The Wild One
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| The Wild One | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster. |
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| Directed by | László Benedek Paul Donnelly |
| Produced by | Stanley Kramer |
| Written by | Novel: Frank Rooney Screenplay: John Paxton Ben Maddow |
| Narrated by | Marlon Brando |
| Starring | Marlon Brando Mary Murphy Lee Marvin |
| Music by | Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | Hal Mohr |
| Editing by | Al Clark |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  December 30, 1953 |
| Running time | 79 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film. It is remembered for Marlon Brando's portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Stabler as a juvenile delinquent, dressed in a leather jacket and driving a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird 6T. Acting opposite of Brando was Lee Marvin as a rival gang leader. This low-budget production had Brando playing a rebel without a cause two years before James Dean.
The film version was based on a January, 1951 short story in Harper's Magazine "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney that was published in book form as part of "The Best American Short Stories 1952." The story took a cue from an actual biker street party on the Fourth of July weekend in 1947 in Hollister, California that was elaborately trumped up in Life Magazine (dubbed the Hollister riot) with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revellers. The Hollister event is now celebrated annually. In the film, the town is located somewhere in California.
[edit] Banned in the UK
Deemed scandalous and dangerous, the film was banned by the British Board of Film Censors from showing in the United Kingdom for fourteen years. Its first UK public showing, to a mostly Rocker audience being at the then famous 59 Club of Paddington in London.
It is notable that the Beatles got their name from the film, as it is the name of Chino's, Johnny's rival, Motorcycle gang. Furthermore, current rock group Black Rebel Motorcycle Club got their name from the name of Brando's motorcycle gang, although one of the bikers calls the gang "Black Rebels Motorcycle Club". This also ties in to the 1950's motif that the band leans toward.
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- "What are you rebelling against?"
- "What have you got?"
[edit] Primary cast:
- Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler and the narrator
- Mary Murphy as Kathie Bleeker
- Robert Keith as Sheriff Harry Bleeker
- Lee Marvin as Chino
- Jay C. Flippen as Sheriff Stew Singer
- Peggy Maley as Mildred
- Hugh Sanders as Charlie Thomas
- Ray Teal as Uncle Frank Bleeker
- Richard Farnsworth (uncredited)
