Rent The Wild One (1953)

Byke Hoodlums - The Wild One review by NO

This Film was banned in England for 15 years when the Mods & Rockers were about but seems tame now.Brando stands out with his method acting & set the scene for future

rebels but otherwise I cannot se why critics raved over it.

Teenage Melodrama. - The Wild One review by Steve

Prototype juvenile delinquent/teenage rebellion picture which was imitated in low budget motorcycle gang melodramas for the next 20 years. Two rival mobs smash up a small sleepy town in rural California in an orgy of vandalism which the police can't control. It was produced by Stanley Kramer so a serious scrutiny of pack mentality might be expected.

But that's not what it is. Or at least what it looks like now. It's just a cult exploitation film which is mainly of interest for how astonishingly influential it became. This inspired a wave of mainstream counterculture; for example, the rivals of Marlon Brando's gang are called the Beetles (sic). And the clothes, and the cool motorcycles.

But the narrative is dated, and while Brando is iconic on the back of his Triumph Thunderbird, his method acting now looks of its time. The teenage anarchy is supposed to be obnoxious, but so is his surly pursuit of the local good girl (Mary Murphy) which feels creepy. Lee Marvin is more engaging as his knockabout, drunken adversary.

And both are far too old. The film might have been immediately obsolete because these kids are into jive and rock & roll came to town two years later. But it energised that generation, and its cultural impact was massive. It was banned in UK for 15 years. Now it looks like a historical artefact, but at the time it was a grassroots revolution.