The Wild One (1953)—Insight into Chaos, Order and Biker Culture
He was a punk, she did ballet. Couldn’t it be more obvious? That line from Avril Lavigne’s song “Skater Boy” says it all. Well in this case, she was the Sheriffs’ daughter and he was the leader of a rowdy biker gang. We’re often told that we must fit in and not rock the boat. But there comes a time where we all wonder, what does life on the other side offer us? The Wild One follows Johnny Strabbler (played by Marlon Brando), leader of the B.R.M.C. (Black Rebels Motorcycle Club) as he and his gang enter a small Midwestern town. This is where he meets the single and sad Kathie (played by Mary Murphy), who runs the local bar and diner.
She becomes intrigued by his character and bad boy charm. After Johnny gets into a physical altercation with Chino (played by Lee Marvin), the leader of a rival gang, the sheriff offers him a deal: leave town that day and all of his friends (including Chino) go free. The deal is reasonable and unlike most films involving a young reckless rule breaker and representative of order, the sheriff is not some uptight stick in the mud. But Johnny refuses. He “refuses to make a deal with any cop.” This line alone intrigues us further. We never learn what happened in his past, but we can only assume it led to Johnny becoming the man he is today.
Even though the trope of good girl meets and falls in love with bad boy has been done to death (this movie is the progenitor of that trope), I could bear to sit through this entire movie not once, not twice but three times. Because Kathie doesn’t love Johnny. Well, not in the traditional sense. She’s sympathetic towards him and his tough guy attitude. But she doesn’t see it as an admirable or masculine trait, rather as a defense mechanism against the world. This tough guy act eventually shatters in front of us as we see Johnny go on the run and eventually break down in tears. Meanwhile, Johnny becomes equally intrigued by Kathie. Not just for her good looks, but because she’s almost the antithesis of himself. Unlike the leather-clad biker, Kathie wears her emotions on her sleeve. She’s not afraid to express her sadness.
Despite the movie being titled “The Wild One”, Marlon Brando’s Johnny is by far one of the most restrained characters. Especially compared to the unpredictable and chaotic Chino, who is easily a mirror of what Johnny could’ve been. Brando himself has said that he felt a strong connection to the character of Johnny, even going as far as riding his own Triumph Thunderbird 6T on set. Brando noted that he portrayed Johnny with a more sensitive approach than what the script may have originally envisioned. If you ask me, this added an extra layer of earnest sympathy to Johnny’s character as we too, slowly peel away the layers of his character.
The Wild One was not only Marlon Brando’s fourth film, but it created an entire legacy. Everyone wanted to feel like Johnny Strabbler. And what better way to do that than by obtaining his look? For decades afterwards, the black leather jacket, white t-shirt and blue jeans would be the universal costume of the bad boy. The jacket represented the hardy and tough exterior these characters wear to emotionally shield themselves, while the white t-shirt (which was an undershirt) represented just how exposed and emotional they were. Schott NYC, the maker of the iconic double rider biker jacket worn by Brando, even experienced a massive influx in sales before those pesky school boards across the country briefly put that to an end. If you’re interested, Schott NYC still makes the same jacket today, which you can find right here.
At the end of the day, The Wild One is more than just a leather and denim biker gang flick. Both Marlon Brando and Mary Murphy elevate what would be an almost cookie-cutter dynamic into something much more nuanced and layered. It’s interesting to witness this “worlds collide meet cute” between someone living within society’s expectations and someone who lives life on the edge. Meanwhile, the film itself was responsible for creating a lasting image of the bad boy in addition to kick starting a trend of camaraderie found in biker culture. If you’re interested, the movie’s free on Tubi and available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime.
