The Wild One

The Wild One was made a bit more than a decade before Easy Rider and yet I can’t help but compare the former to the latter. That’s the curse of making the definitive counter-culture movie – you even overshadow Brando.

The Wild One is about a bike gang in the 50’s that roll into a small town out of boredom and discover the divisive nature of the town. Within 24 hours they manage to overrun the town, getting neighbor to turn on neighbor until they inspire a modern day mob ala Frankenstein out to get Johnny and his gang to either kill them or get them out of town. The films really as simple as that, it feels as though it was trying to do for leather jackets and motorcycles what Reefer Maddness did for MJ.

As always, the one saving grace of this film was Brando. That man could light up a silver screen when he turned it on, and even in a very Rebel Without A Cause kind of phase, he ignites here. Brando was a man that could do and would do anything he wanted in the industry and it’s evident here that he was a cinematic force to be recokened with.





Director: Laslo Benedek


Mildred: What're you rebelling against, Johnny?
Johnny: Whaddya got?