The Wild One

The first and best biker movie. Read full review

This Stanley Kramer-produced film is the original biker movie.

Brando’s tight denims and defiance prefigured James Dean’s archetypal rebellion. Read full review

Legions of Brando impersonators have turned his performance in this seminal 1954 motorcycle movie into self-parody, but it’s still a sleazy good time. Read full review

Laslo Benedek’s expert megging keeps the action taut and suspenseful, drawing top performances from a capable cast. Read full review

A well-acted, soft-centred example of pre-rock rebelliousness with one of Brando's finest performances, it features the celebrated exchange between local lawman's daughter Mary Murphy and Brando: "What are you rebelling against?" - "What have you got?" [31 Aug 2014, p.48]

Aside from Brando's performance, The Wild One hasn't aged well. Although its leather and chrome iconography and Brando's hipsterism inspired biker and rebel cults for decades to come, it fits all too snugly into the musty category of "cautionary tale." Its story ultimately reduces Brando's biker to the quintessential crazy mixed-up kid. [27 Jan 2002]