The Wild One DVD (1954)

The Wild One

1954

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5

from 1895 members

What are you rebelling against? asks someone. What've you got? responds surly, leather-jacketed motorcycle punk Marlon Brando. It comes as a disappointment to discover that The Wild One, the quintessential Brando rebel film, is at base a traditional misunderstood youth vs. the nasty system effort, with a particularly banal finale. Based on a true incident, the film begins with Brando and his motorcyle gang invading a small town after having been kicked out of a cycle competition (but not before stealing the second-prize trophy). Brando's bikers raise hell all day, but some of the townsfolk are shown to be little better than the invaders. Sheriff Robert Keith, whose daughter (Murphy) has gone fond of Brando, finally responds to the bikers' destructiveness by jailing Lee Marvin, leader of a rival gang. When Marvin's buddies goes on a rampage, Brando exhibits his essential decency by safely escorting the sheriff's daughter out of the melee. The townsfolk misunderstand, assuming that Brando intends to rape the girl. He is attacked by a vigilante mob led by town hothead Ray Teal, who uses this excuse to exercise his own sadistic tendencies. Keith breaks up the mob and suggests that Brando leave; he tries to do so, but another angry response from the mob causes him to inadvertently strike and kill a pedestrian. At the subsequent hearing, the girl rushes to Brando's defense. Though grateful for the unexpected kindness, Brando is constitutionally unable to say thank you and rides out of town alone. The image of Marlon Brando astride his Triumph has entered movie folklore, just like King Kong on the Empire State Building or the billow-skirted Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grating; it's too bad that The Wild One isn't a more worthy vehicle for Brando's talents.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Wild One details

Format:	PG DVD
Starring:	Hugh Sanders, Petty Maley, Jay C. Flippen, Robert Keith, Mary Murphy, Ray Teal, Lee Marvin, Marlon Brando
Director:	Laslo Benedek
Genre:	Drama - General
Studio:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT

DVD 1 disc

Name	Discs
The Wild One	PG Feature

DVD Information

Run time:	1 hour 16 minutes
Rental release:	23 Aug 1999
Main languages:	English
Dubbed:	German, French, Spanish, Italian
Subtitles:	Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Write your own review

Most helpful review The Wild One

This film isn't ...

By Geoff#26 from STRATHAVEN , 06 Nov 2004

[Highly rated reviewer]

This film isn't for everybody, but if you're a Marlon Brando fan (which i am) it's essential. While arguably not his best performance, it's easily his coolest... And it makes the movie a classic in my opinion. The rest of the actors look like they've been trained for a musical... and they dont let you forget this movie was shot in the 50's. Lee Marvin seems oddly out of place as the rival biker. A very simple, light, cult classic. Whadd'ya got?
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (6) Yes |
- No (2)
Report this review

All reviews

(20)

Sort by:

As classic as the photo

By pixie (238 reviews) from Redruth , 02 Jun 2012

Classic movie, never seen it but obviously seen the iconic picture of a beautful Marlon Brandso many times. Great film.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (1)
Report this review
Even homer nodded

By amulk (6 reviews) , 20 Feb 2012

[Highly rated reviewer]

I have long regarded Marlon Brando as the greatest screen actor of all time, but for some reason I had never seen this film before. Well all I can say is I had not missed much. This was definitely not Brando's greatest hour, nor was the script anything to write home about. I am guessing this was the start of the mindless violence for the sake of violence genre that ultimately gave us rubbish like Tarantino (don't get me wrong,by Tarantino standards there was no violence in this film. It was the mindless nature of it that I was talking about). Oh and a couple more things - while Brando's peaked cap looks cool in still pictures, it looks positively camp in the movie. And regarding his jeans, just maybe Marlon might have been well advised to ask the question: 'Does my bum look big in this?'.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (1)
Report this review
black leather and motorcyle

By lukasz84 (75 reviews) , 27 Nov 2011

it's leather and motorcycles, but the music is not rock'n'roll yet, it's 1959 so we have some swinging jazz instead.

the wild one's iconic image has survived half a century, and is strong as ever, one thinks of lady gaga and the opening of her recent judas video to recognize the unstopping cultural relevance of this film.

youth of every generation is rebellious, the question is against what, and what drives the uprising.

the wild one has much to say in answering the above questions.

and its' very intelligent insight; we are made to think about the difficult relationship between violence and freedom, and fear which undercuts both of them.

last, but surely not least, there is marlon brando. if there ever was a sexier man on screen, they cheated.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review
The Wild One

By a customer from Braintree , 20 Jan 2010

The classic 1953 film with Marlon Brando as a leader of a motor bike gang. If you havn't seen this its a must see before you die film.

Well worth watching.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review
Classic

By little (17 reviews) from London , 29 Aug 2009

Had this a month before we watched it.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (3)
Report this review