8] The film is described by TV Guide as "A mishmash of intent and execution and too annoyingly clumsy to watch."[9]

The Independent Film Journal said: "This film's satire never touches reality in an effective enough way for it to hit its marks."[10] Archer Winsten in the New York Post wrote: "It is a picture that leaves a dent on your consciousness because it goes out of its way to do so, but when you try to remember what it was about, ten minutes afterwards it has vanished, like something very wet poured on sand."[11]

References
  1. "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat". IMDB. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  2. Lovece, Frank (October 13, 1994). "The Man Who Created Freddy Krueger is Back With Renewed Respect". Newsday. New York. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  3. "The Original Sound Track – You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll Lose That Beat)". Discogs. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  4. "You've Got To Walk It Like You Talk It Or You'll Lose That Beat". Lost Media Wiki. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  5. Weiler, A.H. (20 September 1971). "' You've Got to Walk It . . .,' Genial Put-Down of Establishment". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  6. "Radio Free Steely Dan". The Steely Dan Reader. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  7. "You've Got To Walk It Like Your Talk It Or You'll Lose That Beat". Variety: 26. 1 September 1971.
  8. Guarino, Ann (20 September 1971). "Saga of a Loser". The Daily News: 44.
  9. "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat Reviews". TV Guide. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  10. "You've Got To Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll Lose That Beat)". The Independent Film Journal. 68 (7). 2 September 1971.
  11. Winsten, Archer (20 September 1971). "'Walk It, Talk It' has Double Debut". The New York Post: 12.
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