Die wilden Engel

I first saw this show in '66 when I was a cycle rider myself. I liked it so much that I went to see it twice. Even liked the music. After watching it again over 30 years later, I have to ask myself just what it was that I found so appealing about the film. It was corny, overacted, sometimes badly acted, and it had a juvenile storyline. I guess what I liked about it back then was all the motorcycles. Good to see that Peter Fonda has improved with age.

The begin is awesome: The little child and then in front of the camera the wheel of Peter Fonda's cycle. Uuaah, it was great for me when I saw this picture first in the age of sixteen or seventeen. This moment I wished to be a biker for the next twenty years. Later Corman's way of film-making didn't work so brilliant for this young shy boy in Bayreuth, Germany. Lot of the rest of this movie is cheesy trivial, and so I remembered today this wonderful scene of terror and an actor in his best form. I don't speak from Peter Fonda (he is only solid like Nancy Sinatra too), the guy is Bruce Dern, one of the most underrated actors of US-cinema. My rating is six of out ten stars, because this picture was with Dern and also created the new genre of motorcycle-films. Marlon Brando as the leading actor in "The Wild One" didn't have the influence for cinema, nor for the fifties or for the sixties like this - sorry - in the sum very, very average picture.

This film had it all; sex, drugs and rock and roll. This is the trademark of all of Corman's films. Another trademark with this type of film is the fact that he, and other low-budget directors, rely on the children of Hollywood legends (Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra) to attract an audience. This is an okay film, and the Peter Bogdanovich's script is pretty decent. The only thing though is that it relied too much on the action to carry the story. Also, the women in this film are mainly used as window dressing. In fact, I don't think Nancy Sinatra had more than ten lines of dialogue in the whole picture. At least Dianne Ladd had more to say. However, the thing I loved the most about the film is the score, which was one of the first examples of what would become heavy metal.

Roger Corman's modestly-budgeted "wheeler" for American International Pictures opens brilliantly, with the evocative cinematography from Richard Moore promising more than what Corman, screenwriter Charles Griffith, or the cast can eventually deliver. Plot has Southern California biker gang enjoying rumbles, cycle jousts, hassling the Mexicans, and outrunning the local heat; but when Bruce Dern steals a police-bike and gets shot, gang "president" Peter Fonda hatches a plan to break him out of the hospital and thus keep him out of prison. The film looks terrific from start to finish, but the line-readings are sometimes so painful and awkward, one wishes Corman could cut back on the dialogue and just allow the visuals to tell the story. Sort of the older brother to "Easy Rider", "Angels" was eclipsed in popularity and relevance just a few years later. Supporting cast includes Diane Ladd, Gayle Hunnicutt, Michael J. Pollard, and Nancy Sinatra, whose hospital crying scene is a hoot. *1/2 from ****

That's what it seemed like ''way back in 1966. Producer Roger Corman set out to make a film based on the notorious California-Based ''Hell's Angels'' motorcycle gang, having seen a cover story about them in Life Magazine.Legendary ''B'' movie studio, American International Pictures was just as anxious to jump on the ''Biker Bandwagon'' (they eventually produced or distributed eleven more films on this subject) and gave the OK to Corman. Though George Chakiris (''West Side Story'' Oscar Winner) was originally cast in the lead role, it was Peter Fonda who ended up playing the part. Playing his ''Old Lady'' was Nancy Sinatra, who was then riding high with her hit single ''These Boots Are Made For Walkin'.Bruce Dern played ''The Loser'' the part originally intended for Fonda, and Dern's then wife Diane Ladd portrayed his on-screen spouse. There were a few familiar faces among the supporting actors as well, including Gayle Hunnicutt, in an early appearance, and Assistant Director Peter Bogdonavich, who is glimpsed in the climactic brawl,as is Corman himself. The story itself is really just a loosely connected series of incidents which allow the viewer to follow the ''Angel's'' exploits as if they were viewing a Documentary about the gang. Since ''The Wild One''aside, this was the film that started the whole ''Cycle'' cycle, it's not surprising that it has a very experimental feel to it.The location photography is excellent, and belies the brief three week shooting schedule, while the musical score written by future AIP Biker music stalwart (and future Lieutenant Governor) Mike Curb, is dynamic and fits the visuals like a glove. The same goes for the group (''Davie Allan And The Arrows'') who perform it. In fact ''Blues Theme'' was a hit single for the group, and the Soundtrack Album proved so popular that a second volume was released. Both records, in fact, started the ''Motorcycle Soundtrack'' craze, most of which were released on Curb's ''Tower/Sidewalk'' labels, a Capitol Records affiliate during the 60's. The actors themselves are not given much opportunity to spread their wings and fly, so to speak, but, under the circumstances, they do all right. Dern is especially convincing as ''The Loser'' and Ladd evokes the sympathy her character calls for. Fonda is a bit weak as ''Heavenly Blues'' the leader, but Sinatra makes a pretty tough ''Momma'' and though her natural beauty is downplayed, she is still very easy on the eyes.Upon it's release, the low-budget film proved enormously popular (AIP'S biggest hit so far) and convinced them to launch a whole series of ''Protest'' films. (A wise decision on their part, because they kept the studio in the profit margin for years to come). The Biker genre would have it's share of hits and misses, and, thanks to a few Poverty-Row, independent productions like ''The Hellcats'' ''The Rebel Rousers'' and ''The Cycle Savages'' (starring Dern) all of which made this one seem fairly lavish by comparison, it had petered out by the early seventies. Nevertheless, ''The Wild Angels'' and a few successors like ''Devil's Angels'' and ''Born Losers'' (both released in 1967) remain among the most popular''B'' films of their era.