The Wild One (1953)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Except for the fact that Marlon Brando (as Johnny Strabler) wore a black leather jacket and led a motorcycle gang, known as the Black Rebels that took over a small modern-day California town, there's not much to this piece. On the other hand, it does show clearly that there was and is too much hate and defiance toward the law-enforcers, and thus the establishment. Yet in this 1953 Stanley Kramer production from Columbia Pictures, there was little action to speak of: Lee Marvin, who played Chino, the leader of the motorcycle gang the Beetles in this movie, had an altercation with Brando, toward the end one night there was a shop window crashed and Brando was blamed and beaten mercilessly for it, but other than that there was, again, little action to speak of. The motorcycle gang rode into the town and rode around in circles in the small street. Mary Murphy was a good actress in this as a young lady who was concerned about the man who cared about nothing or no one. The calm and expressionless Robert Keith played the town sheriff who, in the movie, was also Mary's father; she referred to him as the town joke and she herself admitted that she was stuck with him. J.C. Flippen played the part of Sheriff Stew Singer, a firm and hard sheriff, a part which he performed well. It was really not among any par excellence movies for Brando, anymore than it was for,again, Kramer, though the story did have a good, sound message to it.

Otherwise a forgettable movie, totally transformed by Marlon Brando.Johnny (Marlon Brando) rides with his gang into a quiet little town inhabited by all right, but rather quaint, and parochial minded folks. On top of his gang, another group of bikers headed by Lee Marvin arrives in town just as a coincidence. All of them are not about behave as good citizens, and the two mixes up into an explosive chemistry. Johnny is kind of keeping good manners, but since he's the boss, he gets singled out to face the blunt end of the supposedly good fellas of town.This seemingly simple story gets high voltage boost by the presence of Marlon Brando. I was born after he was famous already, so I didn't rediscover Marlon Brando until recently. He was good in the God Father, but his performance from the '50s is simply off the chart. Brando was labeled a rebel, but when I see him, he's one of the most grounded person in Hollywood. His sensibility comes through in this movie's character, and you can't help but agreeing with the character Brando plays. Maybe that's the magic he had. A movie worth watching only because Marlon Brando is playing the lead. If he wasn't in it I doubt if the movie even worth 4/10. But this movie is superb, and deserves 8/10 because of Brando's performance.

Moody leather-clad Marlon Brando (as Johnny Strabler) and his motorcycle gang arrive to cause mischief in a small California town. Acting tough, Mr. Brando and his "BRMC (Black Rebels Motorcycle Club)" pals put "Wrightsville" on edge. Mainly, they fight and get into accidents. Shapely local girl Mary Murphy (as Kathie Bleeker) catches Brando's eye. She sees the good under his bad-boy exterior. Her father Robert Keith (as Harry Bleeker) is the peace loving sheriff..."The Wild One" is not as good as its reputation. The rebelliousness, including boozy Lee Marvin (as Chino) and his rival gang The Beetles, is laughable. Some datedness is expected, but there are even older films which maintain their cool. Director Laslo Benedek gives the film some energy. He is helped by the black-and-white photography by Hal Mohr. Brando looks good in close-up, with sideburns and just the right touch of make-up; after fighting, he looks even better.***** The Wild One (12/30/53) Laslo Benedek ~ Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith, Lee Marvin

. . . but, sad to say, Marlon Brando as "the wild one" isn't very. Brando as Don Vito Corleone would flick off Brando's lisping Johnny Strabler like a stray booger. Brando as Fletcher Christian (1962 version) would send Johnny off on a long walk from a short plank. Brando as crazy old coot Col. Walter E. Kurtz literally would carve up this Johnny punk for lunch. The one good thing that can be said about Brando's "big career break" in THE WILD ONE is that at least he did not make his film debut in a white lab jacket clearing crap out of rat cages as did Clint Eastwood in REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955, in which Dirty Harry played "Jennings," who did not even merit a first name). It's no wonder that the one passable chick in this "terrorized" town, Mary Murphy as "Kathie," is smiling as Johnny bikes out of her dirt-street hamlet; she's probably thinking, "Good riddance to rotten rubbish."