Perhaps the most famous among the first films about bikers and motorcycles can be called the iconic film Wild One (The Wild One) of 1953. The plot of the film is based on a short story, which in turn is based on a newspaper duck from real life. All this has mixed up into a beautiful legend that is known only on the other side of the ocean, and even I don’t know anything about it except the fact of its existence. But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that the plot turned out to be great as a result. Exciting and dramatic, with elements of romance and a somewhat unexpected ending that comes out of nowhere. It seems to me that all road movies of the 70s came up with their endings with an eye on this particular movie.
In second place after the plot is, perhaps, acting. It’s too painfully memorable, so I think it’s pretty good. Marlon Brando, in the end, what to take from him. I was pleased with the director’s work, especially in the climactic moments everything is very clearly coordinated and correctly staged. There is no soundtrack, if my memory serves me right.
About the iconicity of the film, I think, the fact that in honor of the biker club from the film (Black Rebels Motorcycle Club) nowadays a musical group is called. And Marlon Brando’s outfit helped shape the youth culture of the 50s and 60s, and in particular the appearance of the briolinists of that time. In terms of motorcycles, there is always a whole scattering of classics from America and Britain on the screen: Harley-Davidson, Indian, BSA, Velocette, and, of course, Triumph. The main character of the film dissects Triumph Thunderbird 6T and a good half of his brigade also rides Triumph. It is worth noting here that the film, apparently, was somewhat ahead of its time, and therefore was banned from showing in the UK for as long as 14 years, and was first shown in all fifteen, in 1968. At the same time, the then importer of Triumph in the USA expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the motorcycle is constantly in the frame of such a film. However, already in the 60s, one of the actors of the film participated in Triumph’s advertising, and in 2014, the company publicly stated that it was indebted to Comrade Brando for helping to consolidate Triumph’s status as a legend of mechanical engineering.
So, if you suddenly haven’t watched this movie, then I strongly recommend that you fill in this gap. And if this is your topic, then you just have to see The Wild One.
