MissSimonetta Yeah, The Wild One (1953) is schlock, but it's premium schlock and clearly much too technically competent for the many negative reviews I have seen for it. I tuned into Turner Classic Movies expecting pure camp with only Brando to lend precious little substance, only to be surprised at how moved I was at the conclusion eighty minutes later. Not that I am suggesting this is an unjustly regarded masterwork; like I said, it is schlock and often too cheesy to take seriously. Yet, in spite of the relatively tame action on screen and the cheesy frat boy antics of the bikers, there's still something going on underneath the surface, a palpable sense of frustration and alienation.The Wild One hits on the tyranny of conformity in 1950s America and the way the younger generation fears a life that is painfully ordinary and staid. This is best illustrated in Kathie, who makes it clear that the idea of settling down and then dying in the same boring town is terrifying for her; there's a rebellious, non-conformist streak in her, most obvious when she offers herself to Johnny on the outskirts of the town, and yet this scene also shows she's only willing to go that far if he continues with his rouse of forcing himself on her. She won't break away from the conformity of the town unless a man takes her away from it all. She craves the free life Johnny seems to possess.And yet, even Johnny is a lost soul, who has no clue what he really wants at all. We're given little of his past, aside from the implication that he had an abusive childhood. While in no way the best performance of Brando's career, it is a fine one, one which elevates the film. He utilizes facial expression and body language to communicate all the isolation and adolescent confusion that the schlock dialogue cannot fully deliver. In the end, Johnny is still an enigma, though judging from his final moment with Kathie, he does seem to be more at peace with himself. You really do have to wonder where he'll be going after this, if he's still just going to wander forever. And what of Kathie? Will she ever free herself from that sad little county?These questions lend such a poignancy to the ending, almost making you forget how cheesy everything else was before. But I like the lack of absolute resolution. It gives those star cross'd lovers an afterlife that few B-movie characters enjoy.

Syl There is a moment in the film where Brando leaves an iconic image of him on the motorcycle. This film was inspired by the events in Hollister, California in 1947. While the film is loosely based on the events, Brando is unforgettable and brilliant in this mediocre script. The film has a memorable cast especially Mary Murphy as the female love interest and Lee Marvin as one of the rousing bikers. The film's script could have been more worked on. Stanley Kramer was a genius in finding stories about outsiders and alienation. He found the story to be worth telling and how one town came to deal with their situation. Surprisingly, this film lacks the violence by today's standards. You would be surprised to see how mild the violence is. If anything, Brando's performance captures the film overall and leaves a legacy. He was an icon and his acting still regarded as some of the finest ever on screen or stage.

dougdoepke A peaceable town is taken over by motorcycle rowdies.Despite the sometimes frat boy antics of gang members, the movie came across to audiences of the time as something of a 50's nightmare. For example, there's a small town taken over by motorcycle outlaws, a virginal girl (Murphy) surrounded by rowdies, a cop too meek to intervene, and a general breakdown of peace, quiet and conformity. In short, it's a challenge to the every day norms the famously inarticulate Johnny (Brando) is rebelling against. It's that sort of restlessness that takes the gang to the highway, and the excitement they seek. But it's also a nation recovering from the rigors of a big Depression and the disruptions of WWII. So the two are bound to clash. The movie may seem tame by today's graphic standards, but for the 1950's it was a barbarian assault against the decade's defining conventions. No wonder, the film was condemned in so many places.Truth be told, Brando doesn't act so much as he poses. Nonetheless, it's an iconic pose in cap and sunglasses that shot him to the forefront of the decade's celebrated rebels. For example, catch how delicately he positions the sunglasses or how he slouches silently by while others cavort. Still, the movie really comes alive when Lee Marvin (Chino) and his gang hit town. He's the loudmouth opposite of Johnny, looking to knock him off his regal pose, which he tries in a well-staged fistfight. Then there's Mary Murphy's good girl, a perfect casting choice. When she flees down a darkened street just ahead of the motorcycle rowdies, I could feel frozen shudders all over the theater of that day. It was like small town America about to be ravaged. Of course, the tables are turned when some of the town's bolder elements form into vigilantes and chase Johnny down the same street. I guess violence, as they say, really is a two-way street.Anyway, the movie's still a milestone worth catching up with. My only gripe is with the cheapness of the production. The town and the sets are bare bones, especially in the movie's latter half. Maybe that was intentional in order to highlight the story. But if so, it came at the expense of a realistic undercurrent, especially the atrocious exterior set for Johnny and Kathie's little get-away, appearing more like a stage play than a film. All in all, it's a signature movie for the young Brando, cementing his rebel image for a generation.

sashank_kini-1 The most suitable way to describe 'The Wild One' is that it is the "popcorn movie of the 50s". This is one of those films which you can watch repeatedly and be entertained each and every time. It has characters and dialogs worthy and memorable enough of becoming a part of pop culture, and so even after many years of the film's release, I think people must've said 'Hey look, they're showing The Wild One! You remember Johnny… and Kathy?' whenever the movie was shown on television. You can attribute the adjective 'cool' to 'The Wild One', which is surprising because there aren't many old films a person today would term 'cool'.The film is also important because it is a manifestation of the changing carefree rebellious and reckless attitudes of the young generation in the 50s, and so some of the modern viewers might be taken aback watching some of the scenes (such as one in which a biker kids around with the barman by talking in a beatnik accent) in an old black and white film like this. Although very mild in comparison to many of the films of this age, for a 50s movie, The Wild One is pretty bad-ass.When 'The Wild One' begins, we see a cautionary message of the controversial event we are about to witness. There was frankly no need for any such message, and the film could have started with Brando's narration directly as the presence of an explicitly stated warning makes 'The Wild One' seem for a moment like the ridiculous Ed Wood film 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (the laughably bad opening sequence in Plan 9 has a man warning us about the event we are about to witness). There are chances the censor board in those days compelled the director Laslo Benedik to include this 'do not try this at home' like warning so as to forestall any imitation of the acts seen in the movie.After the message disappears, we see many bikes driving down the highway roads, as a bunch of outlaw bikers led by Johnny (played by Brando) make their way to a motorcycle race and steal the second prize trophy. The group is perennially at loggerheads with the authority and find themselves just drifting from one place to another without any sense of direction. When they enter a small town called Wrightsville, the bikers decide to explore and exploit the town facilities by creating a ruckus and disturbing peace. The small town Chief Harry Bleaker (played by Robert Keith) is ineffective in controlling the situation of the bikers, and there is growing agitation amongst some of the townsmen who cannot stand the presence of the unruly bikers. There is a romantic angle that blooms between Johnny and Harry's beautiful demure daughter Kathie (played by Mary Murphy). The Wild One proves that when you have actors of superior caliber and a well intentioned script, you can make a seemingly light-weight subject matter seem important, as if you are there to make a point. The 80s too had films with similar themes but many faltered in their execution, and so we don't talk much about such films very seriously today, labeling them 'cheesy'. The themes explored in The Wild One is not that light- weight actually, and I was quite impressed with the social commentary I could perceive in the movie – we see how direction-less the young rebels were, hanging together without understanding about each other and priding themselves in wrongfully obtaining things they didn't really earn; we also hear about the ambitions of the small-town women, their secret urge to escape but reluctance in leaving. Laslo Benedik allows us to listen to the different groups and their attitudes towards a particular event; for example, when Johnny and rival biker group leader Chino come to blows, the camera cuts to different groups which includes a) Kathie who is concerned about Johnny b) townsmen who condemn the bikers c) elder Jimmy who comments slightingly about outlaw life and d) the bikers themselves who cheer and incite their fighting leaders. Hence the film in no way glorifies any of the violence or behavior of the bikers, but it only makes an attempt to understand (and make us understand) their lifestyle. Marlon Brando shows why the technique of method has such relevance in cinema and theater – method when done rigorously and meticulously gives a performance that settles perfectly with the rest of the picture. We hence watch a performance, however strong, becoming a part of the film rather than forming a separate identity. The latter happens with actors like Meryl Streep whose performances are movies in themselves, and so we experience two movies running simultaneously, one being the film itself and the second being the creation of Streep's character's life. Before I get bashed, let me clarify that I am equally excited about Streep films and the statement is just to point out how different acting approaches can create different experiences. What Brando does is he injects the persona of the character he is playing in him and then works out his role, and so we always get a variety of memorable characters from him, whether it is Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, or Don Corleone in The Godfather Part 1, or Terry Malloy in On The Waterfront. Mary Murphy plays Johnny's girl, and she is both beautiful and expressive.One ends up loving something about The Wild One, whether it is Brando's Johnny and his characteristics or mannerisms or wardrobe (loved how he wore that cap), or the biker's attire (jacket and jeans), or the action or the love story. But there isn't one thing to really hate about the film. This is perhaps why the film had become a big part of pop culture and is still seen as one of Brando's most known movies.