Don’t Rebel Against This: HRC presents Brando's The Wild One

If you prefer your Marlon Brando with a little more leather and a little less cotton balls-in-the-mouth, you’re in luck, friend. The ultimate filmic bad boy and his Black Rebels Motorcycle Club (really!) take over the streets of a small town to your eyes’ delight when the Ransom Center screens The Wild One tonight, as part one of the Rebel Classics Film Series.

The Beats might have been more into cars (and buses) than motorcycles, but that doesn’t make the first biker film less intriguing to watch. Like most movies in some way associated with the Beats (most of which are hysterically terrible), some of the details, like the slang, seem forced. But based on a short story that had its roots in a somewhat similar event in California, The Wild One is definitely a sign of its times. It’s post-war paranoia meets generational identity crises; an attempt to quantify the 1950s as they suspected it would turn out.

So it’s a better fit than you might think. The film boasts Kerouac-like narration from Brando’s character, and promos that let you know Brando’s “hot blood” is so hot, and his band of “jazzed-up hoodlums” so jazzed, you’ll hardly be able to contain yourself. It was even banned in Britain for 14 years. If that’s not enough, remember: the classical score jives with rebels on motorcycles. So whether you go to admire the drama or to laugh, you’ll add another classic to your cap.