Wild One, The

"What are you rebelling against?" "Whaddya got?" Perhaps the most iconic image of Marlon Brando is his black-leather-clad biker, Johnny, in the film that virtually invented the genre. He and his gang roar into a tiny California town and disturb the locals with their boorish ways. Things remain peaceful, though, until a rival gang shows up. Producer Stanley Kramer was known for his message films, and one could easily see this as a Cold War analogy (e.g., the town is called Wrightsville, rival gang leader Lee Marvin is named Chino, as in China), as well as a shot at the status quo.  Among the townspeople are Mary Murphy, Robert Keith, Jay C. Flippen and Ray Teal, while the bikers' ranks include such soon-to-be-famous faces as Timothy Carey, Jerry Paris, Alvy Moore and future sportscaster Gil Stratton.  The Triumph motorcycle that Brando rides was his own personal bike.