Drama

The Wild One

Stanley Kramer Productions

United States of America

English

Marlon Brando

Mary Murphy

Robert Keith

Lee Marvin

Jay C. Flippen

Peggy Maley

Hugh Sanders

Ray Teal

John Brown

Will Wright

Robert Osterloh

William Vedder

Yvonne Doughty

Wally Albright

Chris Alcaide

Don Anderson

Robert Anderson

Robert Bice

Nicky Blair

Norman Budd

Timothy Carey

Fred Carson

Charles Cirillo

Bill Clark

Keith Clarke

Jim Connell

Bill Coontz

Ted Cooper

Dude Criswell

Russell Custer

Roy Damron

George Dockstader

John Doucette

Darren Dublin

Johnny Duncan

Larry Duran

Richard Farnsworth

Duke Fishman

Jack Gargan

Sam Gilman

Frank Hagney

Joe Haworth

Pepe Hern

Whitey Hughes

Walt La Rue

Harry Landers

Carey Loftin

Eve March

Patrick Miller

Mort Mills

Alvy Moore

Mary Newton

Kathleen O'Malley

Pat O'Malley

Jerry Paris

Eugene Peterson

K.L. Smith

Angela Stevens

Gil Stratton

Jerry Sullivan

John Tarangelo

Del Tenney

Bruno VeSota

Danny Welton

Blackie Whiteford

László Benedek

John Paxton

Frank Rooney

Paul Donnelly

George Cooper

Ben Maddow

Walter Holscher

Rudolph Sternad

Louis Diage

Al Clark

Stanley Kramer

Leith Stevens

Hal Mohr

CinemaSerf

Marlon Brando just oozes charisma in this otherwise rather disappointing tale of two biker gangs who descend upon a small American town. He is "Strabler" - who hates any authority figure - and arrives with his "Black Rebels" gang. Noisy and intimidating but no real danger to anyone, which is just as well because the sheriff "Bleeker" (Robert Keith) is about as effective as a chocolate teapot. Anyway, "Strabler" takes a bit of a shine to local gal "Kathie" (Mary Murphy) but that all changes when he discovers she is the daughter of the policeman. He is soon otherwise distracted by the arrival of the "Beetles" - a group of erstwhile pals lead by "Chino" (Lee Marvin). Old grudges and testosterone take over and what starts as an uneasy truce soon borders on open warfare - helped by local vigilante "Charlie" (Hugh Sanders) who is trying to goad the townsfolk into taking action of their own. It is odd to say this about an whole town, but there is a certain claustrophobia to this drama. The gangs' grip on the place is intimidating to watch, much less to have to live in, and Brando and Marvin are strong sparring partners. The build up is tense and you can sense the palpable apprehension amongst the populace as our anticipated denouement looms. Thing is, though, the interventions of Murphy and an unwillingness from director Laslo Benedek to maximise the peril here, means that the film quite suddenly stops being menacing and starts being quite soppy. It didn't need a battle royal at the end, but somehow the conclusion just underwhelmed and was more of a damp squib. There is a paucity of dialogue - which always suited Brando, and the photography with/on the bikes works really well enhancing the tautness of the first half hour, but then it just peters out... Pity!

The Wild One ≣ 1953 ≣ Trailer

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The Wild One

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Marlon Brando

Mary Murphy

Robert Keith

Lee Marvin

Jay C. Flippen

Peggy Maley

Hugh Sanders

Ray Teal

John Brown

Will Wright

Box office

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