Review of The Wild One (1953) by Zachariah W — 05 Mar 2010

Hmm. I've had this for a while. Got it in a double-pack with On The Waterfront and was really looking forward to it due to the "iconic" performance from Brando that he's been lauded for forever.

Upon watching it though, I ultimately felt disappointed. Firstly, it hasn't dated well. It's not a film I believe you could call a classic. It has some quite interesting scenarios, but the script appears to be non-existent. The performances are, to be quite honest, embarrassing for the most part and it's not all down to the often atrocious dialogue.

The gangs depicted in the movie just don't appear to be believable. The film attempts to show them as the underbelly of American culture at the time, but I just got the feeling that the writers didn't go far enough with it. I guess they didn't want to scare their public of the time too much.

Despite all of this, something kept me vaguely interested. I guess that the way certain scenarios were set-up had me quite excited that something I expected to happen might happen, but alas, it didn't. Brando holds the screen though and keeps you interested through his brooding and the complexities he attempts to bring out in his character Johnny. He just isn't fleshed out enough in the script to allow him to do this fully though. It's a shame. It wasn't all I was expecting from a Brando performance either, although at times the looks he gives say more than pages of dialogue.

The only reason I give "The Wild One" an extra star is because of this immortal exchange, "What are you rebelling against Johnny?".

"Whadaya got?".

Brilliant stuff.