The Wild One (Laslo Benedek, 1954):
After A Clockwork Orange and Rebel Without a Cause, let's do one more week of the old Youth Run Wild genre and then move on to other things.
I like Youth Run Wild pictures, I guess, although my opinion of them tends to be tainted by my hatred of their obnoxious cousin, the Teen Angst picture. Is there anything worse than a bunch of teenagers sitting around whining about how their relationship woes are just the end of all eternity?? The inherent flaw in the genre is that anyone over the age of 16 knows that the things that seem important to teenagers are just about the least important things there are. It's an entire genre of beautiful people wailing over spilt milk.
But Youth Run Wild . . . that's a little better. At least with an undercurrent of violence, there's something really at stake. Take The Wild One. Marlon Brando is Johnny, the leader of the BRMC's, or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. When they first roll into the small town of Wrightsville, CA, they're embraced by the community (these were the days before the LSD-fueled biker massacre of Satan's Sadists, remember), who figure them for fun-loving wholesome young people who can entertain with their motorcycle tricks and support the economy by buying much beer.
But Johnny develops a crush on local good-girl Kathie (Mary Murphy), and the bikers linger in town a little too long. A rival gang led by Lee Marvin(!) rolls in, everyone starts getting really drunk, and when the townspeople decide that a little vigilante justice might be in order, things start getting out of hand.
The Wild One seems way old-fashioned nowadays. First of all, for all the havoc of bikers terrorizing the town, the body count is awfully low, and the crimes are mostly of the petty misdemeanor variety. Most quaint, though, is the dialogue--some crazy bebop beatnik argot that sounds really weird on the tongues of bikers. This is the film that gave the world the exchange, later made famous for a new generation by Lisa Simpson, of "what are you rebelling against, Johnny?" And Johnny says: "Whaddya got?" But far better is the following extraordinary exchange, a little verbal time capsule from an era I have serious doubts ever really existed.
Biker Johnny is trying to flirt with the "square" Kathie by explaining to her his wandering lifestyle:
Johnny: If you're gonna stay cool, you've got ta wail. You got ta put something down, you've got ta make some jive. Don't you know what I'm talkin' about?
Kathie: Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean.
Johnny: Well that's all I'm sayin'!
Kathie: My father was going to take me on a fishing trip to Canada once.
Johnny: Yeah . . ?
Kathie: We didn't go.
Johnny: . . . Crazy.
That exchange makes The Wild One a classic. Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin beating the stuffing out of each other makes it a Guy Movie. It runs less than 80 minutes, so if you don't like it, it won't hurt for very long. I recommend you check it out.
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