View source for The Wild One

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{{Infobox movie
| name           = The Wild One
| image          =
| image_size     = 
| caption        = Publicity photo of [[Marlon Brando]]
| director       = [[László Benedek]]
| producer       = [[Stanley Kramer]]
| writer         = [[John Paxton]] <br>[[Ben Maddow]]
| narrator       = [[Marlon Brando]]
| starring       = [[Marlon Brando]]<br>[[Mary Murphy]]<br>[[Lee Marvin]]
| music          = [[Leith Stevens]]
| cinematography = [[Hal Mohr]]
| editing        = [[Al Clark]]
| distributor    = [[Columbia Pictures]]
| released       = December 30, 1953
| runtime        = 79 [[minute]]s
| country        = [[United States]]
| language = English
| budget         = 
}}
'''''The Wild One''''' (1953) is an [[Outlaw motorcycle club|outlaw biker]] [[movie]]. The movie was based on a [[short story]] that told of the damage done to a small [[California]] town in 1947 by thousands of rowdy outlaw bikers. The movie was [[movie director|directed]] by [[László Benedek]]. It stars [[Marlon Brando]] and [[Lee Marvin]] (in his movie debut) as rival biker gang leaders. It is the first outlaw biker movie. [[Critic]]s and [[teenager]]s liked the movie. It inspired fads such as sideburns.

==Background==
The movie was based on the [[short story]] "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney. Rooney wrote the story after seeing photos in a ''Life'' magazine showing the damage done by 4,000 bikers to a small town in California after a weekend spree of violence in 1947.

The story was [[publish]]ed in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' in 1951. Kramer bought the sceen rights.<ref name=LN>Columbia Pictures. 1998. "The Wild One unleashes the lean, mean Brando as a rebel without a peer!" (Liner notes). ''The Wild One'' DVD06239.</ref> Brando was leery about taking on the role of a lowlife bully after playing Stanley Kowalski in ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]''. He accepted though because he liked the director and the movie's social commentary.<ref name=LN />

== Cast ==
* [[Marlon Brando]] as Johnny, leader of the Rebels
* Mary Murphy as Kathie Bleeker, a waitress
* Robert Keith as Police Chief Harry Bleeker, Kathie's father
* [[Lee Marvin]] as Chino, leader of The Beetles
* Jay C. Flippen as Sheriff Stew Singer
* Peggy Maley as Mildred, a beautician
* Ray Teal as Frank Bleeker, Kathie's uncle
* Will Wright as Art Kleiner, a townsman
* Yvonne Doughty as Britches, Beetles member

== Story ==
Johnny leads his biker gang into a small town. The club members are rowdy. They hang out at the [[cafe]] drinking beer. Kathie works in the cafe. Johnny takes a liking to her. He asks her out. She declines. Johnny learns that she is a [[policeman]]'s daughter. He changes his mind about dating her.

Another biker gang rides into town. Their leader is Chino. He does not like Johnny. The two fight. Johnny wins. Chino's bikers [[vandalize]] the town and [[harass]] the townspeople. They tease Kathie. Johnny rescues her. The two ride into a park. Kathie is attracted to Johnny. He mauls her. She cries and runs off. Johnny rides after her.

The townspeople have had enough of the bikers. Some think Johnny [[assault]]ed Kathie. Johnny is caught by angry townsmen. They beat him, but he gets away on his motorcycle. The townspeople chase him. A tire iron is thrown. It hits Johnny and he falls from his bike. His motorcycle takes off without its rider. It hits and kills an old man.

The sheriff arrives with his [[deputy|deputies]]. Order is restored. Johnny is [[arrest]]ed for killing the old man. Two [[witness]]es say that Johnny was not responsible for the old man's death. The bikers are ordered to leave town. Johnny goes back to the cafe to say goodbye to Kathie. He then leaves.

==Critical response== 
Dave Kehr of ''The Chicago Reader'' has written: "Legions of Brando impersonators have turned his performance in this seminal 1954 motorcycle movie into self-parody, but it's still a sleazy good time."<ref>[http://onfilm.chicagoreader.com/movies/capsules/9358_WILD_ONE Movie Review: The Wild One]{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> ''Variety'' noted that the film "is long on suspense, brutality and sadism ... All performances are highly competent."<ref>[http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117796390.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 The Wild One].</ref>

The Catholic Legion of Decency objected to the "excessive brutality, lack of moral compensation and suggestiveness" in ''The Wild One''. One French journalist described the movie as "the most unpleasant American movie ever seen." The magazine ''Positif'' described the movie as a masterpiece and "the [movie] of the year".<ref>''Youth Culture in Global Cinema'', University of Texas Press, pp. 22-23</ref>

Brando has written: "The public's reaction to ''The Wild One'' was, I believe, a product of its time and circumstances. It was only seventy-nine minutes long, short by modern standards, and it looks dated and corny now; I don't think it has aged well."<ref>''The Harley Davidson Reader''. page 125</ref>

==Popular reaction==
Brando's sideburns inspired a fad. [[James Dean]] and [[Elvis Presley]] wore them.<ref name="boomer" /> Brando's character was [[parody|parodied]] by [[Harvey Lembeck]] in the [[beach movie|"beach party" movies]] of the early 1960s.

Presley used Johnny's image as a model for his role in ''[[Jailhouse Rock]]''.<ref>Burton I. Kaufman & Diane Kaufman (2009), ''The A to Z of the Eisenhower Era'', Scarecrow Press, {{ISBN|0-8108-7150-5}}, p.38.</ref> James Dean bought a [[Triumph TR5 Trophy]] motorcycle like Brando's [[Triumph Thunderbird]] 6T motorcycle.<ref name="boomer">Dr. Martin H. Levinson (2011), ''Brooklyn Boomer: Growing Up in the Fifties'', [[iUniverse]], {{ISBN|1-4620-1712-6}}, p.81.</ref> For 2010, [[Triumph Motorcycles Ltd|Triumph motorcycles]] introduced a range of clothing and promotional items inspired by Brando's image from ''The Wild One''.

== References == 
{{reflist}}

== Other websites ==
* {{IMDb title|id=0047677|title=The Wild One}}
* {{Amg movie|54562|The Wild One}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=wild_one|title=The Wild One}}
* [http://www.filmsite.org/wild.html Tim Dirks reviews ''The Wild One'']
* [https://www.loc.gov/film/lund.html The Wild One Banned in UK]


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild One}}
[[Category:American crime drama movies]]
[[Category:American teen drama movies]]
[[Category:Gangster movies]]
[[Category:Movies based on short stories]]
[[Category:Movies set in California]]
[[Category:Outlaw biker movies]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures movies]]
[[Category:Movies directed by László Benedek]]
[[Category:1953 crime drama movies]]