Based on a 1947 incident in which thousands of motorcyclists, many of them recent vets, converged on the town of Hollister, California, The Wild One, originally titled Hot Blood, struck terror in the hearts of viewers. Johnny, the leather-clad leader of the Black Rebels, arrives in what could be your town, or Anytown U.S.A. Portrayed methodically by Marlon Brando, this Johnny is a new invention, a mumbling, disaffected brawler who is in full-throttle rebellion; when asked what he's rebelling against, he famously answers, “Whaddya got?” Lawlessness ensues when the cycle gang arrives, provoking a crisis of authority. As the local vigilantes respond, fighting fire with ire, we are left to wonder, “Who are the fascists here? The rousted townsfolk or the rioters?” “Many of their crimes are sign crimes,” writes Hoberman. “Quasi-police uniforms have been drafted to serve disorder by men who dress like proles but eschew the work ethic. . . . The sound of revved up motorcycle engines . . . heralds the opening of the movie and amplifies the ongoing semiotic noise. . . . The normals are confounded.” But normality is drowned out by the roar, a roar that will resound throughout the fifties.