Il selvaggio

MARLON BRANDO rides into town leading a pack of wild motorcycle riders who proceed to terrorize a hick town before LEE MARVIN shows up and gets into a drunken fight with Brando (as Johnny). Meantime, Johnny flirts dangerously with a cop's daughter (MARY MURPHY) who runs a cafe. Her father is played by ROBERT KEITH, a lawman who's reticent about using his authority with a bunch of motorcycle thugs.

Tension builds when Keith manages to haul Lee Marvin off to jail. Brando's buddies manage to get a hold of one of the town bullies and put him in the jail cell with the drunken Marvin who has passed out. They then go on a wild rampage but not before some of the town's men decide to form a vigilante squad and go after Brando. Brando has a brief romantic fling with the girl who realizes loving him is a lost cause.

***** POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD ***** The plot moves swiftly to a conclusion once the girl is able to convince the authorities that he wasn't responsible for the death of an elderly bystander hit by a motorcycle.

Stanley Kramer production has a nice, tense background score by Leith Stevens.

Summing up: Early Brando is impressive to watch, but much of the dialog is very dated and anchored firmly in the 1950s by the slang and be-bop expressions and overall concept of the film.

Famous for the moment when a girl taunts him with: "What are you rebelling against?"

Brando's terse reply: "What have you got?"

"Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against ? -Whadaaya got ?"

This simple exchange sums up the spirit, or lack of , that inhabits the tumultuous heart of Johnny Stabler, the leader of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club bikers riding like formerly the horsemen of the Apocalypse their Triumphs, or their triumph over a square alienating norm whose only trophy is defiance and suspicion. People see them as hoodlums, they define themselves as rebels … but Johnny gives the perfect answer to the inevitable question. What have you got?

Indeed, there's nothing that doesn't invite to rebellion, it's not just being against the norm or the system but not even making a norm out of one's rebellion, the idea is simply to go, to escape from the conditioning and alienating effect of civilization. These guys aren't the baby boomers, they lived the War, they remember its effect on the elder, they inherited an America to rebuild, but the spirit was all lost in the greatest generation's souls. They're part of the rebirth of America and its conquering spirit, but only in the name of motorbikes, bottle of beers and rock'n'roll.

"The Wild One" directed by Laslo Benedek is the first of a trilogy that can be defined as the "Rebellious Youth of the 50's" followed by "Blackboard Jungle" and the the iconic "Rebel Without a Cause" (a title that could have fitted this one). James Dean's movie dealt with rebellion from an Oedipal point of view, showing the roots of the youth's unease, the absence of a true model to respect. "Blackboard Jungle" was more about the failure of education. But "The Wild One" shows the results without getting through their background, all we see is these kids in their 20's looking for vast landscapes for driving, bars where partying, and towns for terrorizing.

And the first two films have one thing in common, they start with the infamous headliners, you know these big words that don't take the viewer's intelligence for granted. Yes, we know the whole rhapsody; this lost youth is revealing of the failure of a system … and let us pray for it will never happen again. Did we need that? I guess it's like the famous Cagney-Robinson movies in the 30's were people weren't used to see gangster playing the lead roles. Well, the 50's had to deal with rebellious minds, no less dangerous, except for the fact that they didn't cause trouble for money, they had no reason whatsoever to act like they did, they did because … well, why not?

And the casting of Marlon Brando as the seminal rebellious kid is the film's masterstroke not just because of his iconic look, 2 years before James Dean with the leather jacket, the hat, and the Triumph, one of the most defining images of the 50's, there's more to that, there's Marlon Brando, there's this constant enigma engraved in his face. This is something I sensed in most of the characters he played in the 50's, we never exactly know what he thinks, what he feels, and most of the time, his character gets away with his secret. Johnny Stabler is no exception, he doesn't emerge from the group as a leader but as a natural outcast with one hell of an aura.

This is pure Brandonian detachment, and I love it. See how he subtly escapes from the gang as soon as he sees the beautiful Kathie (Mary Murphy), yes, it's obligatory romantic subplot but Brando elevates it to another dimension ever improving HER acting by the miracle of his presence. I suspect the moment she tried to get the capsule of his bottle and he took it away from her, was one of these improvisations he has the secrets. Brando plays everything, he's tough, sensitive, intriguing and fascinating. Ultimately, she despises his gang, but in no way, she can despise him because there is something incredibly attractive in that guy who doesn't enjoy attracting.

This is the rebellious attitude, a nihilistic escape in the world and within oneself, without coming back with no one on one's back. Stabler has no connection with the past, he never looks back, if he takes the girl, she's got to go with him, if he doesn't trust the cop, it's because he did before and it cost him a lot. Always moving forward …. Is his motto, although when one of his gang friends is injured by an old man, observing the cute Kathie, he decides to stay. The townspeople try to accommodate with the gang but it's only a matter of time, and beer that the generation gap shows its limits, forcing the local councilman, Mary's meek father, to interfere. But the man is incapable to use his weapon, abandoning all the control to the angry mob lead by a local bully.

"The Wild One" isn't the subtlest script ever but I admire its straight-forward way to make its point in 80 minutes that feel longer, this is how thrilling it is. There is a bit of wilderness and soft-headedness in all of us, it's all about which button to press. Its primitive, simplistic, but for some reason it works and Brando is mainly the cause, but I wouldn't attribute all the merit to him, there is a stellar performance, from, Lee Marvin as his rival Chino, almost stealing the legend's show and an unrecognizably young Tim Carey as one of the hoodlums.

As simple as the film is, it'll be forever renowned for its iconic image of Brando and his indelible quote, enough to put it in the legendary 50's, a must-see definitely, a cult-classic … or the Easy Rider of the 50's… And Marlon Brando was born to be (the) Wild (one).

Here we have THE original biker cinema classic that predated "Easy Rider" by a good decade and a half. Marlon Brando, all swaggering cool, delivers an iconic performance as Johnny, leader of the B.R.M.C. (Black Rebels Motorcycle Club). Johnny and friends come to a small town to raise some Hell; he becomes quite taken with local girl Kathie Bleeker (Mary Murphy), and she with him.

Although Johnny is no innocent, and does have a role to play in the events that get out of hand, it becomes clear that he's also not the Devil that hostile and intolerant citizens make him out to be.

"The Wild One" does firmly date itself in some ways. The dialogue is very much of the time, and the antics of these biker clubs are not as scuzzy as some people might like to see. This is not a biker film for those people who enjoy the exploitative low budget pictures that came out in the wake of "Easy Rider". After a while, it becomes clear that there's not that much of a story here, as a lot of mayhem and destruction takes up the running time. But then, this is just as much of a character study as it is a motorcycle movie.

Our main character is something of an enigma. While ostensibly a rebel in outright defiance of every accepted societal norm, he's also a guy who's really not that sure of himself, a guy still in search of an identity. Scenes late in the film with Johnny and Kathie are the real standouts.

The excellent cast also includes Robert Keith as Kathie's dad, a surprisingly laid back lawman who doesn't seem to be that cut out for his job, and who is willing to give our gang some amount of leeway. Lee Marvin steals his scenes as rival gang leader Chino. It's also fun to see people like Timothy Carey, Alvy Moore, Jerry Paris, and Bruno VeSota in small, uncredited roles.

Nicely shot (by Hal Mohr) and scored (by Leith Stevens), "The Wild One" does merit a viewing for film buffs.

Seven out of 10.

Every so often that movie comes along that defies everything, everyone and all expectations. It reaches beyond the realms of mere big screen entertainment and constructs iconography and archetypes that are so enduring that to this day they are relevant and have an effect. Make no mistake about it, The Wild One is THE first movie to represent a youth culture of any description. People cite Rebel Without A Cause as the first youth culture movie BUT this movie came before and in my opinion, is by far the better movie

The story centres on Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando) and his motorcycle gang who terrorise a small California town alongside another motorcycle gang led by Chino (a young Lee Marvin). After Chino's arrest for out of hand antics, the gangs run wild during the night, doing with the town as they please, from attacking the telephone operator, freeing Chino from prison to attacking a citizens house whom they believe responsible for Chino's arrest and accosting just about every female in the town. While Johnny is not totally blameless for this he is most definitely NOT the instigator that everyone makes him out to be. This does not stop the townspeople adopting a mob mentality and going at Johnny with all guns blazing. However while they are planning this there is a love story unfolding between Johnny and the daughter of a cop, a love story that is never truly consummated. The cops daughter had intrigued Johnny since the beginning since she had appeared untouchable. He saves her from the wrath of the rest of the B.R.M.C. (the name given to Johnny's motorcycle gang) and takes her to a forest where, after some heated Academy Award flavoured dialogue and a kiss and a slap, the cops daughter runs from Johnny, although not FROM Johnny. The running stands for a metaphor related to suburban societal entrapment. Johnny is later caught and battered by the mob until the towns cop unknowingly stalls the mob for Johnny to escape. Johnny grabs his motorcycle and attempts to ride out when something (a tyre iron) is thrown at the wheel of his moving bike and causing is to fly out of control and into an elderly citizen. And when it seems that Johnny is going to go to jail for an extremely LONG time, a couple of towns people including the cops daughter decide to tell a few truths that help Johnny get out of it. Johnny and his boys leave town never to return.

The mere storyline of this movie is simply not enough to translate exactly what it is that this movie stands for and is responsible for. A scene that is, and forever shall be ingrained into the Hollywood psyche is when Johnny is standing by a jukebox and one of his gang members is dancing with a girl and she asks, `B.R.M.C., what does that stand for?'. Johnny's gang member replies `The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club' and she replies `Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?' and he replies, in what could very possibly be the most career defining sentence that has ever been uttered on-screen, `Whaddya got?'. Now in this day and age that comes across as incredibly trite and corny but in those days, in that social environment that existed in Western Culture, that movie was called incendiary and ran into censorship troubles (cue The Hayes Code) and in England was banned outright until sometime in the mid 70s. While watching this movie one must remain totally and utterly aware of the context of this movie.

Another the scene that was the cause of many a raised eyebrow and was exactly what makes every kid on earth that's ever been condescended to by teacher and parents and the like, totally empathise is the scene where the cops daughter and the cop have saved Johnny's life and Johnny is being read the riot act by the Sheriff and he just sits there, looking at the floor (c'mon guys, u know you've been in that position before) totally listening but appearing as if he isn't. As Johnny is strutting out of the room the cop stop him by asking if he has anything to say to these people who have basically saved his life (at least from jail). The cop even prompts him so far as to say `You could at least say 'Thank You'. Johnny doesn't move, doesn't turn to look at them, doesn't speak. This silence is broken by the cops daughter who says `It's OK, he doesn't know how'. This on it's own cements John Strabler and the most archetypal rebel. The key here is in relating to the character. Everybody, from your typical f***ed-up suburban teenager, to your urban delinquents to a three year old can understand the complexities and the moral stand that is taken by someone when they decide that they will not do things like apologise or thank people.

Youth rebellion was a complete and utter non entity in the 50s, no one could fathom kids doing things like this. Kids up until the 50s merely did what there parents did. This movie was the first to challenge all this, to challenge class oppression and gender roles even, as there are women (shock, horror) as members of Chino's motorcycle gang. This could be the most exceptional piece of filmmaking that EVER happened. I guarantee you that in no matter what town you live in that if you walk down the street you will see some degree of influence from this movie on the people you encounter. Without this movie the following things would not be the same in society:

1) There would be no Rockabilly music of the same fashionable kind 2) There would have to be ANOTHER image of the rebel, possibly the James Dean created image of the rebel because this one would not be 3) There would be no movies the way they are today in terms of youth rebellion (this movie challenged censorship sensibilities) 4) The punk rock movement would be utterly different (Jesus Christ, Sid Vicious has Marlon Brando's jacket, not to mention The Ramones) 5) A lot of modern music, The B.R.M.C. for instance would not be the band they are

The point being made here is that the effect of this movie is beyond mere moviedom. It defined a times, it defined an actor (Marlon Brando), is was fresh and vibrant, it was a kick in the ass for those censors, those self appointed guardians of morality who dare to tell us what to watch and how to watch it and when to watch it. Since this movie a million movies in its vein have emerged, all defining their era. For the 60s there was Easy Rider and Head, for the 70s there was Stayin Alive, and Saturday Night Fever, For the 80s there was Falling Down and for the 90s there was a torrent of them, Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Human Traffic BUT, The Wild One was the first, the unadulterated masterpiece that is now an indelible mark on Hollywood, no American, no Western Culture that will for ever stand testament to the fact that, WE ARE SO F***ING COOL!!! (kids that is JJ)

Would this movie still be watched but for Brando's performance? I think not - it would be relegated to the scrap heap of old B movies. But Brando carries the movie by having the right qualities to play Johnny Strabler, the leader of a motorcycle gang that creates havoc in a small California town. Brando plays Johhny with sullen, smoldering rebelliousness with a suggestion of depth and vulnerability underneath. Brando had already shown his abilities in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and was soon to make "On the Waterfront." The performance here is not up to those standards, but it is engaging. At the time he made this movie Brando's star power was such that he could name his roles, so it is interesting to speculate why he chose to make this. Maybe this role appealed to his own rebellious spirit.

The movie is dated for sure, but you may learn some things about the 1950s that you won't find in the history books. Many early 50s anachronisms are in evidence: 78 records on the jukebox, references to television as being new, bebop music and argot, local HUMAN telephone operators. The comment the old bartender makes about the advent of TV is prescient, "Everything is noise and pictures, nobody talks to anyone anymore" - there is more truth to that with each passing decade. The score - generic, loud, obvious, and intrusive - would not be accepted in contemporary movies. Johnny's attempt to be cool by snapping his fingers to music on the jukebox is so phony as to be embarrassing. One interesting thing was to see an early version of the high-five in response to the interjection "pop me." But credit must be given for this being one of the first mainstream movies to treat the rebellion against the claustrophobic conformity and cold war angst of the early 50s. It was unique for its time.

We do not get much motivation for the reasons the gang members behave the way they do. There are mighty few specifics about the guys in the gang - where they come from, how they support themselves, or what they do besides terrorize small towns. We get only a hint of Johnny's past when, during a beating by the locals he says, "My old man used to hit harder than that." But, maybe all we need to know comes from Johnny's extolling the feeling he gets when getting on his cycle to "just go."

There are many memorable scenes, like the one where Johnny is asked if he doesn't want to thank some people who have done him a good deed and he comes to an inarticulate stop only to have his woman friend say, "That's okay, he doesn't know how."

Lee Marvin has a good go playing Chino, the head of a rival gang that had split off from Johnny's. Chino is the more stereotypical bad ass. He may not have the complex personality of Johnny, but Marvin seems to be having such a grand time in playing him that it is hard not to share in the fun.

There is some interesting photography such as the opening scene where the cyclists roar right over the camera placed in the center of the road. And there is some good night-time black and white work as well.

In an era of drive-by shootings, heavy drug trafficking, and internet pornography the events in this movie can seem pretty tame, but one should not underestimate the number of themes addressed - ones that are still relevant: standing up to intimidation, vigilantism, the desire for freedom, misinterpretation of behavior (with unfortunate consequences), the proper use of force, sex, crowd behavior, generational conflicts and confusions, the ills of stereotyping, and greed.

Also, one lesson to be learned is that steatopygous actors should not wear tight jeans.