The Wild One

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The Wild One

1953,

1h 19m,

Drama

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Watchlist

77%

22 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Johnny and his motorcycle gang roll into Carbonville for a biker competition and raise enough hell to get kicked out of town. They repair to nearby Wrightsville and continue their reign of terror. The local sheriff is helpless to stop them, but when a rival gang arrives, he manages to arrest their leader, Chino. Meanwhile, Johnny finds himself attracted to the sheriff's daughter, Kathie, and decides to stick around.

Gavin Lambert

Sight & Sound

Mar 17, 2020

In [director] Laslo Benedek the American cinema has an unusual talent, with a solidity and a spirit of humane inquiry which gives this film, in its faults as well as its virtues, a genuine and independent quality.

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Milton Luban

The Hollywood Reporter

Jan 25, 2018

Marlon Brando turns in a tremendously powerful performance as the inarticulate, frozen-faced, truculent outlaw who heads the gang of motorcycle hoodlums.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Nov 7, 2007

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.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Oct 27, 2022

5/10

Aside from Brando's presence as the rebel with a cause, I find the way it interrogates motorcycle gangs and juvenile delinquency quite bland. [Full review in Spanish]

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Feb 23, 2022

3/4

The Wild One's status as a cultural marker remains undeniable.

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

Nov 5, 2019

A violent, frightening and quite distasteful melodrama about a gang of hoodlum cyclists (led by Marlon Brando) who terrorize a sleepy town. Some of the acting is excellent.

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Draco S

Mar 31, 2018

before he became the godfather, brando was a crazy biker in the 50s

Ron W

Sep 18, 2017

Wanted to see this film because of Brandi, but truly one of the most irritating unwatchable films I've ever seen.

Kylo P

Mar 11, 2017

"What have you got?" Iconic to a fault, The Wild One is an influential biker film with some early performances from some big players. It would encapsulate a roamer age, even though its cheesy at times. Its not the best of Marlon Brando or Lee Marvin, but its good overall.

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Laslo Benedek

Director

Marlon Brando

Johnny Strabler

Mary Murphy

Kathie Bleeker

Robert Keith

Sheriff Harry Bleeker

Lee Marvin

Chino

Jay C. Flippen

Sheriff Stew Singer

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Synopsis

Johnny and his motorcycle gang roll into Carbonville for a biker competition and raise enough hell to get kicked out of town. They repair to nearby Wrightsville and continue their reign of terror. The local sheriff is helpless to stop them, but when a rival gang arrives, he manages to arrest their leader, Chino. Meanwhile, Johnny finds himself attracted to the sheriff's daughter, Kathie, and decides to stick around.

Director: Laslo Benedek
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Screenwriter: John Paxton
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 30, 1953, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 1h 19m
Sound Mix: Mono

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