The Wild One | Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy | Smooth, a bit brash -- good entertainment...

The Wild One | Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy | TEEN ANGST MEETS THE SMALL TOWN FROM HELL!

DVDs:

The Wild One

	The Wild One Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy Sony Pictures, 1998 average customer review:based on 58 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Smooth, a bit brash -- good entertainment...

Brando is weird but good, Marvin is generally plausible but brash... characteristics both carried through their careers. The story line loosely mimics Hollister, at least as far as one could go back in black and white days... do not look for modern chase-scenes, where buildings blow up killing everyone but the hero, or where there is some deep-dark-sinister plot... this is all about moodiness, taciturn rebellion, attitude and venting - even when there was little reason... but then who ever needed a reason. Motorcycles were enough of a reason - and these were all before they invented the weenie-button (electric start...).

Good flick, a classic... will put most under the age of thirty (who never heart of we beatnik) to sleep - so it has many practical uses...

for more information click here

TEEN ANGST MEETS THE SMALL TOWN FROM HELL!

IN A NUTSHELL:

Teen angst portrayed by grown men, led by Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin, on noisy motorcycles meets the small town from hell. Mary Murphy is stunning as Brando's small-town girl ready for the backseat of his motorcycle. This is a real spectacle and something film buffs should consider seeing, at least once. However, the real meaning and value is a bit confusing.

CONFUSING?

I am pleased to say I had never experienced "The Wild One" before last night, which makes my impressions fresh. As the film rolled on I was not sure who was the villian[s] and who was the victim[s]? In concrete terms, it was the old man that was killed by the motorcycle after Brando was knocked off it by a thrown "tire iron", but that was NOT what the story was about.

WHAT WAS THE STORY ABOUT:

In a word - RAGE - RAGE - RAGE and more RAGE.

My thought process went something like this. The movie opens with a motorcycle gang riding into and disrupting a motorcycle race. They shove a few protesting race officials and then I think, "A-ha! So this is where the biker gang goes wild!" After a few minutes, Brando gets a 2nd place trophy courtesy of a thieving henchmen and the gang departs swiftly after the first sign of local law enforcement, before anyone gets hurt. Ok, so that's just to whet our appetite -- RIGHT?

The next town won't be so lucky. I smiled when I saw Jay C. Flippen playing Sheriff Singer. This man would be the pushover needed to have a real disaster, I assured myself. Gradually, the bikers became increasingly raucous and were definitely disturbing the peace. As long as they paid for their beers and didn't break too much around the town, nobody was too put out. Mary Murphy who played Brando's love interest Kathie was certainly the scene stealer here and was as out-of-place as the middle aged bikers, but so what?

However, after a while, I realized nothing was really happening other than some bad-mannered bikers drinking a lot of beer. Then, Lee Marvin and his rival gang [actually the group Brando's gang broke from] showed up and I thought, "A-ha! These guys are going to commit atrocities here," and I quickly fetched my remote control so that I could skip or fast-forward scenes if I found the new gang too disturbing. Well, when the milquetoast town cop marched Lee Marvin [Chino] to the jail without any violence or even a protest from the two gangs now outnumbering the townspeople, my confusion really deepened and I put the remote control down.

So where is the WILD ONE? At the beginning of the film there was this warning about what horrors happened in this town and in England it would be 13 years before the censors would allow "The Wild One" to be shown! Well, SURPRISE - SURPRISE, the violence and killing did come, but it came from vigilantes in the town. Yes, that's right, it came from the townspeople, or at least the local bullies who were as mad as hell and not willing to take it anymore.

Johnny [Brando] was selected to become the scapegoat and was yanked off his bike, captured, and beaten. When Johnny escaped while Sheriff Singer was talking sense to the town bully, the vigilantes went looking for him again. As he fled on his motorcycle, one of the vigilantes threw the "tire iron" which knocked him off his bike and caused the death of the old man who was basically an innocent bystander.

TIME CAPSULE?

I'm not sure if the way I interpreted the film last night is the way it was intended in 1954. I do know that when I saw "Rebel Without A Cause" also for the first time recently, I saw the "teen angst" and "ineffective parents". This time, I just saw the town from hell responding to the bad-mannered bikers. After seeing "Rebel Without A Cause" with me, my 16-year-old daughter declared that she wanted a red jacket for Christmas. I'm pretty sure, however, that she won't want a silly-looking hat and a black leather jacket after she sees "The Wild One". I'm not sure if that makes "The Wild One" a time capsule or just a dated movie that was a provovative Brando vehicle at the time. I am sure that seeing it today may be confusing for some.

WORTH MENTIONING:

Mary Murphy was a very sympathetic young woman and very alluring in a wholesome small town way. Lee Marvin was his usual grating self and Brando essentially pouted throughout the entire movie. It was very touching that Johnny did give Mary Murphy his stolen 2nd place trophy at the end, as a sort of intimate thank you for her appeal to the County Sheriff at the end of the film. This appeal prompted her uncle to admit that "someone" had thrown a tire iron that "made the bike go crazy" and cleared "The Wild One" of manslaughter.

ABOUT THE DVD:

If "Scene Selector" is a feature, this DVD has features. Nevertheless, it is a stunningly clean black and white transfer with the right contrast.

for more information click here

Rebelling against "whatever you've got"

A motorcycle gang rides into a quiet little California town and terrorizes a good part of it. Marlon Brando is the leader, and although he depicts the classic young rebel without a cause, there's a softness about him around the edges (maybe it's that smooth baby-skin face of his).

In fact, there's a softness about the whole movie: the gang produces a feeling of loathing but not because they're especially dangerous - just dumb. The daughter of the town sheriff falls for Brando, but this too seems unconvincing (like oil and water trying to mix) - and she and her father help Brando out of a jam at the end. Nineteen-twenties crooner Jay C. Flippen plays the sheriff - too bad he doesn't sing a couple of choruses of "Short and Sweet" to add to the proceedings.

Based on a true story, the movie was a trend setter for subsequent pictures about rebellious youth (some segments of society thought movies like this one were signaling the end of civilization just about), but there seems to be a blanket thrown over everything. It's fuzzy where you expect it to be sharp. There's a great opening shot with the gang riding their bikes straight toward the camera.

for more information click here

Early Brando

Extremely handsome and genuinely gifted, Brando burst onto the screen in the early 50's and changed acting forever practically immediately. No serious film buff worth his salt honestly believes The Wild One is a technically well made movie. Brando is tremendously fun to watch as he struts his stuff and thats really about it.

Beatnick Bikers??? Please...