1 Brando Or Not, This Is a Horrible Movie
I rented this movie with my continuing effort of renting all of Brando's best films. Well, this is not one of them. Not only is it a bad Marlon Brando movie, it's a bad movie, period. The acting is anything but timeless, and at times it is embarassing to listen to the dialogue. There is practically no story. The acting is abysmal and the hour and 20 minute film lacks in every other aspect. Watch out for these bikers - they'll scat sing to you and mess up your hair!!!! Oh no!
2 Attitude is Everything
The gangs appear to have strayed from a Bowery Boys slapstick onto a set from a 1930's western, with a budget of $50 and a director nowhere to be found -- still and all, the film proved remarkably adept at capturing a postwar mood among the young. Nothing may have looked real, but kids of the day got the message. History had not ended in 1945: there was still a restless spirit out there that could not be captured by pre-war malt shops and Saturday night hops. The inarticulate Johnny (Brando) is the perfect embodiment of that angst. He's groping toward something, but what. The gang rides around aimlessly, with no more knowledge of the road ahead than of themselves. Then too, it's the elderly Jimmy, representative of an older, slower America, who's revealingly run over by a run-away cycle. The sweetly pretty Mary Murphy attracts Brando, but she's a baited trap -- he could end up like her father or the townspeople. Does he ever return to her... is the trophy gesture a promise or a farewell... Though severely lacking in some respects, the script wisely leaves such ultimate questions unanswered. And through it all, Brando, in black leather jacket, remains a powerful yet enigmatic presence. A worthy and enduring icon.
Younger viewers might keep in mind that the movie was produced not only at the height of the Cold War, but at the height of the Mc Carthy purges in Hollywood. This, I think, accounts for much of the film's schizophrenia -- many punches were pulled. No one wanted a movie that cast America's youth in a bad light. So despite what was hinted at on screen, audiences were also told that everything is really alright. Level-headed authority (Jay C. Flippen) remains in charge and these are really overgrown boys who will eventually straighten out -- just look at their childish horseplay. It's Brando's smouldering presence that undercuts this comforting message. The audience senses that somewhere behind the defiant slouch lies a wisdom superior to the bland reassurances, if only he could find the words. Those, I suppose, would come 15 years later and in far different rebellious circumstances. Anyway, this is a Brando showcase without which the movie would lie long forgotten.
3 He was a sweet beautiful guy
To think that this film was banned in England for 20 years makes one cringe in disbelief - one of Woody Allen's characters is right when he intones that all the things we were told as children that were good for us turned out bad - milk, meat, sun, big cars- and all the the things that we were told were bad for us turned out good - leather jackets, motor cycles, bebop, nature. But to The Wild One. Yes it's dated. The jive language doesn't fit with white middle class men dressed up in leather jackets, and Mr Brando is much to sweet, self conscious, and beautiful to be considered wild. Men and women alike are rushing to if not hug and kiss him, just look. He's caged for similar reasons. The arty camerawork on the bike ride at night with girl on the back doesn't quite work, but it's not a bad movie. The main attraction is really the beauty of Mr Brando. The first shot of the bikes heading towards us down the country road is a memorable opening.
4 brando before he got fat and untalented.
The entire time length that takes place in this movie is like less than one day. Brando and his Black Rebel Motorcycle Club cronies spend the day being retarded in some bar in some town. The only reason I could think to watch this movie is so you could see that at one point, in a galaxy far far away, Marlon Brando was a cool dude. Before arrogance seeped out of his body like sweat, he was a guy you'd want to see in a movie. Now, obviously, he's dead and like most actors who were in old movies, has been elevated to 'legend' status, despite only being in a handful of good movies. This movie was released in 1954, and I know I've become a bit jaded by Pulp Fiction and anime, but as far as I'm concerned, 1950's B&W movie or not, its not very good. The begining, end, acting, story, etc., just isn't that great, and it's really nothing more than a cult film about motorcycles.
5 I AIN'T JIVIN. . . BRANDO DOES ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would have to agree with other reviewers that this film is rather corny, but for its time it was revolutionary. Throughout the film I must admit I had several laughs with lines such as, "You're too square" and "Anybody thinks their too good for me, I knock 'em over sometime". And phraseology such as "that's corn ball style". And Brando's faux black accent put me in mind of a 1970's blaxploitation movie, especially with the continual use of the word "jive". Nevertheless, Brando's deliverance is awesome, everything from his facial expressions and gestures to his timing is perfect. The man is stunning in this film. It's hard to take your eyes off of him, but then again, why would you want to?!! Highly recommended!
6 Cheesy plot but Brando rocks
Being a huge Godfather fan, I have been curious since Brando passed away to see more of his films. Caught this one tonight on TMC. My dad warned me to remember when it was made before I watched it. I am glad he did because I probably would have thought that it was horrible and instead I came to realize that Brando was a brilliant actor! Yes, I have to agree that there is a lot of 50's cornball BS but Brando was so good in this film that it makes me truly sad to think of the crap that is made in Hollywood nowadays. Oh she has a hit single let's put her in a movie! Yeah that almost works! Looking forward to checking out more of Brando's work!
7 Mesmerizing plot!
With this movie Brando became in a icon for all a generation; somehow Brando meant the breakthrough with the past. His style and strong personality let him to establish not only as an irreverent actor but far beyond, but in an actor of multiple skills , with the trademark of a new method far away from the english models as Alec Guiness , John Mills or Michael Redgrave , and cold blood in his acting. He was altogether with James Dean , John Casvettes , Montgomery Clift , Dennis Hopper and Sal Mineo the pioneers , the new beat , the avant garde current of the cold war generation.
This film was a special triumph for Lee Marvin too, another hard guy who would make his own bliss in antihero roles. (Dirty dozen)
In this movie the term Beatles is seen in a special sequence . Try to find it.
This film was clearly a visionary issue , thirteen years before Easy Rider for instance.
Marlon Brando : in memoriam!
8 Watta ya got?
All right, it's silly now to see Dick Van Dyke's ex-neighbor as a outlaw biker, to say nothing of overaged juveniles Gil Stratton & Alvy Moore. But then there are the peerless Timothy Carey & Lee Marvin.
What really makes this movie work is that it is just a quickie B-movie of the 1950s. They had to scrounge up actors who could ride & then they had to scrounge up the bikes (my understanding is that that was Brando's actual Triumph). And then there's that great Leith Stevens score performed by Shorty Rogers & his all-stars. West Coast Jazz! (Miles hated it, the sound, that is).
I saw this one day after school just after it came out. Wow. Changed a lot for me. The way I talked, the way I walked, the way I looked, the way I thought. Needless to say I wasn't alone.
We're looking at true history here.
9 The ultimate '50s motorcycle cult film.
"The Wild One", with Marlon Brando perched on top of his motorcyle on the front cover, had a certain appeal to me. Always looking for great '50s films, and '50s-related films, I gave this a try. When it came on, after the Columbia logo, it opened on a deserted highway with a title card reading "This is a shocking story. It could never take place in most American towns--but it did in this one. It is a public challenge not to let it happen again." That'll grab your attention. Marlon Brando's voice is heard narrating about his expericences in the story. All of a sudden motorcycles appear roaring down the road over the opening credits. The film is basically about rebellious motorcyclists
who cause mischief in a small town and hang out at a local diner until Johnny's (Marlon Brando) rival Chino (Lee Marvin) arrives.
Check this film out and see what happens. When you see that chilling title card and the film progresses, you may be puzzled wondering what will happen, for at first the rebels may appear as all bark and no bite. There's a lot of cool '50s slang, daddy-o, to look at the lighter side! The result of the film is an accident and the rebels being forced to leave town never to return again; I'll say that much. When you see the film for the first time, and are about to watch it again, you might say to the chilling title card
"Balderdash!" Think what gangs are doing now as opposed to what they did exactly 50 years ago. Great film with excellent drama depth.
10 The Tame One
All those reviewers who gave this film 5 and 4 stars are really digging deep into their charity boxes. This is an incredibly dated, slow and boring movie. It is only memorable because of the Brando iconography: after you've seen the publicity stills you've seen the whole thing. Except for Lee Marvin, who, as somebody said, had dynamic and mesmeric impact in every film he ever made --- possibly excepting Paint Your Wagon. As soon as he arrives on the scene the picture starts to come alive. But to sit taking in nothing but an ancient fashion image for the rest of the 76 minutes is asking too much. The characters are completely uninteresting on both sides of the social divide: you might call them dull and duller. Vacuous dialogue vacantly directed. Don't be misled by the kind-hearted comments you read from people leaning over backwards to be generous.
11 He's really just a pussy cat
The "bikers" are like Broadway show extras. The dialogue is embarrassingly unauthentic. Believe me, nobody outside of 42nd Street ever talked like that, daddy-o. The story plays out like some kind of "B" Western with a horse shortage. The "town" even looks like a Western set made over for what somebody in Hollywood thought might be a new genre. There's a cafˇ and a saloon rolled into one and a gal working there to catch the eye, and a town posse and a jail and a sheriff (father of the gal) and some "decent citizens" turning into vigilantes, and instead of outlaws we have "hooligans." The bikers do everything but tie their bikes up to the hitching post after roaring into town as though to take over.
Okay, that's one level. On another level this should be compared to Rebel without a Cause (1955) as a mid-century testament to teen angst. Or to Blackboard Jungle (1955) with the fake juvenile delinquency and the phony slang. Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler, whose claim to fame (aside from being the leader of the pack) is that he stole a second-place biker trophy, stars in a role that helped to launch his career, not that his acting in this film was so great. (He was better in half a dozen other roles, for example., as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire 1951, or as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront 1954). What stands out here is his tough-guy vulnerability with women: the irresistible little boy playing big. In one sense, this is, despite all the men running around and the macho delirium, something very close to ladies night out. It's a period piece love story, as delicate as a teenager's heart.
Mary Murphy, who in my opinion really steals the show, is at the very center of the drama and the psychology (not to mention that she looks downright yummy in her cashmere sweater and close fitting skirt). She plays Kathie Bleeker, a small town girl whose heart yearns for something--anything--to break the tedium. Along comes Johnny to sweep her off her feet. Only he isn't sure how. Furthermore, she has a problem: although she falls in love with the wild one, she sees right through him. The scene that makes the movie begins with her jumping onto the back of his motorcycle (of course) and, after roaring down the night highway, they retire to what looks like a park. She is about a breath away from what used to be called swooning, but despite her fluttering heart, she sets him straight on who he is and how she feels and why. It's like a woman talking to a wild boy. Then she falls to the ground and just about caresses his motorcycle. It really hits home because she sees through all his pretense and exposes his vulnerability, but is vulnerable herself.
Lee Marvin plays the rival gang leader with a lot of showmanship and Robert Keith plays the ineffectual father. Just about everybody else (including longtime LA sports anchor, Gil Stratton) amounts to an extra.
See this for a glimpse at mid-century psychology as seen through the eyes of Hollywood's seduction machine, and especially for Mary Murphy (running in those heels) who, for whatever reason, never became a star.
12 Social Engineering To Increase Box Office
While it's true that the film was not intended to be a documentary, and therefore not to be taken as an historical account of the Hollister '47 events, it did, for the sake of box office, exaggerate and distort the facts, at least in all "objective" reports I've read. LIFE magazine did, as well, while purporting to be on a higher intellectual plane than the movies.
There's nothing at all wrong with Hollywood glamorization, it happens all the time, and it should, but the problem comes in when the viewer fails to make the distinction between Hollywood hype and reality.
And that is exactly what happened with "The Wild One." The public, by and large, believed that Hollister came down like the movie depicted, and the public image of an "Outlaw" biker persists to this day.
If you're looking for an actual event that defined the Hunter S. Thompson Outlaw Biker, look at the 1969 Rolling Stones concert.
13 irritatable
after reading the reviews of other viewers i had to respond. both marlon brando and lee marvin were great but to cut into it saying it came short of reality or truly portraying it, think when this film was made. im sure in the twenty first century the movie would be very different. anyone thats read hunter thompsons 'hells angels' or has other knowledge of bike gangs knows too well of its truth-inspired influences of hollister. but in 1953 film makers as well as anyone else including the literary crowd had its limits even if limitary. i think alot of those who reviewed it did so forgetting this fact. no its not the best film made but for what its worth it was a great performance by both marvin and brando and served as a pretty entertaining picture on all fronts. i believe this was the intention of the director. it doesnt claim anywhere to be a documentary or anything close so dont interpret it as so. i got the feeling from reading the reviews that the viewers were taking this picture into comparison with contemporary films which it is certainly not one nor is it as one review suggested a film to be viewed for those in a "classic film phase". its beyond that. perhaps im out of line but these are my thoughts at the moment.
14 Lee Marvin makes it watchable
For indepth plot analysis, check out some previous reviews. Most everyone knows who the characters are and what this flick is about. But it all boils down to the fact that this is a pretty square picture, made by a bunch of squares, all trying desparately to be hip and capture the essence of something entirely new and elusive, which was Beat coolness, crossed with postwar veteran angst.
The original event that this is (loosely) based on, a motorcycle rally in Hollister, CA in 1947, is very misunderstood and little known outside of biker circles. But there was a sea change underway in the American psyche - one could almost say that the 60's started there, as much as anywhere. "The Wild One" tries to capture this notion, but this film has a very tone deaf quality to it. They all know the words, but they can't carry a tune.
The one shining star here is Lee Marvin, who is (as usual) so perfect it's scary. It's like he wandered onto the set from another picture being made next door, or something, so clearly does he outclass the rest of the pack. He is worth the price of admission, and is the perfect portrait of the disillusioned WW2 vet out to By God enjoy a little of the freedom for which he endured so much hell.
15 Not good, not bad....
Not really that good, but not all that bad either. This describes both the quality of the movie and the degree of evil of the characters. Loosely based on a true incident. A large number of disfunctional World War II vets returned home, bought motorcycles, and decided to see America. A group (proto-gang) of these vets, um... liberated a small California town in 1947. Yes, they terrorized the townfolk, but didn't exactly burn the place down and murder people. They had their way. A few fistfights, a few unpaid-for drinks. (Possibly a woman assaulted here and there: don't mean to suggest it was entirely innocent, or that no one got hurt. Don't mean to suggest it was a big joke. War is evil and can scramble the brains of its participants.) Think of KELLY'S HEROES types returning home. A couple of hundred CHiPs finally moved in and unliberated the town. After this incident, many wannabe-disfunctional-vets admired the devil-may-care attitude and sought to emulate them. Thus was born the outlaw biker culture.
This movie is based on that except it has been changed to disaffected youths as the prepetrators.
It's basically the eternal internal struggle of living a life of freedom vs. one of being a responsible productive member of society.
Note: I do not wish to be seen as attacking military veterans. One has only to see many of the movies made in the late 1940s to know that many men had a great deal of trouble coming home and readjusting to civilian life. Examples: THE BIG SLEEP, ALL MY SONS, THE BLUE DAHLIA, CROSSFIRE, KEY LARGO, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIFE, etc. (If you consider the butcher shop and horse race as metaphors for war, then even NATIONAL VELVET has to be put in this category.)
16 Good movie
I thought this movie was pretty entertaining considering its age. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stay awake through it but it's not one of those movies. It moves fast and its not long. I recommend to anyone going through a classic movie phase.
17 The film that helped give The Beatles their name..
John Lennon wanted something like the Crickets (Buddy Holly's band), and saw this film and named his band after the motorcycle gang: The Beetles. He changed the spelling to Beat les and had the perfect name that reflected his beat band.
Not a review of the film but they could have ben called "The Shoes."
18 The Wild One: But Who is the One?
Occasionally, a film comes along that is thoroughly unexceptional but somehow catches the emotional pulse of the viewer and of the age. For better or worse, this film defines the moment, which flares beacon-like, and in whose glare its flaws are momentarily hidden until the next generation can see it with fresh perspective. Such a film was THE WILD ONE. Based loosely on a real-life incident in 1947, California, director Laslo Benedek retells how a mob of Hell's Angels type motorcyclists descended on a small, sleepy town to wreak havoc. Coming as it did just two years after the end of the Second World War, this original incident stunned the contemporary American public that had grown used to the idea that violence committed against a recognized enemy was acceptable, but against solid, middle-class citizens, there arose a fury against those who would dare upset what the stormers of Tarawa had died to preserve. By 1953, there grew to age a new generation of which the memories of the war were but fleeting, and this new group was shouting to be heard in a wilderness of predictably, law-abiding Americans. Against this backdrop of youthful rootlessness, leather was the symbol of revolt and motorcycles the means to flaunt it.
Marlon Brando plays Johnny, the cycle leader, as a young punk who hides his fears and uncertainties behind a mask of crafted sarcasms. He speaks in the new lingo of the youth. One of the ironies not fully appreciated until years later is that the actors who played the gang riders made their later reputations often playing the same upstanding citizens whom they reviled that sunny day in California. It is clear that they are in revolt against conformity, but when Johnny's love interest, played by Mary Murphy asks him against what they are rebelling, he snarls in one of the two most memorable lines of the movie and the age: 'What do you got?' They derail a legitimate motorcycle competition, insult the good citizens of the town, and generally raise a low level of hell. Eventually the citizens get fed up with the antics of Johnny and form a vigilante committee that drives them out, but only after one of the townspeople is killed in the melee does Johnny and his band exit the town, bruised in body if not in mind.
Repeated viewings on the film bring out a subtle subtext about the need to make one's mark on a world that encourages a bland uniformity, and the vicious response of that world to enforce its unwritten fiats by extra-legal means. As the viewer sees the wrongs committed by the bikers against the townspeople and then balances them against other wrongs committed by the townspeople against the bikers, he is sullenly surprised to learn that the leather of the bikers covers a minor level of lawlessness while the button-down sport shirts of the town's citizens covers a viciousness that is truly lethal. When the bikers roll into town, they seem more like a rowdy group of soccer fans out to raise mild hell after their favorite team had lost a key game: they grouse, they curse, they drink beer, and they goose a few girls. The townspeople, on the other hand, seem individually impotent, and stay that way until Chino, played effectively by a loud and slimy Lee Marvin, pushes both the town to react to him and Johnny to reclaim his right to be the bike leader. It is only when the town's citizens band together that the audience can sense that they blend their small amounts of testosterone into a boiling cauldron, the results of which show more about themselves than about the bikers. They grab Johnny and drag him to a garage, where they beat him with fists and clubs. It is here that Johnny hurls at his tormentors the film's other great line, 'My old man hits harder than that.'
It is unlikely that director Benedek meant THE WILD ONE to stand as anything more than the first in what he surely hoped would be a renaissance of a new film genre, but as so often happens in any work of art, the finished product may evoke a response that the originating artist did not intend at all. Perhaps this is the reason why THE WILD ONE can still be enjoyed years after other cycle movies have long since crashed into the dust.
19 Are you down with my review
Ummmmmm, I think the reason I like this film stems from the reasoning that any picture that can leave me questioning for years wether I like it or not must have had an impact. No im wrong I do like it I just dont know if I love it.
The film is about a lovely little group of buggerlugs who decide to run a muck in a small town, and thats it. What makes it a bit special is that there is a sparkly allagiorical treat hidden away ( it was a fifties film ) and it has Brando in it.
The film allows you to decide who are the villans of the tale, the gang or the towns people. The bikers are thankfully represented in an aimiable light when contrasted with the lynch mob of towns people, who decide to go against the law to rid their town of the invading scallywags, and the towns folk arent all 'squares', theres a nice balance that lets you decide. Being set and produced in the fifties theres a strong rebellious streak through the film, and rather than just the dramatisation ao an actual event I think it has links with the social climate of the time. I get a strong Macarthyism style wiff from this pungent little snuff box, i could be wrong but the stench is mighty strong.
Brando does his usual job, acting mostly with his expressive face throughout as his character hardly says much, you always get the impression he is continually considering his situation and finding no real purpose, you cant help but watch him and he manages to shine through from a sea of insignificant others.
The film has aged in a way that other youth films such as 'Rebel without a cause' havent, this is mainly down to the jive talk, which is a bit old hat, its funny though how even today white folks still imitate the infinately cooler speech of the black community ( Brando does it a bit better than most kids today though )
If you can look past the jive ( which i think gives the film a touch of style) you will most probably enjoy this, i just convinced myself that i do love this afterall
bye
20 Not a criminal or outlaw bone in their bodies!
I'm a Brando fan. And so looked forward to seeing this classic 1954 film on videotape. What a disappointment!
There was nothing intrinsically bad about this gang. And that was what the trouble was. They were just a bunch of young men who liked to let loose on weekends. Not a criminal or outlaw bone in their bodies. They made a lot of noise, fought among themselves, drank a lot of beer. The pranks were rather harmless too, like teasing the uptight residents of the town, making noise, joking around by putting hair dryers on their heads. A small amount of property gets destroyed, but these men are obvioiusly not real criminals.
I giggled throughout the move in places that were overacted and were not supposed to be funny. There was no real tension even though a voice-over at the beginning warns the audience about this awful gang and that people have to make sure that it doesn't happen here. The love interest seemed silly. And Brando seemed to be totally limited in his range of emotion or acting ability.
I just can't understand why this movie became so famous and was so acknowledged. It is not just that it was made more than three decades ago. I've seen other movies from that period that had good plots and good acting. On the Waterfront was one of them, produced in the same year,and in which Brando emerged as a fine actor.
Recommended only for those into classic films. But be prepared to be bored.
21 A work of art
This early 1950's film uses a bop jazz score to punctuate all of the fight scenes- whenever a fight breaks out, the trumpets always seem to be playing at their loudest. I thought that detail was interesting and amusing to mention as the story is old news- bikers invade a town and cause havoc. This film and Rebel Without A Cause are the two most famous teenage films of the 1950's. In this film lee Marvin plays the leader of a rival gang and has an antagonistic relationship with Brando. This is when Brando was in top shape, before he gained a thousand pounds and became the spokeperson for the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and the person you would first identify with the save the whales campaign.
22 th wild one
although the film itslef is a classic. The dvd is not much better than the vhs version. The sound and video is not at all improved and there are very few extras on it. It is nice to have in a format that will last longer, but besides that this dvd doesnt have much to offer.
23 46 years later...
I look at this film today through very different eyes than when I first saw it as a high-schooler in '54.
Of course a lot of it seems hokey now, and with good reason: the world is a far less innocent place than it was in those bucolic, Eisenhower, pre-R&R days.
But when it first came out, it was Hot Stuff. Bad guys, noisy bikes, beer-drinking, and girls in tight sweaters were a big deal to us then.
24 The Chosen One
This truely is an interesting film. I am not quite sure how to recommend this movie to people, but I do. First, and most important about this film is that it was made in 1953, and is therefore rather dated. Brando himself reflected on this film in his autobiography(Songs My Mother Taught Me) saying he felt it was a good picture when he made it, but he thought it hadn't aged well. In the context of this particular film it means these bike gangs, while at the time considered rebellious and dangerous, do not, by modern conventions of "rebels" and "outlaws," really come off as that threatening. At the time they were(the Hells Angels begins in this period). That understood viewers can really enjoy this picture. To me it almost had a comedic value to it. I really enjoy watching the steriotypes of this time for example the locals being called "squares." Marlon Brando is very engaging as Johnny, the leader of this rebel motorcycle gang that happens into a small town and takes it over for a few days. Even today it is possible to see why, in the early 50's, Brando was inspiring generations of actors with his performances, before he became fat and self-indulgant. For this reason alone it is worth a look.
25 Does Anyone Under 30 Remember Brando?
Unless you're in charge of the Smithsonian Archive of Hollywood Motorcycle Films, you rented this movie because of one reason: Marlon Brando. Is the film outdated? It was shot in '54. Does Brando disappoint? Come on. Plus, this film has sold more bikes than Zig Ziglar in his wet dream.
26 Rebels Looking For A Cause
Marlon Brando stars as the leader of a biker gang that invades a small town and turns everything upside down. To be honest, these bikers don't seem particularly dangerous, and some of the dialogue is so rooted in the Fifties' slang I found myself laughing out loud. However, the Brando performance makes the movie worth a look, and he has an interesting relationship with the sheriff's daughter. I'm sure this film had a much bigger impact on its Fifties audience than it does nowadays. For me it was a step back into another time for seventy minutes.
27 Video Museum
Regardless of how the story line grabs you or how much many of the actors maybe miscast this movie is worth it just to see all the old bikes. From Triumphs, BSA's, Nortons & Vincents to Harleys & Indians it gives you a firsthand look at the wide variety of classic bikes that were available back then...I only wish it were so today.
28 Bad Biker Flick
First, this was not a movie based on a real event. What happened in Hollister was nothing more than some bikers having some fun. The media blew it up into something it wasn't. What a surprise! The picture that appeared in Life magazine was set up. They asked people to kick more empty beer bottles into the frame. It was all hype.
From that, Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon. Another surprise. Ever ready to create stereotypes, they tried to do that with the biker image. Well, the bikers in this movie were a joke. Every cliche in the book was used and there guys came off more as movie extras from a musical dressed to play bikers. Lee Marvin came the closest to anything real. Whoever gets the idea from this movie that bikers of the Hell's Angels type are a bunch of fun loving guys that will dance with each other and sing together and joke around with the local populace is in for a rude awakening.
I am a biker, but not in an outlaw gang. I ride a Harley and have been to biker bars and the like. The Wild One does not draw an acurate picture. Brando and his "gang" would be eaten alive in today's biker culture. Granted, today's biker scene is diverse. It runs the spectrum from the 1%ers (outlaw gangs) to the yuppie RUBs (rich urban bikers). Along the way, there are many poseurs who affect the outlaw image. They come across as the bikers in this movie. All bark and no bite.
In short, this is a Hollywood version of an event that did not happen as reported, portraying the principles in a stereotypical and inaccurate way, bearing no resemblence to reality. Think how a John Wayne war movie compares to Saving Private Ryan and you get the idea of how The Wild One compares to real outlaw bikers.
29 Heck on Wheels.
This movie starts out showing that appeasement is wrong and just buys you trouble. The cyclists are repelled from one town by a cop who stands up to them, and then go on to the next place which cottons to them, for a while anyway.
There are some good scenes and a few good lines, though. Surely we've all seen clips of Brando's character response to the question, "What are you rebelling against?" with the deft reply, "Whaddya got?"
When he starred in this, Lee Marvin wasn't too far out of the WWII Marines, and it shows.
30 Your Motorcycle Film Collection Should Start Here
Do not miss this original. Before Hollywood started mass producing increasingly awful, stereotyped, and trashy biker movies there was The Wild One. Very loosely based on actual events, this story spawned all those cheesy bike films that never even come close to The Wild One's solid storyline, great acting, and fabulous soundtrack. If you've ever suffered threw a lousy biker film, treat yourself to this wonderful film that is THE original. Just the sight of a very drunken Chino (Lee Marvin) riding into town on a Panhead to stir things up with Johnny's(Marlon Brando)Black Rebels is worth the puchase price.Long live the BRMC!
31 A Classic for Brando fans
Brando plays Johnny, the leader of the Blind Rebels motorcycle club, who wander into a small town with one cop. Johnny doesnt like cops by the way. A rival gang, lead by Lee Marvin, heads into town to help cause trouble, with the town and the Blind Rebels. Brando is very cool in this one but, the only really convincing tough guy is Lee Marvin. Based on a real incident that most likely was not this comedic. I doubt the real bikers were this nice either. Forget about all of that and have fun with it, because Marlon is crazy, dad!
32 I wish today's movies were a tenth as good
One of Marlon's best films. Great action, some romance, a lot of drama, and all without cursing or graphic violence. How did they do that?
33 The classic Hollywood biker film
Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin depict bikers as only Hollywood can in a film inspired by actual events that took place in a town called Hollister during the late '40s. The movie along with the rebel biker image was sparked by a Time magazine cover showing a drunken shirtless biker lounging on his Harley-Davidson with a beer in both hands. It was a bit of bad press, reading something like the "downfall of society" or "outlaw bikers take over town" that originated the rebel H-D image and gave Hollywood the inspiration to create this timeless cult classic.
