The Wild Angels (1966)
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On its gravelly surface, Roger Corman’s motorcycle melodrama is not a very good movie. But behind the scenes, the throttle was half full. For starters, it was released in the summer of 1966. Hunter Thompson was yet to create gonzo journalism, but he was rocking the rum, smoking through a cigarette holder, and typing mad dog on Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (Random House, 1967).
While the good doctor worked in solitude, the film that was packing Drive Ins from Hoboken to Hawthorne was The Wild Angels. Its ultimate cultural effect had little to do with Harleys and everything to do with the dynamics of three famous Hollywood families.
The two top Angels were flying in the shadows of their famous fathers. Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra, both 26, were born four months apart in 1940. In that year before the United States entered World War II, Fonda arrived February 23. His proud papa, Henry Fonda, was Hollywood hot and humble, qualities Americans loved from their male movie stars. Aw shucks. Henry was 35 and would soon get his first Oscar nomination for The Grapes of Wrath.
Nancy Sinatra’s father was ten years younger than Hank when “Nancy with the Laughing Face” was born June 8, 1940. Frank Sinatra had recently left Harry James to sing in Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra, as singers did in those days. Frankie recorded 40 songs with Dorsey in that year, including his first number one, “I’ll Never Smile Again.” Little Nancy grew up hearing Daddy on the radio as he approached supernova stardom.
Both Peter and Nancy seem a little clean cut for the Venice branch of the Hells Angels, who served as extras in the The Wild Angels. Fonda looks like he just got a $400 haircut from Jay Sebring. Nancy seems to know a secret.
Sinatra had been appearing as her father’s daughter, at his side in public for years. She and her brother Frank Jr. were Dad’s dates when he picked up the Supporting Actor Oscar in 1954 for From Here to Eternity. She had also appeared on television with him many times, including a welcome home from the Army Elvis special in 1960.
While her biker flick of ‘66 would screech into so-bad-it-was-good trivia legend, her recording career had just taken off. These Boots Are Made for Walking had been released six months before her chopper epic achieved limited traction. The catchy tune topped the charts, which surprised Frank and his Reprise record company, and was her first of 22 Top 10 hits over the next four years.
Fonda didn’t have a hit record, but The Wild Angels, his sixth feature film, steered his career in a hip new direction. He had tripped the year before on LSD with The Beatles no less, famously bending John Lennon’s fine-tuned ear. As the walls melted around them, Fonda repeated his bummer line “I know what it’s like to be dead.” Lennon tried to get it out of his head by including it in the song “She Said, She Said,” for Revolver (1966).
In 1969, Fonda would become a counterculture hero on a motorcycle once again, trying to find America in Easy Rider, a film he produced and starred in. He scored a screenplay Oscar nomination, but his financing skills created even more buzz around TinselTown. He had secured $360,000 for Easy Rider because he had heard that was how much it cost Roger Corman to make The Wild Angels. Easy Rider grossed $40 million.
Speaking of celebrity offspring, Angels co-stars Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, married since 1960, made a baby around the time the film opened (IMDB does not specify). Laura Dern was born Feb 10, 1967. She’s doing just fine.
The Extras are all over the highway. There are a couple of interviews with Hunter S. Thompson about his Angel book. In the first one he encounters a real club member who is angry that he didn’t receive two cases of beer as the author promised. The next clip features Thompson in a 15-minute interview with ABC News.
At some point the History Channel became interested in the freewheeling organization aka “the other 1%.” Check out their “Five Facts.” Curating a biker cartoon was a little more difficult but you should enjoy Spider-Man‘s bike challenge. It is probably a person playing a video game but it’s very interesting to see how the five multicolored Spider-Men finish. Finally The Wild Angels soundtrack. The hit is “Blues Theme” from The Arrows.
Enjoy the ride and don’t get hassled by the man.
Vroom vroom,
“Like a true nature’s child, we were born, born to be wild. We can climb so high, I never want to die.”
Born to Be Wild, Steppenwolf, Lyrics Mars Bonfire
Feature: The Wild Angels
Extra: Hunter Thompson meets Hells Angel
Extra: Dr. Gonzo Rides with the Angels
Extra: Hells Angels Top 5 Facts
Cartoon: Spider-Man Bike Challenge
Extra: The Wild Angels Soundtrack
