The Born Losers (1967)

Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) is an ex-Green Beret back home after Vietnam. There is a motorcycle gang 'Born to Lose' who are terrifying a small California coastal town. The gang is led by Danny Carmody and his second-in-command Child. Only Billy Jack is willing to stand up to them as they call him an Indian. He's sentenced and fined for vigilantism which is more than even the gang members. College student Vicky Barrington (Elizabeth James) in her white bikini riding a motorcycle attracts the attention of the gang. She gets raped along 3 other girls. The girls are pressured out of testifying except for Vicky. Billy Jack's friend Crawford has a daughter that is one of those girls. The gang kidnaps Vicky from Deputy Fred and then she's rescued by Billy Jack.The acting is generally bad in this movie. The gang is rough at times and then at other times, they're doing a version of West Side Story. Elizabeth James is a bad actress but she's great at wearing that white bikini. On the other hand, her character is well written. She's able to write a character that isn't simply a damsel in distress and also not a simple heroine either. She's a smart mouth and a coward in her own words. Also watch out for a Jane Russell cameo. Even though this is a badly made and badly acted movie, I still root for these characters. I think there is the bare bones of a good movie inside of here.

I'm watching THE BORN LOSERS, the first Billy Jack movie. What a time capsule! Somewhat naive in its overall philosophy but relatively harmless...and certainly entertaining.Jane Russell's extended cameo is a bit embarrassing. She has an over-the-top scene where she has to hit some cops and push them out the front door of her trailer. Of course, in the real world she would have been arrested on the spot for doing that. I do like all the on-location filming that occurred along some of these southern California coastal communities. Supposedly the place where the biker gang hangs out (in Seal Beach) once belonged to Rudolph Valentino.

This film is over the top. Especially the bikers, who all appear to be recently barbered. I swear one of the bikers looks like Wes Studi, the native American actor.Did anyone notice, that the actor who plays the sheriff's deputy, who escorts Billy Jack into his cell, is the same actor who played the Sheriff's deputy, who interviewed Rambo in "First Blood"? Notice the actress who is on the street, during the first rough-up scene, is Billys girlfriend from Billy Jack.This is an interesting film.The fictional town of "Big Rock" is meant to be "Big Sur", but Big Sur is not a town.Jane Russell's spoof of herself is a real gas. When she is talking to her daughter, the daughter is looking at an album "Music to Strip by" hoo!

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 10 weasel stars.