Billy Jack
Ex-Green Beret hapkido expert saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food and helps protect a desert “freedom school” for runaway.
- Director: Tom Laughlin
- Genre:Action / Drama
- Runtime:115 minutes
Cast
Tom Laughlin : Billy Jack
Delores Taylor : Jean Roberts
Clark Howat : Sheriff Cole
Victor Izay : Doctor
Julie Webb : Barbara
Official Site:-
Billy Jack is a “half-breed” American Cherokee Indian Green Beret Vietnam War veteran, hapkido master, and gunslinger. The character made his début in The Born Losers (1967), a so-called “biker film” about a motorcycle gang terrorizing a California town; Billy Jack rises to the occasion to defeat the gang by defending from their wrath a college student who has evidence against them for gang rapes.
This changes with the second film, Billy Jack, in which the hero must defend the hippie-themed Freedom School (a thinly veiled reference to Prescott College) and its students from townspeople who do not understand or like the counterculture students. The school is organized by Jean Roberts, played by Laughlin’s wife, Delores Taylor, who also appears in each subsequent film. Their 11-year-old daughter, Teresa, plays one of the students and sings two self-written songs. Susan Foster and several other supporting players from The Born Losers also appear in different roles. Many cast members, particularly the students, were non-actors who improvised most of their dialogue. The San Francisco-based improvisational comedy troupe The Committee, including Howard Hesseman, also posed as students and performed some of their satirical skits.
Although marketed as an action film, the story focuses on the plight of Native Americans during the civil rights movement. It attained a cult following among younger audiences due to its youth-oriented, anti-authority message combined with the then-novel martial arts fight scenes which predate the Bruce Lee/kung fu movie trend that soon followed. The centerpiece of the film features Billy Jack, enraged over the mistreatment of his Indian friends, fighting a gang of racist thugs using his hapkido karate-kicking technique. Read more
