1953 - THE WILD ONE, an iconic film for Brando

Brando's about the only reason to watch this drama about a motorcycle gang taking over a small California town.  By now everyone is familiar with the iconic image he created with the sideburns, the bizarre cap and the leather jacket.  As silly as it should look today, it looks pretty bad ass on him.

The film opens with a disclaimer that the studio clearly stuck onto the beginning of the film.  "This is a shocking story", and concludes with "it is a public challenge."  But who was kidding who?  This film is all about violence and violent behavior.  The whole movie is a wallow in sadism,  mentally and physically.

The film was well photographed by Hal Mohr who had worked with Von Stroheim in the silent era.  Shooting a lot of scenes at night has always been a challenge for a cinematographer but Mohr does a very good job.

As silly as the film gets at times, and lets face it these guys in the motorcycle gang are not "boys" like everyone says, it's fun to watch Brando strut around as some two wheel bad boy on his Triumph cycle.

79 minutes.