Walk Like a Man movie synopsis. As a baby, Bobo gets separated from his family during a camping trip. After being raised by wild dogs for twenty years, Bobo is discovered by animal researcher Penny, who brings him back to his family and attempts to teach Bobo how to readjust to life with humans. While his mother is overjoyed to see him again, Bobo’s older brother Henry is more worried about losing his share of the inheritance. As Bobo progresses with Penny’s lessons, Henry plots to have him eliminated.
Walk Like a Man is a 1987 American comedy film about a young man who finally returns to his high-society family after having been raised by wolves. The film is the last one to be directed by Melvin Frank. It stars Howie Mandel, Christopher Lloyd, Amy Steel, and Cloris Leachman. It was released to theaters on April 17, 1987.
About the Story
Henry Shand goes to Alaska to search for gold and find his fortune. While there, his spoiled brat of a son, Reggie, gets mad that he has to work for money. What further angers him is the fact that he has to share the dogsled with his two-year-old brother Robert, nicknamed “Bobo”. Reggie decides to take matters into his own hands and pushes the toddler off the sled, leaving him to die in the wintery Klondike wilderness.
Some twenty years later, Henry has died, giving Reggie a large inheritance of thirty million dollars. Reggie foolishly spends it within a year, causing his new bride, Rhonda, to become an angry alcoholic, as they have gone broke and had to move back in with Reggie’s mother, Margaret. Margaret has gone insane since Bobo’s disappearance and Henry’s death, and has now spent much of the family’s fortune on buying homes for stray cats.
Meanwhile, a biologist named Penny arrives from Alaska, claiming to have found Bobo alive and well. They discover that Bobo has been raised by wolves, causing him to sniff everyone’s butts, greet people by licking their faces, run on all fours, eat with his mouth rather than using flatware, growl and bark, chew on shoes, and run through fresh cement while chasing cats or fire trucks.
Reggie decides to manipulate Bobo into signing over his inheritance to him to pay off gambling debts. Reggie tells Penny that she can use Bobo for wolf research, but first must teach him to walk, talk, read, and, of course, write. Penny gives Bobo a shave and a haircut, but getting him to act like a human proves to be a difficult task, and Bobo continues to unknowingly cause problems. Things get even worse when Bobo goes out in public, wreaking havoc in a shopping mall by going into dressing rooms, unwittingly trying on clothes and walking out of stores with them.
Walk Like a Man (1987)
Directed by: Melvin Frank
Starring: Howie Mandel, Christopher Lloyd, Cloris Leachman, Colleen Camp, Amy Steel, James Slice, Stephen Elliott, George DiCenzo, John McLiam, Howard Platt, Millie Slavin
Screenplay by: Robert Klane
Production Design by: Bill Malley
Cinematography by: Victor J. Kemper
Film Editing by: Bill Butler, Stephen Butler
Costume Design by: Betsy Cox
Set Decoration by: Mary Ann Biddle
Music by: Lee Holdridge
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: April 17, 1987
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