The Wild One
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| The Wild One | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster. |
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| Directed by | László Benedek |
| Produced by | Stanley Kramer |
| Written by | Novel: Frank Rooney Screenplay: John Paxton Ben Maddow |
| Narrated by | Marlon Brando |
| Starring | Marlon Brando Mary Murphy Lee Marvin |
| Music by | Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | Hal Mohr |
| Editing by | Al Clark |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  December 30, 1953 |
| Running time | 79 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek. It is remembered for Marlon Brando's portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler as a juvenile delinquent, dressed in a leather jacket and riding a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird 6T. Acting opposite Brando was Lee Marvin as a rival gang leader. This low-budget production had Brando playing a "rebel without a cause" two years before James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
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[edit] Production
The Wild One was based on a short story, "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney, in the January 1951 issue of Harper's Magazine. The story was later published in book form as part of The Best American Short Stories 1952. The story took a cue from an actual biker street party on the Fourth of July weekend in 1947 in Hollister, California that was elaborately trumped up in Life Magazine, and dubbed the Hollister riot, with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revellers. The Hollister event is now celebrated annually. In the film, the town is located somewhere in California.
For the most part, the bikers in the film are just generally rowdy in pursuit of a good time, and don't radiate the sinister menace seen in later biker movies based on the Hells Angels, some of whom actually appeared in those films. Indeed, a group of local vigilantes (led by a businessman) who try to take on the bikers are noticeably more unsympathetic (using their influence to obtain lenient treatment from law enforcement, brutally beating up Brando, and finally causing an accident in which a resident is killed and for which Brando is blamed). San Francisco Hell's Angels chapter president Frank Sadilek bought the striped shirt that Lee Marvin wore in the movie, and wore it when meeting police officials.
Trying with little success to keep things under control is the local Sheriff played by Robert Keith. He and Brando were to face each other again on opposite sides of the law in the comedy musical Guys and Dolls.
[edit] Banned in the UK
Deemed scandalous and dangerous, the film was banned by the British Board of Film Censors from showing in the United Kingdom for fourteen years. Its first UK public showing was at the 59 Club in Paddington, London in 1968, to a mostly Rocker audience.
[edit] Quotes
- "What are you rebelling against?"
"Whadd'ya got?"
[edit] Primary cast
- Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler and the narrator
- Mary Murphy as Kathie Bleeker
- Robert Keith as Sheriff Harry Bleeker
- Lee Marvin as Chino
- Jay C. Flippen as Sheriff Stew Singer
- Peggy Maley as Mildred
- Hugh Sanders as Charlie Thomas
- Ray Teal as Uncle Frank Bleeker
- Richard Farnsworth (uncredited)
[edit] In popular culture
The rock group Black Rebel Motorcycle Club got its name from the name of Brando's motorcycle gang, although in the film, the gang is referred to as "Black Rebels Motorcycle Club".
Just as Brando's character in A Streetcar Named Desire caused a national craze of men wearing T shirts, "The Wild One" greatly boosted sales of black leather motorcycle jackets, jeans, white caps, and sun glasses.
In Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, as Anthony is pulled over by the police in the episode "Mexico/US Border", he turns to the camera and says, "What are you rebelling against? What've you got?"
When Shia LaBeouf's character, Mutt Williams, first appears in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he's wearing the same biker gear Johnny Strabler wears, right down to the tilted cap.
