The Born Losers (1967)

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

Director:

Tom Laughlin (as T.C. Frank)

Writer:

Elizabeth James (as James Lloyd)

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:

reference to arizona | navajo indian | navajo | psychotronic film | bikersploitation | 

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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 | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Born Losers

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$360,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fanfare Films, Otis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bikers' lair location was actually a property once owned by Rudolph Valentino.

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Goofs

In the scene where sheriff, DA, et al. are sitting in the living room (not too far from the end of the film), the telescope in the background changes angle over and over.

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Quotes

Daniel 'Danny' Carmody: I'm gonna cut your bowels out.

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Connections

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 2 (1996)

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Soundtracks

The Born Losers Theme
Written and Produced by Mike Curb, Co-produced by Al Simms
Performed by Davie Allan And The Arrows (as The Sidewalk Sounds)

User Reviews

Can't win for trying

The first "Billy Jack" film is a serious examination of rape and personal cowardice disguised as a biker/drug exploitation film. It manages to satisfy on both counts. No nudity, lots of outrageous clothing, and plenty of nazi bikers. Not quite as good as its sequel (which was written previously) but also not so preachy and talky. Dig the "nature carnage" at the film's beginning. Decent photography (marred in the DVD presentation by pan and scan process), but mid to low grade actors. Russell appears as a burnt-out, harried mom. Is she really acting? She's way over the top, but fun as always.

p.s. (2008, second viewing) p.s. the movie isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it's coming from a good place compared to a lot of exploitation films. There's a lot of classic Hollywood here, Tom Laughlin drawing on a lot of his roots. Like "Billy Jack" this movie is a very passionate statement against rape and it condemns society's attitude about rape. But because the victims are so beautiful, frankly the movie feels more exploitative and less serious than the more successful sequel. You could look on this movie as a learning experience for Laughlin, but it's a very interesting drive-in biker movie in and of itself, very different and more carefully put together than a lot of its brethren. For example this time around I noticed that the film can be seen as an anti-Western -- as opposed to the stereotypical concept of a white man rescuing the white virgins from the "indians", here we have an ostensibly Native American hero rescuing the white women from white bikers (bikes and jeeps standing in for horses and stagecoaches in the traditional Western iconography of course).