The Wild One (1953)
Directed by Laslo Benedek

Film Review

Whilst it has lost much of its impact, and certainly doesn't shock as it once did, The Wild One has retained its cult status and is still considered one of the most influential American films of the 1950s.  Producer Stanley Kramer made the film because he wanted to alert the public to the growing problem of youth disaffection in his country.  The film was inspired by a real life incident that took place a few years before.  In 1947, 4000 bikers converged on the small Californian town of Hollister and wrecked the fourth of July celebrations.  In the years that followed similar incidents, albeit on a much smaller scale, were frequently reported in the newspapers, fuelling fears of a growing youth problem.

As events would show over the decade that followed this film's release, Kramer was right to be concerned, and the alienation and resentment felt by adolescents would become almost a national crisis.  The Wild One was followed by a spate of films that tackled the same subject, the most notable being Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955), the film that offered disaffected youth its most potent symbol and standard bearer, in the form of James Dean.  It also inspired a notable sub-genre of cinema, the biker movie, laying the groundwork for such films as Scorpio Rising (1964) and Easy Rider (1969).   The Wild One, although originating from noble motives, was not without controversy.  In the UK, the film censors misunderstood the point of the film and banned it for over a decade, judging it to be an incitement to adolescent rebellion.

As the biker rebel Johnny, Marlon Brando vividly personifies a generation that has lost its identity, its self-respect and its sense of purpose.  "What are you rebelling against?" Johnny is asked by Kathie, the one person who is not intimidated by him.  "What have you got?" he replies.  Our hero doesn't even know why he is a rebel; the predicament appears dismally hopeless.  There are, however, signs that Johnny is not lost forever.  Kathie - who is a different kind of rebel - awakens a gentler, more adult side in his nature, and so things are not so grim as they first seemed.  The qualities that are missing in Johnny's life - compassion and understanding - are there, if he can only see them and realise their value.

It is interesting that the film portrays the bikers far more sympathetically than the townsfolk they end up provoking.  The growing rift between the generations is demonstrated time and again in the film, most obviously in the scene where two bikers talk in a language which a barman fails to understand.  You sense that the two generations do not want to communicate.  The oldsters are happy to regard the youngsters as a troublesome vermin and the youngsters are happy to play out the role that is expected of them.  The film offers no easy solutions but it offers a potent warning of what can happen if the problem of youth disaffection is allowed to grow unchecked.

Film Synopsis

One eventful day, a group of leather-jacked young motorcyclists invade the peace of a small Californian town.  Their attempt to gatecrash a motorcycle race is thwarted by its organisers, but their leader, Johnny, does not go away empty handed: he makes off with one of the prize trophies.  After creating a ruckus in the town, Johnny stops for a beer at a bar-café and immediately attracts the attention of bargirl Kathie.   A rival biker gang suddenly puts in appearance and all Hell starts to break loose...