Wild One [1968] [DVD]

Okay, that's one level. On another level this should be compared to Rebel without a Cause (1955) as a mid-century testament to teen angst. Or to Blackboard Jungle (1955) with the fake juvenile delinquency and the phony slang. Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler, whose claim to fame (aside from being the leader of the pack) is that he stole a second-place biker trophy, stars in a role that helped to launch his career, not that his acting in this film was so great. (He was better in half a dozen other roles, for example., as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire 1951, or as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront 1954). What stands out here is his tough-guy vulnerability with women: the irresistible little boy playing big. In one sense, this is, despite all the men running around and the macho delirium, something very close to ladies night out. It's a period piece love story, as delicate as a teenager's heart.

Mary Murphy, who in my opinion really steals the show, is at the very center of the drama and the psychology (not to mention that she looks downright yummy in her cashmere sweater and close fitting skirt). She plays Kathie Bleeker, a small town girl whose heart yearns for something--anything--to break the tedium. Along comes Johnny to sweep her off her feet. Only he isn't sure how. Furthermore, she has a problem: although she falls in love with the wild one, she sees right through him. The scene that makes the movie begins with her jumping onto the back of his motorcycle (of course) and, after roaring down the night highway, they retire to what looks like a park. She is about a breath away from what used to be called swooning, but despite her fluttering heart, she sets him straight on who he is and how she feels and why. It's like a woman talking to a wild boy. Then she falls to the ground and just about caresses his motorcycle. It really hits home because she sees through all his pretense and exposes his vulnerability, but is vulnerable herself.

Lee Marvin plays the rival gang leader with a lot of showmanship and Robert Keith plays the ineffectual father. Just about everybody else (including longtime LA sports anchor, Gil Stratton) amounts to an extra.

See this for a glimpse at mid-century psychology as seen through the eyes of Hollywood's seduction machine, and especially for Mary Murphy (running in those heels) who, for whatever reason, never became a star.

He shunned convention and created personalities of such extraordinary individualism. He wasn't just a star or actor, but an intricately complex being, who let us take tiny glimpses of his soul, while never revealing himself fully.

Favourite films ? I know that I watched "The Wild One" like a junkie as a teenager and then "On the Waterfront" and in fact all of those early films of his from the 1950's. "The Wild One" combined my favourite actor with the definitive images of a leather motorbiker and once that has been absorbed into the mind of a fan like me, it was hard to shake it lose. I also admit I really wouldn't have minded looking like him, but how many men have felt the same way ? His defined features, his blunt nose, his dark eyes and charismatic smile and just a cool demeanour that followed him.The films weren't watched in isolation though (As they would've been when they originally came out), because I was reading every book I could get my hands on about him - he really started my pastime of reading biographies and autobiographies.

Marlon Brando was a flawed human being and he had many problems with his personality and psyche that remain inexcusable, but he still remained "Human" - you could take his good stuff as well as his bad. He made mistakes, some of which destroyed lives, but knowing the life that he'd led, the way he grew up and what he had to deal with, his actions came as no surprise. I also focused on his ability to gain success at the beginning when all seemed against him, how he managed to keep surviving as an out of work actor after the Second World War. His bohemian lifestyle infused the subtext of the characters he portrayed on the stage. That's right, he was a stage actor before Hollywood claimed his image as it's own.

His blunt honesty and ability to survive was a quality I found appealing. Yes, his macho bravado was obvious, but I knew that was just for show. Acting wasn't an issue with him. Life had bigger challenges for him. I would've loved to have met him.

He fathered children legitimately and illegitimately non-stop and in a casual fashion since the 1950's and was still creating babies with women when he's turned "old and grey", but he loved his children and his attitude towards love and relationships was hippy-like and unconventional and that was just the way it suited him. Society and the rules and taboos of modern day culture were ignored by him in a refreshing and daring way. He fell in love as easily as he headed to the law courts, but at least he fell in love ! It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

He strove to also combat the injustices caused against people of different races and his role with civil rights in the 1960's and beyond was obvious and should've be praised !

I'm terribly saddened by his death and I'll miss him, simply because I knew he existed at a time when I was around and I might've met him one day. I'm not sure what I would've said to him though and how can I relate to him when he wouldn't been able to relate to me. The world has lost a great actor and I've lost a huge influence on my life, a hero and an idol. I can only miss him as a fan and I know his family and even his enemies will miss him more.

You can't replace a person like Marlon Brando, but thank goodness books and films managed to capture an essence of him that should be preserved for many years to come.

Marlon ashes are to be scattered over his island home of Tetiaroa near Tahiti and I can't think of a more fitting way for him to be remembered in an area he loved and where his spirit is not only happy, but far removed from the film world, he had inspired and stunned.