Daily Archives: November 10, 2015

The Wild One
Directed by Laslo Benedek
Written by John Paxton based on a story by Frank Rooney
1953/USA
Stanley Kramer Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix Rental

Mildred: Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?
Johnny: Whadda you got?

This would greatly resemble your average B biker movie were it not for the magnetism of Marlon Brando.

Johnny (Brando) is a leader of a motorcycle club known as The Black Rebels.  One day they crash a motorcycle race and steal the second place trophy for Johnny.  They then move on to a small town where they proceed to generally act up and scare the local citizenry.  Johnny is attracted to Kathie who works at the bar/cafe but backs off when he finds out that her father is the local sheriff.  Johnny hates cops.

Then a rival gang, The Beetles, shows up led by Chino (Lee Marvin).  He challenges Johnny and they have a fist fight.  Later, Johnny has to rescue Kathy from some gang members who have surrounded her and are scaring her to death.  Things get out of control and some of the locals decide to take matters into their own hands.  Johnny wants to pull out of the town but the gang isn’t cooperating.  Then a fatal accident gets him in even deeper.

Imagine the Dead End Kids speaking in beatnik lingo (Daddy-o, etc.).  You will picture this motorcycle gang to a T.  That is all except Brando.  He is stuck with the same dialogue but just can’t help being a complete human character.  Anything with Brando from this period is worth seeing but I would seek out several other films before this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8LC9Oy9k7Q

Trailer

The Long, Long Trailer
Directed by Vicente Minnelli
Written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich from a novel by Clinton Twiss
1953/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

Mechanic: Think of it as a train behind you. Forty feet of train.

There are a couple of things that seem naturally funny so long as it is not you who are doing them.  One is restoring an old house.  The other is driving or living in a huge RV.

Nicky Collini (Desi Arnaz) and Tacy Bolton (Lucille Ball) are engaged to be married.  Nicky’s job will require them to move to Colorado and he will travel a lot from there.  The domestic Tacy decides that buying a trailer would be ideal because then she can make Nicky a home wherever he goes.  She has a trailer all picked out that will cost only a hundred dollars more than their annual budget.  Nicky is skeptical and wants to save for the down payment on a house.  Tacy is persistent and talks him into going to a motor home show.

Of course, the trailer she had picked out is impossibly small. She promptly falls in love with a 40-foot behemoth.  The couple start acquiring a mountain of debt, including a new, heavier car and modifications for the trailer hitch.  In the funniest scene in the movie, the man from the shop teaches Nicky how to haul the trailer.

The rest of the movie follows the Collinis on their honeymoon drive from the East Coast to Colorado.  It is one mishap after another.  Their adventures are both amusing and believable.  With Marjorie Main as the couple’s first neighbor and Keenan Wynne as a policeman.

I have thought of Desi Arnaz as basically a straight man but here he gets a lot of the gags and physical humor.  He does pretty well at it but the movie could possibly have used more from Lucy.  The film is an entertaining romp which I enjoyed.

Trailer