Bikers go to the movies
It was the kind of event that creates legends. In 1947,
Hollister was supposedly
”
taken over
”
for two hot July days by an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Bikers go to the movies
It was the kind of event that creates legends. In 1947, Hollister was supposedly “taken over” for two hot July days by an outlaw motorcycle gang.
The truth is more along these lines – the American Motorcyclist Association sponsored a rally that was attended by approximately 4,000 bikers.
The event was larger than expected, and many bikers slept in parks and on the sidewalks. The event was sensationalized by the press and photos were staged of bikers who were causing riots and terrorizing the town.
There were about 50 arrests, mostly for public drunkenness, fighting, reckless driving and disturbing the peace. The event inspired books such as Frank Rooney’s “The Cyclists’ Raid,” which later became the basis for the 1953 film “The Wild One,” starring Marlon Brando.
In the 1960s the success of “The Wild One” helped a slew of biker films find their way to the theaters. These biker movies came onto the scene just as the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello beach movies era ended and the blaxsplotation era began. The biker genre lasted roughly from 1966 to the mid-1970s. The movies were inexpensive to make and helped jump start the careers of stars such as Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Peter Bogdonavich.
The recent releases of the films “Ghost Rider” and “Wild Hogs” suggests the biker movie might be making a comeback. For those who want to head out on the highway and look for adventure without leaving the comfort of your own home, here are five biker films that personify the genre.
“The Wild One” (1953): Directed by Laszlo Benedek and starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin.
Considered the first of the biker movies, “The Wild One” is based loosely on the events in Hollister during the 1947 biker rally. In the movie, 40 riders from the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club terrorize the small town of Wrightsville (Hollister), racing up and down the streets and hanging out in the local bar, Bleekers.
The gang’s leader, Johnny, played by Brando, falls in love with the sheriff’s daughter. A rival gang, The Beetles, soon rides into town, setting up a showdown between the two groups.
Trivia: The film was banned in Britain until 1968.
“The Wild Angels” (1966): Directed by Roger Corman and starring Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern and Nancy Sinatra.
Fonda plays Heavenly Blues, the leader of a Hell’s Angels chapter from Venice, California helps his best friend Loser, played by Bruce Dern, retrieve his stolen motorcycle from a Mexican gang. Loser ends up in the hospital, and when Blues and the Angels bust him out, he dies. Nancy Sinatra plays Mike, Blues’ girlfriend and Diane Ladd plays Loser’s wife (Dern’s real-life wife at the time).
Trivia: The film borrows dialogue from the 1959 John Wayne film Rio Bravo.
“Hells Angels on Wheels” (1967): Directed by Richard Rush and starring Jack Nicholson.
Made during the beginning of his career, “Hells Angels on Wheels” stars Nicholson as Poet, a gas station attendant who longs to join the Hells Angels. He is happy when he is finally accepted into the gang, but changes his mind when he realizes that they will commit any crime, even murder. Things become complicated when the leaders girlfriend falls in love with him.
Trivia: Director Rush was later nominated for an Oscar for best director (The Stuntman in 1980) and also for a Razzie award for worst director (for Color of Night in 1994.)
“The Born Losers” (1967): Directed by and starring Tom Laughlin.
This small film about Vietnam veteran Billy Jack (Laughlin), who tangles with an outlaw motorcycle gang in a small California beach town, inspired three sequels: “Billy Jack” (1971), “The Trial Of Billy Jack” (1974) and “Billy Jack Goes To Washington” (1977).
“Easy Rider” (1969): Directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson.
Easily the most well-known of all the biker movies, “Easy Rider” was written by its stars, Fonda and Hopper, along with Terry Southern. Fonda and Hopper play Wyatt and Billy, two “hippie” bikers who travel across America with money earned by selling drugs.
Along the way, the two encounter hatred and stereo-typing from the folks in the small towns they drive through, as people think their looks and bikes mean they are out to cause trouble. They are eventually arrested and thrown in jail, where they meet George Hanson, a liberal lawyer and an alcoholic, played by Nicholson. After getting Wyatt and Billy out of jail, George joins them on their trip, where they end up in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
Trivia: During the campfire scene the actors were smoking real marijuana.
Also worth a look is “Werewolves on Wheels” (1971), a strange mix of horror and biker genres. In the movie a gang of bikers run across a group of Satan worshippers who turn one of their women into a werewolf. The werewolves don’t show up until the last seven minutes of the film and only one of them rides a motorcycle, but at 82 minutes it is, at the very least, a good way to kill some time looking at some cool bikes.
