Outlaw biker film
Encyclopedia
The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club
.
after the end of World War II. Their culture was first detailed in the Marlon Brando
film The Wild One
in 1953
, but the genre really took off in the mid 60's when the Hells Angels
became prominent in the media. In particular, the Hunter S. Thompson
book Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs published in 1966.
made Motorpsycho
(aka Motor Psycho), an obscure film about an evil motorcycle gang led by a disturbed Vietnam War veteran. In 1966 American International Pictures
(AIP) released The Wild Angels
with Peter Fonda
, Bruce Dern
, and Nancy Sinatra
. This film, aimed at the teenage drive-in crowd, was a surprise hit and a new exploitation film
subgenre was born. AIP followed this with Devil's Angels (1967) starring actor-director John Cassavetes
. They and other independent filmmakers went on to produce dozens of low-budget biker films until the trend dissipated in the early '70s.
Several well-known actors got their start appearing in these films. Jack Nicholson
was in Hells Angels on Wheels
(1967) and Rebel Rousers (filmed 1967, released 1969) with Bruce Dern and Harry Dean Stanton
. Dern was also in Cycle Savages (1970). Dennis Hopper
starred in The Glory Stompers in 1967. And in 1969 Fonda, Hopper, and Nicholson would create the classic "hippie biker" movie, Easy Rider
, which was the antithesis of the violent biker-gang genre.
Sonny Barger, founder of the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels, was a consultant on several films. He and other gang members appeared as extras in Hells Angels on Wheels and Hell's Angels '69. The Hell's Angels appeared as extras playing a gang called the Las Vegas Hotdoggers in the Roger Corman
film Naked Angels
starring Michael Greene
in 1969.
which introduced Tom Laughlin
as Billy Jack. Unable to get his Billy Jack
script produced, Laughlin wrote and directed The Born Losers to capitalize on the current biker movie trend. (The success of the film allowed Laughlin to finally make Billy Jack in 1971.) The story was inspired by news reports of the Hell's Angels terrorizing a California community. As a cost-saving measure, a stunt scene of a motorcycle crashing into a pond was taken from AIP's 1966 comedy The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
.
The Born Losers is also significant for its social criticism and portrayal of the biker gang as a force of pure, unredeemable evil. The majority of the films in this genre generally follow the pattern of The Wild One with a sympathetic gang member (the reluctant leader or a new member) who ultimately rejects the outlaw biker lifestyle. Prime examples would be the Fonda character in The Wild Angels, Jack Nicholson in Hell's Angels on Wheels (1967), and Joe Namath
in C.C. and Company (1970).
The tough-talking police officer was played by Jack Starrett
. He played essentially the same character in Hell's Angels on Wheels and Angels from Hell (1968). Starrett was also in Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), and directed Run, Angel, Run in 1969 and Nam's Angels
in 1970. The last film is unusual as the bikers are portrayed as patriotic heroes sent on a rescue mission to Vietnam.
aka Biker Babes (1967), She-Devils on Wheels
(1968), The Miniskirt Mob (from AIP) with Sherry Jackson
and Harry Dean Stanton
(1968), Sisters in Leather (1969) with Pat Barrington
, Angels' Wild Women (1972), and Cycle Vixens (1978).
The Pink Angels (1971) is a somewhat campy film about a gang of homosexual bikers who head down the coast to attend a drag ball.
Bury Me an Angel (1972) features a female biker hero (and female director).
(1971). The British horror film Psychomania
(also 1971) involves a biker gang that makes a pact with the devil to obtain immortality.
Black motorcycle gangs appeared in a few blaxploitation
films such as The Black Angels (1970) and The Black Six
(1974).
The biker gang ethos also featured strongly in the famed low budget Australian production Mad Max
(1979, dir. George Miller, starring Mel Gibson), with the film spawning the real-life subculture of Survival bikes.
By the late 1980s the once shocking and controversial genre became an object of campy humor in horror-comedies such as Chopper Chicks in Zombietown
(1989) and Biker Zombies (2001).
In 2008, Quentin Tarantino
served as executive producer on Hell Ride
starring Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen. This is an homage to the motorcycle gang films of the past. It was written and directed by Larry Bishop
, who acted in a number of biker films such as The Savage Seven in 1968. Tarantino is a noted fan of the Australia
n biker movie, Stone.
The 2009 documentary Biker Mania includes a compilation of theater trailers and footage that tracks the history of the genre from the 1950s to the present.
Outlaw motorcycle club
An outlaw motorcycle club is a type of motorcycle club that is part of a subculture with roots in the post-World War II USA, centered on cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals celebrating freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the...
.
History
Outlaw biker clubs formed in the late 1940s on the West CoastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
after the end of World War II. Their culture was first detailed in the Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
film The Wild One
The Wild One
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...
in 1953
1953 in film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
, but the genre really took off in the mid 60's when the Hells Angels
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
became prominent in the media. In particular, the Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
book Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs published in 1966.
Films of the 1960s
In 1965 director Russ MeyerRuss Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
made Motorpsycho
Motorpsycho (film)
Motorpsycho or Motor Psycho is a 1965 film by Russ Meyer. Made just before the better-known Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! , the film explores similar themes of sex and violence...
(aka Motor Psycho), an obscure film about an evil motorcycle gang led by a disturbed Vietnam War veteran. In 1966 American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
(AIP) released The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels is a 1966 Roger Corman film, made on location in Southern California. The Wild Angels was made three years before Easy Rider and was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture...
with Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
, Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
, and Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
. This film, aimed at the teenage drive-in crowd, was a surprise hit and a new exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
subgenre was born. AIP followed this with Devil's Angels (1967) starring actor-director John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
. They and other independent filmmakers went on to produce dozens of low-budget biker films until the trend dissipated in the early '70s.
Several well-known actors got their start appearing in these films. Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
was in Hells Angels on Wheels
Hells Angels on Wheels
Hells Angels on Wheels is a 1967 American biker film directed by Richard Rush, and starring Jack Nicholson, Adam Roarke, and Sabrina Scharf...
(1967) and Rebel Rousers (filmed 1967, released 1969) with Bruce Dern and Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
. Dern was also in Cycle Savages (1970). Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
starred in The Glory Stompers in 1967. And in 1969 Fonda, Hopper, and Nicholson would create the classic "hippie biker" movie, Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, which was the antithesis of the violent biker-gang genre.
Sonny Barger, founder of the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels, was a consultant on several films. He and other gang members appeared as extras in Hells Angels on Wheels and Hell's Angels '69. The Hell's Angels appeared as extras playing a gang called the Las Vegas Hotdoggers in the Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
film Naked Angels
Naked Angels
Naked Angels is a 1969 outlaw biker film, directed by Bruce D. Clark. Starring Michael Greene as Mother, Jennifer Gan as Marlene and Richard Rust as Fingers. Later documentary director Penelope Spheeris is a cast member in her first appearance as an actress...
starring Michael Greene
Michael Greene (actor)
Michael Greene was an actor active from the 1960s through the 1990s.Early in his career, Greene was frequently featured in westerns, and was credited with over 100 television and film appearances, including the 1962 film This is Not a Test , as well as a leading role in the 1973 film The...
in 1969.
The Born Losers
In 1967 AIP produced The Born LosersThe Born Losers
This article is about the film. You may be looking for the song http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_LosersBorn Losers is a 1967 action film and the first of the Billy Jack movies. The film introduced Tom Laughlin as the half-Indian Green Beret Vietnam veteran Billy Jack...
which introduced Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator and political activist. Laughlin is best known for his series of Billy Jack films. He has been married to Delores Taylor since 1954. Taylor has also co-produced and acted in all four of the Billy Jack films...
as Billy Jack. Unable to get his Billy Jack
Billy Jack
Billy Jack is a 1971 action film. It is the second, and highest grossing, in a series of motion pictures centering on a character of the same name, played by Tom Laughlin who also directed and co-wrote the script. Filming began in Prescott, Arizona, in fall 1969, but the movie was not completed...
script produced, Laughlin wrote and directed The Born Losers to capitalize on the current biker movie trend. (The success of the film allowed Laughlin to finally make Billy Jack in 1971.) The story was inspired by news reports of the Hell's Angels terrorizing a California community. As a cost-saving measure, a stunt scene of a motorcycle crashing into a pond was taken from AIP's 1966 comedy The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is the seventh of the American International Pictures beach party films and was released in 1966. The entire film takes place in and around a haunted house with no beach in sight, with the teenage gang instead cavorting in and around it and the adjacent swimming...
.
The Born Losers is also significant for its social criticism and portrayal of the biker gang as a force of pure, unredeemable evil. The majority of the films in this genre generally follow the pattern of The Wild One with a sympathetic gang member (the reluctant leader or a new member) who ultimately rejects the outlaw biker lifestyle. Prime examples would be the Fonda character in The Wild Angels, Jack Nicholson in Hell's Angels on Wheels (1967), and Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
in C.C. and Company (1970).
The tough-talking police officer was played by Jack Starrett
Jack Starrett
Jack Starrett was an American actor and film director. He is credited as Claude Ennis Starrett, Jr. in some of his films...
. He played essentially the same character in Hell's Angels on Wheels and Angels from Hell (1968). Starrett was also in Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), and directed Run, Angel, Run in 1969 and Nam's Angels
Nam's Angels
Nam's Angels is a 1970 action film, that was filmed in the Philippines. This film was directed by Jack Starrett. This film was originally released with the title, The Losers.-Plot:...
in 1970. The last film is unusual as the bikers are portrayed as patriotic heroes sent on a rescue mission to Vietnam.
Novelty biker films
A number of novelty films were made featuring all-female biker gangs such as The HellcatsThe Hellcats
The Hellcats, also known as Biker Babes, is a 1967 outlaw biker film. It was featured on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 ....
aka Biker Babes (1967), She-Devils on Wheels
She-Devils on Wheels
She-Devils On Wheels is a 1968 American exploitation film about an all-female motorcycle gang called The Man-Eaters, directed and produced by Herschell Gordon Lewis.-Plot:...
(1968), The Miniskirt Mob (from AIP) with Sherry Jackson
Sherry Jackson
Sherry Jackson is an American actress and former child star. She made her film debut at seven years old in the musical You're My Everything, starring Anne Baxter and Dan Dailey. During the course of appearing in several of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies during the 1950s as Susie Kettle, one of the...
and Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
(1968), Sisters in Leather (1969) with Pat Barrington
Pat Barrington
Pat Barrington is a dancer and actress who appeared in The Agony of Love and Mondo Topless .-Filmography:-External links:...
, Angels' Wild Women (1972), and Cycle Vixens (1978).
The Pink Angels (1971) is a somewhat campy film about a gang of homosexual bikers who head down the coast to attend a drag ball.
Bury Me an Angel (1972) features a female biker hero (and female director).
The 1970s to the present
By the 1970s as the trend began to lose momentum, filmmakers started to create horror hybrids such as Werewolves on WheelsWerewolves on Wheels
Werewolves on Wheels is a 1971 American exploitation film that blends two genres: the outlaw biker film and the traditional horror movie.-Plot:...
(1971). The British horror film Psychomania
Psychomania
Psychomania is a British horror film and cult film starring Nicky Henson as a devil worshipping gang leader and Robert Hardy as the detective in charge of bringing them in.It is also known as Death Wheelers Are.....
(also 1971) involves a biker gang that makes a pact with the devil to obtain immortality.
Black motorcycle gangs appeared in a few blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
films such as The Black Angels (1970) and The Black Six
The Black Six
The Black Six is a combination of blaxploitation and outlaw biker film released in 1974. The movie was written by George Theakos and directed by Matt Cimber. It starred several National Football League stars in the title roles. The plot had some similarities to The Magnificent Seven and Easy...
(1974).
The biker gang ethos also featured strongly in the famed low budget Australian production Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
(1979, dir. George Miller, starring Mel Gibson), with the film spawning the real-life subculture of Survival bikes.
By the late 1980s the once shocking and controversial genre became an object of campy humor in horror-comedies such as Chopper Chicks in Zombietown
Chopper Chicks in Zombietown
Chopper Chicks In Zombietown is a 1989 comedy horror movie released by Troma, featuring Billy Bob Thornton.The film is about an all-female motorcycle gang named the 'Cycle Sluts', who cruise into the isolated town of Zariah looking for a good time...
(1989) and Biker Zombies (2001).
In 2008, Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
served as executive producer on Hell Ride
Hell Ride
Hell Ride is a 2008 American feature film from Larry Bishop released under the "Quentin Tarantino Presents" banner.-Plot:Larry Bishop stars as biker Pistolero, the leader, or "Pres" of the Victors, a Southern California motorcycle gang...
starring Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen. This is an homage to the motorcycle gang films of the past. It was written and directed by Larry Bishop
Larry Bishop
Larry Bishop is an American actor, screenwriter and movie director. He is the son of Sylvia Ruzga and comedian Joey Bishop...
, who acted in a number of biker films such as The Savage Seven in 1968. Tarantino is a noted fan of the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n biker movie, Stone.
The 2009 documentary Biker Mania includes a compilation of theater trailers and footage that tracks the history of the genre from the 1950s to the present.
Cultural references and parodies
After the release of The Wild One in 1953, the image of the motorcycle gang, particularly the Marlon Brando character, inspired many imitators and satires in films and television shows.- The girl group The Shangri-LasThe Shangri-LasThe Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember ".- Early career :...
scored a Number #1 hit single with their motorcycle gang pop song "Leader of the PackLeader of the Pack"Leader of the Pack" is a 1964 pop song recorded by girl group The Shangri-Las. It became number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 28, 1964.-Original Shangri-Las recording:...
" in 1964.
- "Blue's Theme", an instrumental rock song that opens with the sound of a motorcycle engine, was featured on the soundtrack for The Wild Angels film. The song, written by Davie AllanDavie AllanDavie Allan is a guitarist best known for his work on soundtracks to various teen and biker movies in the 1960s. Allan's backing band is almost always the Arrows , although the Arrows have never been a stable lineup....
and The Arrows, was a hit single in 1967.
- From 1963 to 1966 American International Pictures produced a series of seven Beach party filmBeach Party filmBeach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
s. All but one featured Harvey LembeckHarvey LembeckHarvey Lembeck was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on The Phil Silvers Show in the late 1950s, and as the stumbling, overconfident outlaw biker Eric Von Zipper in the beach party movie series during the 1960s...
doing a Brando parody as Eric Von Zipper, inept leader of The Rat Pack motorcycle gang. These films are: Beach PartyBeach PartyBeach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello...
(1963), Bikini BeachBikini BeachBikini Beach is a 1964 teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in a series of seven films produced by American International Pictures .-Plot:School is out and...
and Pajama PartyPajama PartyPajama party or Sleepover may refer to:*Sleepover, an overnight party*Pajama Party, a 1964 film*Sleepover, a 2004 film*Pajama Party , an episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse...
(both 1964), Beach Blanket BingoBeach Blanket BingoBeach Blanket Bingo is an American International Pictures beach party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the beach party film series...
and How to Stuff a Wild BikiniHow to Stuff a Wild BikiniHow to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams...
(both 1965), and The Ghost in the Invisible BikiniThe Ghost in the Invisible BikiniThe Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is the seventh of the American International Pictures beach party films and was released in 1966. The entire film takes place in and around a haunted house with no beach in sight, with the teenage gang instead cavorting in and around it and the adjacent swimming...
(1966).
- The Horror of Party BeachThe Horror of Party BeachThe Horror of Party Beach is a 1964 horror film in the beach party genre, directed by B-movie maven Del Tenney, which Tenney himself describes as "a take-off on beach parties and musicals"....
(1964), a campy beach party-horror hybrid, includes a motorcycle gang most likely inspired by the popular American International beach movies.
- The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
(episode: "Black Leather JacketsBlack Leather Jackets"Black Leather Jackets" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:Three beings, disguised as human males wearing leather jackets, are part of an advance alien invasion force, sent to Earth to infect city water reservoirs with bacteria. Their plan is to...
", 1964), a group of aliens disguised as a motorcycle gang takes up residence in a small American town.
- The Addams FamilyThe Addams FamilyThe Addams Family is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. As named by Charles Addams, the Addams Family characters include Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Thing....
("The Addams Family Meets a Beatnik", 1965), a runaway rebel crashes his motorcycle in front of the Addams' house and stays with the family for a few days. Their non-judgmental acceptance of him leads to his reuniting with his estranged father.
- Both Herman Munster of The MunstersThe MunstersThe Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
(1964–1966) and Jethro Bodine (Max Baer, Jr.Max Baer, Jr.Max Baer Jr is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for playing Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
) of The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
had episodes where they dressed up like Brando from The Wild One and raced around on motorcycles.
- I Spy ("Trial by Treehouse", 1966), Kelley Robinson (Robert Culp) goes undercover as a Brando-esque leader of a motorcycle gang. Culp wears the same type of hat, sunglasses, and leather outfit and affects some of Brando's mannerisms.
- Lost In SpaceLost in SpaceLost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
("Collision of the Planets", 1967), the Robinsons contend with a gang of unruly interplanetary space bikers led by Daniel J. TravantiDaniel J. TravantiDanielo Giovanni "Daniel J." Travanti is an American actor best known for his starring role as Captain Frank Furillo in the 1980s television drama Hill Street Blues.-Biography:...
.
- Get SmartGet SmartGet Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
("The Mild Ones", 1967), a genre parody featuring The Purple Knights, a literate biker gang who see themselves as modern Arthurian knights. Max and 99 must pass as new gang members to rescue a kidnapped prime minister.
- The MonkeesThe Monkees (TV series)The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
("The Wild Monkees", 1967), the guys pretend to be a biker gang to impress four tough female motorcyclists. Trouble ensues when the girls' boyfriends arrive, the Black Angels biker gang.
- Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(Feb. 14, 1976), John BelushiJohn BelushiJohn Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
and guest host Peter BoylePeter BoylePeter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
both dress up as Brando from The Wild One for a "Dueling Brandos" parody sketch.
- Every Which Way but Loose (1978), John QuadeJohn QuadeJohn William Saunders , better known by the stage name John Quade, was an American character actor who starred in film and in television...
plays Cholla, the leader of the inept Black Widows motorcycle gang who have frequent disastrous run-ins with Philo Beddoe (played by Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
).
- Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(Nov. 18, 1978), guest host Carrie FisherCarrie FisherCarrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
was featured in a beach movie parody skit ("Beach Blanket Bimbo from Outer Space") in which John BelushiJohn BelushiJohn Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
played Harvey Lembeck's leather-clad Eric Von Zipper character.
- Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(February 20, 1982), guest host and biker film veteran Bruce Dern appears in the parody sketch "The Mild One". He plays a thoughtful, Zen-inspired leader of a biker gang who uses philosophy instead of violence to terrorize people in a diner.