The Wild Angels: Dismal Masterpiece?

[HJahn]

I just watched this Peter Fonda/Nancy Sinatra flick The Wild Angels (1966) again. First time I saw it was when it came out and I was in Jr. High school. Man, was I impressed. My pals and I went down to Sears and bought Levi jackets, cut off the sleeves, decorated our "colors" with various unspeakable badges and "13" pins and tore around on our bicycles pretending we were Hells Angels. Now when I saw it again all I could summon forth was how "dismal" a movie it is.

I don't think I've seen that many swastikas since 1945! But the basic plot of "Loser" getting shot by the "man" and his fellow gang members stupidly breaking him out of the hospital -- thereby causing his death -- was pretty realistic and fits that mentality quite well. The girls were all cute and everybody looked so danged freaking young that it was scary. Cripes, if they made that movie today they'd all be old geezers if you look at Harley rider demographics!

As to the bikes, they all quality as "antiques" under the club's 35 year rule, although most of them are pretty useless choppers. There appeared to be one older stock bike with saddlebags but it was so totally black that I couldn't make it out, but I think maybe it was a flathead 45. The rest were mostly Panheads with a couple of Knuckleheads. Nothing really radical or very good looking either. The one cop bike was a tank-shift stock Panhead, and I laughed during the chase scene when the cop bike (another Pan) that Loser stole started missing at high speed and he pushed on the handlebar to make it go faster. Nice realistic touch. Oh yeah, and in the Mexican's garage he picked up a part and said: "This is my VL brake pedal" and it sure looked like one too.

I couldn't quite make out the symbol on the back of the supposed "Angels" club colors. Looked sort of lame. I imagine that was intentional.

A totally different movie than Easy Rider where the bikers were not gang members or bad guys, but more like anti-hero types.

So what's your favorite or most hated biker flick and why?

[Hrdly-Dangrs]

Rated-X.....

Yeah...Rated-X for X-tremely bad! Seen that one a couple times since it first came out. Even have the Tape, don't know why! The whole movie stinks accept for the bikes. Me I like Choppers and Modifieds more then Stockers. Have a couple favorite movies myself....Would have to put Joe Nameth and Ann Margret in C.C. Rider (also called Chrome Hearts) definitely in the Top 2!....... ...Hrdly-Dangrs.....HJahn, Search back a few Threads in 'Parking lot Chatter, theres one or two other threads about favorite movies too!

[HJahn]

I haven't seen CC Rider for years, but I remember how the big biker went thru the grocery store and had lunch right in the aisle. That was supposed to be cool or something -- at least it seemed that way at the time.

I was going to collect all these biker flicks, but got The Wild Angels and found it so dismal that I never got another one. Yet as an adolescent I cannot deny that it greatly influenced me, and when a few years later I had the opportunity to buy some older H-Ds, I jumped on the chance.

As I kid I also remember seeing an old B&W movie on TV about some motorcycle cop department. I want to guess it was the California Highway Patrol. Was that a real movie or am dreaming this? I was pretty small, but I remember liking it.

[Markz]

"We want to be free, to ride our machines and not be hassled by the man!"

That brought a tear to my eye. I really felt a connection with Blues at that moment.

Markz

[HJahn]

The Man

Originally posted by Markz


That brought a tear to my eye. I really felt a connection with Blues at that moment.

Markz

They wouldn't have gotten hassled so much if they didn't act so stupid!

But that feeling was in the air in the early 70s when I had my chopper. If I remember correctly, you sort of hoped the cops would hassle you so you could brag about it later to your pals. And they usually did when they saw a chopper.

Another nice touch in The Wild Angels was pulling up to that oil well field in the beginning. Seeing a Harley rolling thru that dirty industrial oil environment made you KNOW this was taking place "back" in the Oil Age.

I also liked it when they rode past a gas station and the price was like 24.9 cents or something like that, which nicely dated the movie too.

[Hrdly-Dangrs]

The differance between the biker flicks like The Wild Angels and C.C. Rider (Chrome Hearts) was the way they were filmed and the amount of decent writing and story that developed among the characters. 98% of the characters in C.C. Rider were legitimate 'Actors', compared with about 2% Actors and 98% Extras as in movies like The Wild Angels! That Biker guy that you first see walking thru the food store making a sandwich is Joe Namath. Probably one of the few 'biker' flicks where the characters/Actors actually looked as good as the motorcycles themselves. Who didn't want to get their hands on Ann Margret!! Two quick observations about the movie C.C Rider. Firstly, the Music was great!(ok, well maybe one or two songs were real bad, especially the bad Janis Joplin type song in one of the desert camp site sequences), but on the whole it did have a few legit hot Rock/Blues mixes as well as a great opening soundtrack tune. Secondly, It had a real good mix of Action/Drama/Comedy. Everything wasn't just Angst, Bad Trips and all Doom and Gloom. You actually cared about the characters themselves Good and Bad guys! 'The Wild One' with Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin was another good Movie....Easy Rider of course was the Best of the Best......Later.......Hrdly-Dangrs

[k.perry]

Hey...that movie had some classic moments...Remember?..they were riding out to Bruce Derns shack out in the Huntington Cliffs area...wid' all them oil derricks (grasshoppers) pumping. Dern lived in an old shack, wore a filthy white cloth aviators cap..lost his scoot..told Blue.. spewing venom through his yellowed buck teeth..."You gotta help me get my "Choppa" back from them "Chi-cans" what stole it over in Tortilla Flats" Then they all rode over there and fought it out with "530" rear chains as weapons??? Come-awn...that was classic stuff!

[B. Rodencal]

C.C. Rider

Joe Namath was a foot dragger! Steve Mcqueen Wasn't

[Hrdly-Dangrs]

Yes, Steve Mcqueen was the 'Real Deal' when it came to actually riding and racing motorcycles both on and off the screen. Ann Margret could out-ride a lot of motorcyclists then and now too! As for 'Broadway' Joe Nameth...he was a colorful quarterback who played with motorcycles as well as a lot of women! Can't fault him for that! They're my personal two favorite things in life also!! The Wild Angels was just your typical run of the mill, badly filmed, badly written, and badly acted 'Pulp' type movie! Not very memorable. Well maybe a line or two. There were many more movies of its kind produced at the time, as bad or worse! Most were hard to sit completely thru to the end! I mean I've watched them and they are what they are. Peter Fonda's best movie was Easy Rider. The look of the movie, the music, the characters, the story all came together to make a great 'Movie'. So true was C.C. Rider and The Wild One. At least for me. Later.. .....Act 1 Scene 1....Hrdly Dangrs pulls up on his 55 Panhead chopper..."Yo Adrian."..oops wrong story

[Jim M]

Yo... Adrian

Act 1 Scene 1.5 ..... With Adrian anticipating the rush she is about to feel riding on the thin pad behind Hardly on his chopper. She quickly looses interest as Hardly kicks the bike 14 times, changes plugs, cusses obcenities only a sailor would appreciate and begins pleading with her to help him push start the bike. Off in the distance she sees a dim 6 volt headlight getting brighter with every rev....Too tired to call her back, he watches as she wanders towards Jim waiting on his running knuckle. She's found a new exciting boyfriend and they ride off into the sunset as the beehive tail light bouncing along dimly faids.....

[Jim]

H Jahn, that movie you talked about with the CHP was called CODE TWO It had Ralph Meeker in it. I remember seeing that as a kid too. Never saw it again.... I know of a place that has it on video. I will have to look that up. Easy Rider... well.... I don't have as many "fond" memories of that as you guys, but there were parts in it that I like. I would like to see it again and have a fresh view of it, because you know how yours "tastes" change. I had bought the CC RIDER movie on DVD and it came with the EVEL KNEVEIL movie with George Hamilton. 2 movies on one DVD for $10. Both kinda cool. I also like the movie Then came Bronson with Michael Parks. I remember the movie and the TV show. Anyone remember the episode where they got that "old" MC running? How about the Elvis movie Roustabout? He rode the Honda and got run off the road. Then he tried the Wall of Death. Yea, that was him alright. We don't call 'em SICKLES anymore, we call them BIKES or Motorcycles now! Elvis, gotta love him.

Jim

[Hrdly-Dangrs]

Hey Jim M....I had the wrong story, but you are definetly dreaming!!....You Knucklehead!!... ...Hrdly-Dangrs Jim from Jersey....I don't remember seeing Code Two , but ''Electra Glide In Blue' was another cool Cop motorcycle based movie!... .....Hrdly-Dangrs

[Jim]

Originally posted by Hrdly-Dangrs
Jim from Jersey....I don't remember seeing Code Two , but ''Electra Glide In Blue' was another cool Cop motorcycle based movie!... .....Hrdly-Dangrs

Oh Yeah, I forgot about that one. I liked it! Haven't seen it for ages/years. I guess it will be a long time before they air that on TV again. At least until after Robert Blakes trial.

Jim