Undescribable Perfection

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This 1953 movie might be the first biker movie ever made. The plot for the movie is loosely based on a real event. At the very beginning of the movie you will read , that "this is a shocking story. It's a public challenge not to let it happen again". Then you'll hear a voice-over from Brando saying he regrets what happened and that it is a bad memory for him.You're getting excited and curious what the hell happened. You're expecting a hardcore tragedy that will shock you and leave you speechless for months. And then...Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing really happened in this whole stinking movie. You keep waiting for a plot , but it never arrives. Maybe the movie was really shocking back in the 50's and 60's but from today's point of view ... What the hell was all the fuss about ?!The story here is pretty much a western. A bunch of Indians...I mean bikers arrive to a small town and get in trouble with local people. The bikers lead by Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando) all wear black leather jackets . They are rebellious against everything and everyone. Their devotion to Strabler is so big , that you could wonder if they aren't really a bunch of homosexuals on their way to "Blue oyster" ( watch "Police academy"). This is a "misunderstood youth vs. the establishment" movie. WE ARE TOLD by the filmmakers that the loud and obnoxious biker gang are sensitive people that deserve our sympathy. WE ARE TOLD by the filmmakers that the townspeople are intolerant ,brainless mob but the punks aren't . WE ARE TOLD by the filmmakers that we should understood Brando character , despite we never know what he really is rebelling against ("What are you rebelling against, Johnny ? " , - "Whataya got ? "). Well I don't buy any of that bulls*** , Mr. Stanley Kramer (director of this movie). The story is naive and simplistic, the photography is dull , the editing and pacing are miserable. It's a melodrama , but without any emotional punch (I like good melodramas).The story takes a cliché turn with Brando falling in love with a local girl . You see , he likes her , but she's from the world he can't accept. He has reputation , you know ? I've seen something like this done better in "Grease". The ending to this romance is as predictable as it could be. Anyone with half of brain will know what to expect from a movie about young rebel.Brando is great in his role , even if the movie itself suck. He's torn between wanting to fit in and being rebel to the very end. It's obvious that he has desires , but feels the gaze and expectations of everybody around him. His very aware of how others perceive him and his behaviour is pretty much calculated posturing. Great performance by Brando, also great acting by Lee Marvin (rival biker) , Mary Murphy (local girl) and Jay C. Flippen (county sheriff). The only redeeming aspect of this movie. An outdated trash ,cliché , artificial , B-movie , nothing more. Bla bla bla about young people searching for freedom , blab la bla adults are hypocrites and so on... There are better movies about misunderstood youth. This is not one of them , even if it has got Marlon Brando. He himself was disappointed with this movie . He said that it failed to explain the roots of young people rebellion. I agree with him. I give it 3/10.

Iconic 1950's Movie that was Influential and Infuriated "Straights" of the Era. Considered Subversive, Communistic, and downright Trash, the Film was a Big Youth Hit and the rest as They say is "History".This is one of those Films that MUST be Viewed in Historical Context.There was Nothing quite Like it at the Time but there sure was a lot Like it After. Marlon Brando made His Mark with the Brooding "Johnny", the Leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. The Film Thrust Him on the American Public Things would Never be the Same.A Good Supporting Cast in some Difficult Roles also adds to the Film's Power. Lee Marvin as "Chino" a Rival Biker and Mary Murphy as the Cute but Perky Townie are both Fitting and Fine. The Story, taken from a Real Life Event, Shows a bit of Strain as it Plays out, sometimes in Brutal Fashion, the Town's Vigilante Leaders Taking the Law into Their Own Hands with Tragic Results.Overall, the Movie might Seem Dated, but Not that Much. The Be-Bop Lingo and Music are quite Realistic and Reflective, as are the Clothes and the Attitudes. The Opening Shot of the Vacant Highway Morphing into the oncoming Bikes is quite Visceral and Stunning.Most of the Movie is Realistic and is a Rewarding Time-Capsule that is Must Viewing for Film Buffs and Cultural Historians.Note...This was a certain influence on Elvis Presley and James Dean.

Yeah, The Wild One (1953) is schlock, but it's premium schlock and clearly much too technically competent for the many negative reviews I have seen for it. I tuned into Turner Classic Movies expecting pure camp with only Brando to lend precious little substance, only to be surprised at how moved I was at the conclusion eighty minutes later. Not that I am suggesting this is an unjustly regarded masterwork; like I said, it is schlock and often too cheesy to take seriously. Yet, in spite of the relatively tame action on screen and the cheesy frat boy antics of the bikers, there's still something going on underneath the surface, a palpable sense of frustration and alienation.The Wild One hits on the tyranny of conformity in 1950s America and the way the younger generation fears a life that is painfully ordinary and staid. This is best illustrated in Kathie, who makes it clear that the idea of settling down and then dying in the same boring town is terrifying for her; there's a rebellious, non-conformist streak in her, most obvious when she offers herself to Johnny on the outskirts of the town, and yet this scene also shows she's only willing to go that far if he continues with his rouse of forcing himself on her. She won't break away from the conformity of the town unless a man takes her away from it all. She craves the free life Johnny seems to possess.And yet, even Johnny is a lost soul, who has no clue what he really wants at all. We're given little of his past, aside from the implication that he had an abusive childhood. While in no way the best performance of Brando's career, it is a fine one, one which elevates the film. He utilizes facial expression and body language to communicate all the isolation and adolescent confusion that the schlock dialogue cannot fully deliver. In the end, Johnny is still an enigma, though judging from his final moment with Kathie, he does seem to be more at peace with himself. You really do have to wonder where he'll be going after this, if he's still just going to wander forever. And what of Kathie? Will she ever free herself from that sad little county?These questions lend such a poignancy to the ending, almost making you forget how cheesy everything else was before. But I like the lack of absolute resolution. It gives those star cross'd lovers an afterlife that few B-movie characters enjoy.

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.