THE BEGINING OF THE BILLY JACK ERA
This was the start of the Billy Jack Legacy as this movie hit the theaters on August 18 1967 starring Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, Elizabeth James as Vicky Barrington, and Jeremy Slate as Daniel Carmody. A motorcycle gang led by Daniel Danny Carmody rides through the local towns terrorizing the people and the local law is afraid of them. Enters Vicky Barrington who races to the airport to pick up her dad only to find out that she was rejected again. While the gang is riding the come across a young kid who they beat up and Billy Jack comes to his rescue. Billy is arrested along with the bikers and thrown in jail. The gang ends up raping four women who they have threaten the women into not testifying. Vicki who was raped goes 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. Some facts you may not know. This picture was banned from Sweden because of its high violence rating in 1968, 1972, and 1975. When Billy Jack and Vicky go into eat at a local restaurant they are met by an astrologer. The astrologer asks Billy when his birthday is, Billy told him August 10, and that is the real birthday of Tom Laughlin. Thoughts on the movie! I thought it was a great movie that kept my interest all the way through. You can see way Tom Laughlin did all four Billy jack pictures because he was excellent in his role as Billy Jack. Elizabeth James was excellent in her role as Vicky Barrington. She was gorgeous riding around in that white bikini on her bike. Because of Vicky and the action in this movie I give this picture 5 weasel stars.

A Winner
This was the movie that started the Billy Jack franchise of the early 70s and it is definitely a product of that era in everything from costume to style to dialog to location.

Tom Laughlin plays Billy Jack, a mysterious loner who is part Indian and recently released from the Special Forces in Vietnam. He is trying to get along in southern California but is handicapped with such traits as a conscience. He gets arrested on "vigilante" charges when he saves a young boy from being beaten to death by a biker gang. This puts him off of the good citizenship ideal.

This same motorcycle gang mentioned before has more to its activities than just beating kids bloody. It also like such recreational pastimes as rape. When a group of girls is hospitalized after a particularly brutal rape, the DA desperately wants at least one of them to press charges but all of the girls are frightened of retaliation. The gang victimizes each one further to ensure their silence.

On of the girls is spunkier than the rest. She decides to prosecute and the gang comes after her. She runs straight into Billy Jack's arms and Billy Jack stiffens her resolve and helps to protect her when the local sheriff proves unable to do so.

The action in this movie is understated by today's standards and the fights are really laughable. They do make their points, though and the point of the movie is not action but justice.

Born Losers
My husband just loves Billy Jack. The movie brought back many happy childhood memories. "Rooting for the underdog never gets old" he says!

The first appearance of "BIlly Jack".
The Born Losers (1967) is the first film of 4 to introduce the character of "Billy Jack". Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) doesn't really like townspeople that much. Today he is in the beach community of Seal Beach. A teenager is being harassed by a biker gang and then beaten up. Nobody wants to help the kid, but Billy Jack pulls out a rifle and shoots the biker. Billy Jack is arrested for taking "the law into his own hands". Four months in jail or $1000.00 fine. The bikers were guilty of assault. 30 days in jail or $150.00 fine.
When six of the bikers rape three girls, they also go after Vicky (Elizabeth James) and her mother Mrs. Shorn (Jane Russell) is frantic. Billy Jack tries to keep Vicky safe and get rid of the pesty biker gang.
Also in the cast: Jeremy Slate, Jack Starrett and Robert Tessier.
Filmed in Seal Beach, California, Palace Verdes, Venice and Marina, Malibu, Paradise Cove, Big Rock, Pacific Palisades, Clear Lake Resevior.
Tom Laughlin and his wife Delores Taylor wrote "Billy Jack" first (under different names), but they couldn't sell the idea. So they started with "Born Losers" with Tom laughlin and Delores Taylor writing this story (under different name) and was able to get Jane Russell for a part in the film. They were able to film it independently. Tom Laughlin also directed under a different name.
Deolres Hart (who had a prominent role in the next 3 "Billy Jack" films, appears as a pedestrian with children.
Mike Curb was the music conductor on this film. He was the head of MGM Records and became Lieutenant Governor of California.
DVD includes a very interesting audio commentary with Tom Laughlin and Delores Hart. Film production information and Billy Jack website.
Followed by BILLY JACK (1971)
THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK (1974)
BILLY JACK GOES TO WASHINGTON (1977).

Update: Tom Laughlin insists their will be a fifth film. The yet-to-be-financed movie is now titled Billy Jack For President (2008).

''Out For Kicks And In For Trouble!''
Contrary to one reviewer's information, "Born Losers" was a smash at the box office the FIRST time it was released in '67. And it's easy to see why. It's the most entertaining of the "biker movie" genre, because it has a story and vivid characters. Elizabeth James is Vicky Barrington, a vacationing college student who comes up against a nasty motorcycle gang in a California mountain town. Naturally, the gang, headed by a weathered Jeremy Slate, take off after Vicky (who is on a motorcycle wearing white boots and a matching bikini) and two of them eventually catch and rape her. She's not the only victim. Three incredibly foolish local girls visit the gang's "clubhouse" and meet a similar fate. But they don't have a champion like Tom Laughlin (in his first appearance as Billy Jack) who manages to get Vicky out of danger (at least for a while) and subsequently falls in love with her. "Born Losers" has a great score by "Wild Angels" composer (and future Lieutenant Governor of California) Mike Curb, good acting by a large cast, and a fine cameo appearance by Jane Russell as the trashy mother of one of the victimized girls. Add some beautiful locations and some slick motorcycle stunts, and you have a "Born Winner!" Incidentally, beautiful Ms. James turned up as a police dispatcher in the seventies cult classic, "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry". She also wrote the screenplay for "Born Losers" (under the pen name 'E. James Lloyd'). [phillindholm]