The Wild One
Two rival motorcycle gangs terrorize a small town after one of their leaders is thrown in jail.
- Director: Laslo Benedek
- Genre:Drama
- Runtime:189 minutes
Cast
Marlon Brando : Johnny Strabler / Narrator
Mary Murphy : Kathie Bleeker
Robert Keith : Sheriff Harry Bleeker
Lee Marvin : Chino
Jay C. Flippen : Sheriff Stew Singer
The film starts by showing the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club, a group of young and boisterous bikers led by Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando), that invade the small town of Wrightsville during a motorcycle race. The gang holds a race on of the roads of the town and a trophy is given to the winner. A member of the gang steals the 2nd place trophy and presents it to Johnny. Countless times throughout the film, Johnny is asked whether he “won” the trophy, but he does not readily reply, showing the character’s pride or embarrassment over the matter, or both. Signified by the trophy, Johnny’s leadership is akin to the character he plays: he is all performance and show, there is little that he actually does: “I don’t stop anything” he says. Such performances create an inner tension for Johnny. Johnny’s internal tension makes him an archetypal postmodern anti-hero that reluctantly struggles with his ostensible role of leadership, a role that is as vacuous as his morality, and as aimless as his life. When a girl asks him “What’re you rebelling against, Johnny?”, he answers with “Whaddya got?”
As the bikers stop at a small cafe, Johnny encounters Kathie Bleeker, (Mary Murphy) the local policeman’s daughter. Johnny tries to impress Kathie by bragging that he has won the stolen trophy. Attempting to court her in a traditional way that he does not understand, he asks her out to a dance that is being held that night. Kathie refuses. However she is visibly intrigued by Johnny’s dark, brooding personality. As the gang causes more trouble, the local residents complain to Harry Bleeker (Robert Keith) who tries to confront Johnny and his gang and force them to leave. Johnny considers leaving when a rival biker gang arrives. The leader of the gang is Chino, (Lee Marvin) who has a personal hatred towards Johnny, even though Chino wants to reconcile. It is revealed that Johnny and Chino used to be a part of one large gang before Johnny broke away to start his own. The two begin to fight each other and Johnny defeats Chino. When one of the town’s residents hits a parked motorcycle while trying to leave, Chino pulls him from the car to rough him up and his gang threatens to overturn the car. Harry intervenes and begins to arrest both Chino and the resident, but, when Harry realizes arresting the resident will cause problems for him in the future, he only takes Chino to the station. Johnny then returns to the cafe and asks Kathie out but she again refuses, partly due to the fact that she has discovered that Johnny had stolen the trophy he claimed to have won in a race; Johnny is shown to have feet of clay.Later that night, Chino’s gang abducts the resident and put him in the jail cell, intending to release Chino, but he is too drunk to leave. When the resident is later released by the local vigilantes, Chino escapes as well. Later on, Chino’s gang chases and surrounds Kathie only to be rescued by Johnny. After Johnny and Kathie part, the vigilantes catch Johnny and beat him mercilessly but he escapes when the mob is confronted by Harry. Johnny flees on his motorcycle, however, while being chased by the mob he is hit by a thrown tire iron and his cycle strikes and kills an elderly onlooker. Johnny is initially arrested and will be charged for manslaughter, but is released after Kathie and another witness corroborates Johnny’s version of the story; Johnny mutely declines to thank them for their help. Before he leaves town, Johnny returns to the cafe to say goodbye to Kathie one final time. He does this by offering her the trophy and smiling at her. Read more
