Generational conflicts were constant throughout human history, but Hollywood appeared to become aware of them only in the 1950s. At that time, new generations enjoying unprecedented post‑war prosperity had a hard time adapting to the values cherished by their parents, who had grown up during the hardships of the Great Depression and the Second World War.
The first major film to deal with this phenomenon is The Wild One, a 1953 drama by László Benedek, also known as the great‑grand‑daddy of biker films. The plot, based on real events in Hollister, California in 1947, deals with the “Black Rebels Motorcycle Club”, a gang of leather‑clad bikers who spend all their time roaming around small towns in California searching for fun. But sometimes, instead of fun, they find trouble—as happens when they come to the small town of Wrightsville. At first, the citizens are only slightly annoyed by the bikers, who cruise up and down the main street and spend their time and money in the local bar. Harry Bleeker (played by Robert Keith), the town’s only policeman, does not intervene after the first minor incidents, hoping that the bikers will simply go away. But they do not, because Johnny (played by Marlon Brando), the unofficial leader of the gang, falls in love with his daughter Kathie (played by Mary Murphy). In the meantime, a rival group of bikers, led by Chino (played by Lee Marvin), arrives in town. Bleeker finally decides to act, but it is too late to prevent the escalation of violence.
The events depicted in this film would have seemed shocking to a 1950s audience; parents might have thought the bikers in The Wild One were setting a bad example for their children (which led to the film being banned in some countries). Today’s audience, however, would have to watch the film extremely closely to detect any trace of nonconformist tendencies in its script. The film is in fact deeply conservative, siding with the “squares” and using their fears to deliver a strong “law and order” message: lawlessness, even in its mildest forms, will always escalate into violent anarchy, so social rules must be obeyed, no matter how absurd, expensive, or unenforceable they may seem.
The conservative message of the film was muted by the fact that the bad guys were portrayed as quite appealing, at least compared to their conformist adversaries. Marlon Brando, in his black leather jacket and with his cynical look, became the embodiment of the Bad Boy, and the image he projected in The Wild One became one of the most recognisable visual icons of 1950s youth rebellion, equal only to James Dean or Elvis Presley. Brando contributed to the film’s reputation not only through his appearance, but also through his considerable acting skill. His role as Johnny—a young man doomed by his macho pride—is one of the few redeeming features of this otherwise forgettable exploitation film. The other is Lee Marvin in a brief but unusual turn as his rival, which provides additional amusement for those who enjoy seeking out subtle homosexual undertones in relationships between film characters.
In truth, this badly dated film offers plenty of unintentional laughs. Without them, The Wild One—with its over‑clichéd and sometimes ridiculous characters and situations, plot holes, script flaws, and generally poor acting—would be a distinctly unpleasant viewing experience.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 17th 1999)
==Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Brave browser: https://brave.com/dra011
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/28696-the-wild-one Critic: AA
