The Born Losers (1967)

Director:

Tom Laughlin

Writer:

Elizabeth James

Release Date:

18 August 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

CORNERED! A HOT SUMMER NIGHT...A PACK OF STRAY 'CHOPPER JOCKEYS'...

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Motorcycle Gang | Motorcycle | Rape | Beach

Cast

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
Julie Cahn	...	LuAnn Crawford (as Julie Cohn)
Jane Russell	...	Mrs. Shorn
Ruth Warshawsky
Bill Carey
Paul Napier
Art Eisner
Michael Ivey
Edwin Cook	...	Crabs
Timothy Hall
Robert Coutu
Susan Baumann
Susan Winfield
Robin Corum
Tom Middleton
Wayne Cappasso
James Smith
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Apollo	...	Dr. (uncredited)
Clegg Hoyt	...	Mr. Carmody (uncredited)
Randee Lynne Jensen	...	Extra (uncredited)
Teresa Kelly	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Mike LeSage	...	Pedistrian (uncredited)
Delores Taylor	...	Pedestrian with Children / Opening Off Screen Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Tom Laughlin		(as T.C. Frank)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Elizabeth James		(as E. James Lloyd)

Produced by
Tom Laughlin	....	producer (as Donald Henderson)
Jay Loughrin	....	associate producer
Delores Taylor	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mike Curb
Davie Allan		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Gregory Sandor

Film Editing by
John Winfield

Production Design by
Richard Beck-Meyer

Makeup Department
Louis Lane	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Paul Lewis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jonathan Hayes	....	assistant director

Art Department
Mike Ezzes	....	property master

Sound Department
Le Roy Robbins	....	sound
James Nelson	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Gary Kent	....	special effects: AIP

Stunts
Lightning Bear	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tex Hall	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walter Robles	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert Tessier	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bill Pecchi	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Katharine Free	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Mike Curb	....	conductor
Al Simms	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	presenter
Barbara Bouvet	....	production assistant
Alan Chase	....	production coordinator
T.J. Healy II	....	production assistant
Joyce King	....	script supervisor
James H. Nicholson	....	presenter

Production Companies

• American International Productions
• Fanfare Films
• Otis Productions

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Gloria Filmverleih AG (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American International Pictures (AIP) (1974) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1977) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Fanfare Films
• Vestron Video (video)

Other Companies

• Armie Associates  casting
• Edit-Rite  sound effects
• Switched-On  special costuming
• Westheimer Company  optical effects

Also Known As:

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:(Banned) | Hungary:16 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 (video rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

American International Productions

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Gangrene beats up Vicky near the end of the movie, the blood on her mouth changes between shots.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: The Born Losers (#1.20)" (2007)

Campy, Outrageous Fun!

This movie is interesting on many levels. Although it contains a few shocking scenes (if viewed unedited) it still comes across as kind of campy. When a girl on a motorcycle p***es off a motorcycle gang the fun begins. First of all, the girl on the cute little scooter type motorcyle looks like she just finished a gig on the "Hullabaloo" TV show complete with her matching go-go boots and bikini. She is kinda cute except she has a haircut that looks like they put a bowl on her head and cut around it. (She could have at least wore a "Bob's Big Boy Cascade" to sex it up a bit). She mouths off to the group of scumbags who all look like rejects from the Manson Family.

One shocking scene for 1967 is the part where two gang members french kiss (they are both men)! This is to illustrate the free-sex attitude of the era and supposedly (I am guessing here) to show what a bunch of degenerates these guys are.

Jane Russell is over the top here as a drunken, floozy mother of a teenage trollop who does a strip tease in her trailer park that has to be seen to be believed. The look on her face while stripping is somewhere between orgasmic and root canal. RENT THIS AND HAVE FUN!