POISED BY HIS MOTORCYCLE, AGGRESSIVELY SUITED IN LEATHER AND STARING AT US WITH A SARDONIC SMILE, THE LEADER OF THE BLACK REBELS BECAME ANOTHER DEFINING ROLE OF BRANDO’S EARLY CAREER.

Producer Stanley Kramer was inspired by a real incident involving a gang of bikers taking over and terrorising a small town. Kramer and director Laszlo Benedek hoped to illustrate the frustration and alienation felt by the young generation, and the film became an anthem for disaffected American youth. It might now seem like a tame and rather amusing drama of male juvenile delinquency upturned by true love; but Brando’s swagger and insolence remain the stuff of legend. Along with James Dean and Elvis Presley, Brando became emblematic of young people and the way they were supposed to be alienated and rebellious.