The Born Losers (1967)

Billy Jack battles outlaw motorcycle gang in a small California beach town.

Director:

Tom Laughlin

Writer:

Elizabeth James

Stars:

Tom Laughlin, Elizabeth James, Jeremy Slate

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Laughlin	...	Billy Jack
Elizabeth James	...	Vicky Barrington
Jeremy Slate	...	Daniel 'Danny' Carmody
William Wellman Jr.	...	Child
Jack Starrett	...	Deputy Fred
Paul Bruce	...	District Attorney George Davis
Robert Cleaves	...	Mr. Crawford
Paul Prokop	...	Speechless
Robert Tessier	...	Cueball (as Robert W. Tessier)
Jeff Cooper	...	Gangrene
Stuart Lancaster	...	Sheriff Harvey (as Stewart Lancaster)
Anne Bellamy	...	Mrs. Prang
Gordon Hoban	...	Jerry Carmody
Susan Foster	...	Linda Prang
Janice Miller	...	Jodell Shorn

Storyline

A malicious motorcycle gang harasses the residents of a small California town, intimidating most residents to not report them to the police. Among the gang's crimes is the rape of four young women. As the gang attempts to threaten the women into not testifying at the indictment hearing, one of the women, Vicki, comes under the protection of Billy Jack, who has also had several altercations with the gang. The gang escalates their pressure on both Vicki and Billy Jack to keep her out of the courtroom.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | motorcycle gang | motorcycle | beach | rape | 

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Taglines:

An innocent girl is first prize in the dirtiest game ever played!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Born Losers - pedal-ridderne

Filming Locations:

Huntington Shores Motel - 21002 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$360,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$36,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Productions, Fanfare Films, Otis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Billy Jack and Vicky Barrington meet the astrologer in the restaurant, he asks Billy when his birthday is. Billy replies "August 10th." This is the birthday of Tom Laughlin, who plays Billy Jack.

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Goofs

After Speechless lands his bike in the pond, you see JoDell Shorn is seen just getting out of the car, in the next shot, she's in the crowd.

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Connections

Referenced in Deadbeat at Dawn (1988)

User Reviews

Born Losers a Born Winner

Tom Laughlin's 1967 film The Born Losers is not what it appears to be; good-guy defeats out-law biker gang and saves young rape victims. On the contrary, Born Losers is Laughlin's take on the war in Viet-Nam and the effects it had on "normal" middle-America.

The motorcycle gang in the film is a symbol of military forces who take-over a town (representing Viet-Nam) and go on a brutal spree of violence and rape. What causes these seemingly normal men to act in such brutal manners? Are there goods guys and bad guys? No, just people caught up in a "cruel" world of hopelessness, acting out their most primal instincts. Laughlin makes sure not to fit his characters into "good" and "evil", but incorporate a little of both in each person. Laughlin's character fights fire with fire, and it seems to say that there are no-rules in war. Controversial to say the least. The movie bombed at the box-office when first released in 1967. After the amazing success of Billy Jack, it was re-released and showed a pretty-profit.

A strong supporting cast of "B" movie legends-Elizabeth James, Jerome Slate, Robert Tessier, Jack Starrett along with a "faded" Jane Russell, make Born Losers one of the more outstanding independent movies of the 1960s.

Born Losers is a Born Winner.