We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. We wanna be
free to ride! We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by
The Man. And we wanna get loaded.
Oh man, I’m not really sure where these guys are coming from? This was the late Roger Corman’s inspiration for the biker films of the 60’s counter culture, The Wild One(s) for the Age of Aquarius, outlaw bikers for the hippies and the genesis of Easy Rider and Peter Fonda’s enduring association with Harley-Davidsons that I saw spoofed in The Cannonball Run by the man himself.
Corman always had an eye for trends and the kind of entertainment that would reach emerging audiences even if his budgets we rarely large enough for him to take full advantage. Here in a story written by Charles B. Griffith and an uncredited Peter Bogdanovich – how many careers did the great man encourage? – we see the seeds of Altamont and the demise of the counter-cultural dream as the consequences of the bikers’ rebellion leave them with nowhere to go but down as Fonda’s oft-sampled quote above reveals.
The film ended up being one of the most successful
low-budget indie films in history and yet it seems pretty hollow and, if
anything, disapproving of a culture that is based on such halting and
insubstantial dogma as being “free” and getting “loaded” especially when the
ensuing party occurs at a funeral of one of their gang members and with sexual
harassment/abuse on the agenda as well as extreme disrespect for their dead pal
and his funeral rite, so nihilistic as to only really play teasingly with the
subject matter of alienation.
These guys wear swastikas as a deliberate provocation to the straight world and yet that’s all it is a wind up signifying pretty much nothing in terms of an alternative vision. A decade later the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie Sioux and Joy Division would appropriate Nazi imagery and, as we now know, not all of them really meant it, “maaaan”! You say you want a revolution well you know… we all want to change the World…
No one could expect Mr Corman to really mean anything to be fair and the mere act of rebellion seems to be enough here as elsewhere for people who felt out of step with American society as capitalism followed its own nihilistic exploitation of some and exclusion of others.
Corman took his research seriously though and not only interacted with Californian Angels he also featured members of the Hells Angels from Venice, California and the Coffin Cheaters motorcycle club… irony overloaded in their nomenclature there. There is indeed some fine bike riding in the film which moves at a pace and as with its abovementioned forbear, rebels against whatever it is you’ve got invested in society as it was and is.
There are two visceral stand-out performances from the
husband and wife team of Bruce Dern as "the Loser" and Diane Ladd as his
on-screen wife, Gaysh. Both give their all to add an extra edge and smuggle
more meaning than even Corman may have intended as the real victims of this
rebellion but also, of course, The Man and his evil ways. They’re both so full
of force the blow the rest off screen and, during their downtime, even managed
to conceive daughter Laura Dern which perhaps explains, as Sailor said, how the
way her mind works is God’s own mystery…
Fonda, of course is no slouch as gang leader "Heavenly Blues" (or "Blues"), whilst Nancy Sinatra is also excellent as his girlfriend "Mike". Dad Frank was apparently so concerned about her cavorting with the Angels that Corman had to reassure him that Nancy would be protected although as it turned out she was more concerned about Fonda’s offer of LSD than the gentlemen on bikes.
The film follows the gang falling foul of the cops after riding in search of Loser’s bike which has been stolen by a Mexican biker gang from Mecca, California. The Angels find and battle their rivals but the police arrive forcing them to take flight leaving Loser behind, he steals a police bike but gets shot in the back and hospitalized. Fearing for their friend’s incarceration the Angels break him out and take him to a bar run by one Momma Monahan (Joan Shawlee) but there’s no doctor for the injured man and he passes away.
The Angels want to see their friend off in their own way and fake a death certificate before arranging a funeral which degenerates into a drunken orgy of violence and sexual assault – they get loaded but rape for Loser’s girl Gaysh is hardly the freedom Blues bangs on about… There’s more to come but ultimately this whole biker “scene” is based on emptiness and anger which, in the context, shows the filmmaker’s view far more than the bikers’? The Man is the ultimate cause of Loser’s demise and yet the Angels taking the law into their own hands started off the mayhem. Also, Nazi regalia and Hitler’s flag on the coffin… it’s so enduringly offensive it’s hard to contextualise.
Dusty Verdict: The Wild Angels captured a
moment even in what presents as a judgemental way, although Corman was happy to
show the “loaded” generation in full swing. There are those excellent, humane
performances from the Derns as well as Fonda’s intensity and Sinatra’s winsome charisma,
to leave you engaged and enriched amongst the motorcycle roar. The real Angels
also add the edge and the connection with this genuine counter culture.
There’s also some good support from an under-used Michael J. Pollard and Gayle Hunnicutt who was surely far too demure to be a biker chick?
In the end, Fonda was far from finished with his Harley and he would go on to continue his counter-cultural search with Easy Rider and other films. Perhaps, in terms of the meaning of this film that’s the biggest take-away, the enemy was clear but the philosophy and the constructive response was inspired by Corman’s work and the search for a solution to state controls and possible freedoms continues to this day.
Rest in peace Mr Corman and Mr Fonda.
All we want from you are the kicks you've given us
All we want from you are the kicks you've given us
Under neon loneliness
Motorcycle emptiness
James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones (1992)