1922-PRESENT ROBIN HOOD
Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner
REBELLING AGAINST? The legendary outlaw in Lincoln green who stole from the rich to give to the poor has been a staple of English folklore since the 14th century. The film Robin, though, takes his cue from Douglas Fairbanks’ portrayal in 1922, his debonair earl turned arrow-slinging brigand establishing a cast-iron template that would be subsequently recycled by Errol Flynn in 1938, Kevin Costner in 1991, and countless other imitators.
ICONIC MOMENT Kev firing that slow-motion flaming arrow in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
1933 WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD
Eddie (Frankie Darro), Tommy (Edwin Phillips), Sally (Dorothy Coonan)
REBELLING AGAINST? Inducted into the US National Film Registry in 2013 alongside Pulp Fiction and Mary Poppins, William Wellman's tale of teenage dropouts who become railroading hobos was both a product of its Depression-ravaged era and ahead of its time, the character of Sally – a runaway who dresses in male clothing to avoid sexual harassment – defying the same gender conventions that Boys Don't Cry would some 66 years later.
ICONIC MOMENT A wince-inducing scene where Tommy loses a leg to an oncoming freight train.
1953 THE WILD ONE
Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando)
Inspired by an actual incident of bikers causing havoc in California in 1947, this tale of leather-clad motorcyclists terrorising a small town was deemed such a ‘spectacle of unbridled hooliganism’ by the BBFC, it was denied a certificate for 14 years. Yet its influence spread regardless, Marlon Brando's insouciant Johnny becoming such an indelible symbol of incalcitrant antiestablishment nihilism that he now lives on forever (with 70 others) on album cover.
