L'équipée sauvage

From what I understand this movie was one of the first films about biker gangs and due to its well-deserved reception resulted in a number of similar movies since then. Essentially, "Johnny Strabler" (played by Marlon Brando) is the leader of a motorcycle club known as the Black Rebels which just happens to ride into the small California town of Wrightsville. Upon entering the local café he spies a young waitress by the name of "Kathie Bleeker" (Mary Murphy) and decides to get to know her a little better. Not long afterward another motorcycle gang called the Beetles also arrives and their leader, named "Chino" (Lee Marvin), decides to provoke Johnny into a fight in the middle of the street. One thing leads to another and Chino is eventually arrested which causes both motorcycle clubs to spend the night in Wrightsville. That's when all hell breaks loose. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that although this film is rather dated it still manages to entertain fairly well. I especially liked the performances of both Marlon Brando and Mary Murphy who both played their parts quite well. In any case, I recommend this movie to all of those who might enjoy a film of this nature and rate it as above average.

Brando is his archetypal mean and moody self, as the original rebel on a motorcycle terrorising smalltown America. The enduring iconic images from the film have weathered better than the film itself, however, but it still stands up as a paean to disaffected youth.

When Johnny and the boys ride into town all hell breaks loose, with a culture clash between themselves and the 'squares', resulting in tragedy and some reconciliation. These boys look tame compared to today's standards (they even pay for their own beer!) but they don't fit in and so are immediately ostracised by a grown-up world that doesn't understand their jive-talking, anti-social behaviour. Johnny's reply when asked, "What are you rebelling against?" says it all..."Whatta you got?", with a sneer for good measure.

Time hasn't been kind to the film, and it's hard to see why it was banned in the UK for 18 years (mainly down to the lack of any retribution for the gang), but there is still a tight story and strong characterisation. It's a pity the film descends needlessly into melodrama, losing much of it's credibility in the process.

There's really not much to the story. A motorcycle gang, led by Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando), roars into a small town and kicks up a ruckus. The older townsfolk don't take kindly to the invasion, and Johnny becomes the object of their wrath. But Johnny is smitten with a young woman who happens to be a cop's daughter. "The Wild One" is a character study of a moody young man who starts out as a juvenile delinquent but changes as the result of a sad, mournful young woman.

Costumes play a big part in this film. Motorcycle gang members wear jeans, T-shirts, motorcycle caps, and heavy leather jackets. That's their uniform, which visually defines their rebellion. Johnny starts out in a leather jacket, and ends up in one. I don't think he ever takes it off through the whole film.

Visuals convey the impression that most of the film was shot on studio back lots. The streets and buildings all look fake. And the cinematography is helped not at all by the use of rear screen projection. Yet, the B&W lighting is quite good, especially in the second half, with high contrast noir lighting.

The film's score is annoying. I could have wished for some early 1950's songs. Plot pacing is poor. And the casting of some of the motorcycle gang is laughable. Some of the "juveniles" appear to be at least 30 or 35 years old.

"The Wild One" is remembered mostly as a cinematic vehicle for Marlon Brando, and because the film was something of a trend setter, in that it helped usher in an era of films about American juvenile delinquents, youthful rebel outcasts who didn't fit in to the post WWII era of middle-America family values.

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?"

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.