The Born Losers (1967)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Tom Laughlin

Writer:

Elizabeth James (writer)

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 | Motorcycle Gang | Rape | Beating

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		writer (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

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)

Special Effects

• Edit-Rite (sound effects)
• Westheimer Company (optical effects)

Other Companies

• Armie Associates  casting
• Switched-On  special costuming

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:

Banned in Sweden for its violence in 1968, 1972 and 1975.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the scene at the Shorns' house, the LP record Jodell is looking at while talking to her mother changes from David Rose's 'The Stripper' into 'Music to Strip By' and then back again. These were both actual stripper-themed LPs released in the 1960s (perhaps suggesting Mrs. Shorn's previous occupation?)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

''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').