I selvaggi

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.

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.

Hard to believe that this film went up against The Battle of Algiers at the Venice Film Festival in 1966. Roger Corman is responsible for starting the biker flicks phenomenon with this film.

Peter Fonda is the essence of coo as he performs a role that he made even more popular in Easy Riders three years later.

He is accompanied by Nancy Sinatra as Monkey, Michael J. Pollard as Pigmy, and Bruce Dern as Loser; along with three time Oscar nominee, and Golden Globe and BAFTA winner, Diane Ladd in her first credited movie role.

Radical scene in the church where Fonda debated the preacher (played by Frank Maxwell, Det. Lt. McAllen in one of my favorite films, Mr. Majestyk).

Exciting action, but missing the gratuitous bits featured in other biker films. PG at best.

"Wild Angels" was the first of the American International biker pictures, which were a drive-in staple of the late 60's and early 70's. Coming almost a generation after "The Wild Ones" these films were enjoyed by anyone who enjoyed a beer-assisted drive-in fantasy about being an outlaw biker for a few hours (they usually played as double features). It was a big game of lets pretend.

And like "Wild In the Streets" much of the appeal was the fear and disgust these things elicited from parents; as they were the only ones who actually took any of the stuff seriously. Many a Peter Fonda poster from "Wild Angels" went up on bedroom walls as parents pondered where they had gone wrong.

The gang in "Wild Angels" did not wear Hells Angels colors, they were "Angels-San Pedro" although some Hells Angels from the Long Beach chapter actually appeared in the film. AI's biker films had very colorful titles and often mentioned Hell or Angels in the title: "Devils Angels", "The Born Losers", "The Savage Seven", "The Mini-Skirt Mob", "Angels from Hell", "Hells Angels 69", "Hells Belles", and "The Hard Ride".

"Wild Angels" was ground-breaking stuff when it was released and featured more Nazi stuff than the later films because once the surfers adopted the Iron Cross it was no longer cool. It broke the outrage meter with its finale as the funeral for The Loser (Bruce Dern) turned into a gang-bang of his widow (Diane Ladd), the destruction of the chapel, the assault of the minister, the abuse of the corpse, and a rumble with the outraged townspeople. And throw in some drug use.

Roger Corman's direction is his most active ever, and the editing by Monte Hellman keeps the pace moving along. You don't notice until it is over that very little actually happened. Fonda is super cool and Nancy Sinatra is unintentionally hilarious. Michael J. Pollard and Gayle Hunnicutt are instantly recognizable in supporting roles. Mike Curb's score is high-lighted by Davie Allan and the Arrows' hit "Blues' Theme."

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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 ****