Recently the Houlton Temple Theatre and the Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project presented the Born To Be Wild Weekend mini film fest. Temple screened the new Sean Penn flick “Into The Wild” and the classic Marlon Brando movie “The Wild One.”
Before “Easy Rider,” “Wild Angels,” or “Quadrophenia,” there was “The Wild One,” the definitive outlaw biker movie. In the 1953 classic, Marlon Brando is Johnny Strabler, the leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club and the original “rebel without a cause.” When Johnny’s Black Rebels and a rival gang, the Beetles, roll into a small town two gangs collide and then run into trouble with the sheriff. Of course, even those who’ve never seen “The Wild One” will know it for putting a classic bit of dialog into the American lexicon, “What’re you rebelling against, Johnny?”
“Whaddya got?”
“The Wild One” is not rated.
Sean Penn’s “Into The Wild” is adapted from the 1996 book of the same name by Jon Krakauer. The tragic true story follows Chris McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch) as he abandons his privileged life in Virginia, gives away his savings, and sets out to travel the country. McCandless spent time in South Dakota and California, among other places, before setting out into the Alaskan wild alone. McCandless’ story has been a fascination to many, and he’s been labeled everything from a 1990s Thoreau to a tragic and naïve idealist. “Into The Wild” is rated R.
“Into The Wild” and “The Wild One” were shown at the Houlton Temple Theatre in Market Square on Friday, Nov. 23 and Saturday, Nov. 24 at 9:15 p.m. Both movies were shown on separate screens on both nights. Tickets were $6 for each film or $10 for both (a $10 ticket allows one film per night). All proceeds from “The Wild One” to benefit the Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project.
Elizabeth “Liz” Gartley, of Houlton, has a BA in media studies from Emerson College in Boston. She has studied abroad in the Netherlands and Australia, and most recently interned at a production company in Hollywood. She can be reached online at egartley@gmail.com or leave a message for her at your local newspaper office.
By Liz Gartley
