Semiquincentennial Movie Project #28: Attack of the Giant Leeches

 

 

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

Week #28: Florida -

 

 

 

The state of Florida was established on Mar. 3, 1845

Details about Florida:

State bird: Northern mockingbird

State flower: orange blossom

State tree: palmetto

Additional historical trivia:

For drive-in fans: In Ft. Lauderdale there is a drive-in theater that has the most screens, with 14 of them. 

Carabelle is noted for having the world's smallest police station. It's a phone booth. 

The oldest continuously settled community in the U.S. is located in Augustine.

If you love golf, there are more golf courses in Florida than any other state. (Makes sense).

For fans of one of my favorite T.V. shows, In Search Of, Florida is home to Coral Castle. This structure was supposedly built by one man, and has some stones that weigh tons. 

Famous people born in Florida: Tom Petty, Jim Morrison (lead singer of the Doors), Ronnie, Johnny and Donnie Van Zant, (brothers who fronted Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special), Sidney Poitier, Wesley Snipes, Matthew Stafford, Deion Sanders, Janet Reno and Marco Rubio.  

 

 

 

 

 

 Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959): 

 

First thought: This movie should probably have been called Attack of the Giant Trash Bags. Of all the movies I have ever seen in my life, (and believe me I have seen a LOT!) these monsters are probably some of the most laughable (and that's even considering A*P*E*...).  There is some interesting background to this, however. Roger Corman, always on the lookout to cut the budget down to the bare bones, had the guys who played the monsters design their own costumes. Zip! Why pay a costume designer when you can just get the actors, who you already are paying, to do the job for you?

Attack of the Giant Leeches was made for about $70. (Just kidding! It was actually made for about $70,000, but it LOOKS like it was made cheaper...)  

It was directed by Corman stalwart Bernard L. Kowalski, who had more success as a TV director. He directed some episodes of Columbo, as well as episodes of Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, Baretta and Jake and the Fatman. This was his third big screen effort. He had previously directed Hot Car Girl and Night of the Blood Beast, both for Corman's AIP studios.  This one was originally released as a double feature with A Bucket of Blood. 

 

The movie starts out slam bang as a local poacher in the swamps fires upon a creature he sees. He pumps several bullets into it, but when he tells the locals, no one is able to find the body, so they assume the guy was drunk, and probably just shot an an oversized alligator. (All back country characters in these movies are alcoholics, did you ever notice that...?)

 

Apparently these mysterious creatures living in the swamp have resentment issues, because the guy turns up dead not long after.

The local game warden, Steve (Ken Clark) is of a mind that the culprit is a renegade alligator and goes out looking for it with his girlfriend, Nan (Jan Shepard), but comes up empty. Meanwhile the mysterious predator, (it is still assumed that there is only one), continues to ravage unlucky souls who find themselves in the swamp at the wrong time. Only the rest of the victims keep disappearing, as far as the local constabulary is concerned.

 

 

Steve thinks this "gator" is dragging it's victims underwater to some hideaway. The local sheriff (Gene Roth) wants to set off some dynamite charges to try to uncover the missing bodies, and hopefully kill the "gator" in the process. but Steve is adamant about preserving the pristine swamp and thinks that dynamite might damage the environment.

 

The next victims to fall prey to the creatures are the wife of Dave (Bruno VeSota), a local storekeeper, and her secret lover. See, Liz (Yvette Vickers) is the essence of a tramp. She has been cheating on Dave with his best friend, Cal (Michael Emmett). And you just know these two sinners are going to get what they deserve... Although maybe not the way that one would expect.

 

Dave figures out that Liz is cheating on him and goes looking for her and finds her in  flagrante delicto with Cal. He is going to shoot them both, apparently, and Cal, being the cad that he is, tries to pin the blame all on Liz. Dave chases Liz and Cal through the swamp, and when he finally corners them near the water's edge he gets his revenge in an unexpected way as one of the creatures shows up.

No one believes Dave when he tells of seeing the creature, however. They assume, with reasonable assurity,  that Dave killed them both and dumped the bodies in the swamp. This eventually leads to a couple of locals going out into the swamp hoping to find the bodies and get some reward money. And, no spoiler alert, they become victims themselves to the creatures. 

Eventually Steve works out that the creatures are leeches, somehow transformed into giant size due to all that nuclear activity that is being done nearby. (Of course it's "nuclear radiation"... what other guilty party could be blamed in a 50's monster movie...?)

At one point the sheriff decides, on his own, to go against the advice of Steve and set off dynamite charges. And most of the bodies end up floating to the surface. Steve and a friend go underwater looking for the leeches and a battle occurs and eventually (maybe) the creatures are defeated.

 

One has to wonder: Are there only two of the leeches that were affected by the radiation? That's all we see. The movie ends, as usual, on a happy note that the threat has been vanquished, but I couldn't help but think: the swamp appears to be devoid of any creatures other than the leeches. It is never stated outright, but I think you are supposed to decide the leeches eliminated the other swamp denizens like the alligators. Did these two do all that all by themselves?

As noted above, don't go into this movie expecting some horrific monsters. Often those creatures look exactly like what they are in real life, just a couple of guys in decorated trash bags. The acting is not exactly top notch, either. Yvette Vickers, despite the fact that she is playing a stereotypical backwaters tramp, is about the best part of it. (And, yes, I am giving her some points for a scene of her in a bathing suit...)

At only 60 minutes in length, it won't use up too much of your time to give it a go. Admittedly there seems to be a few scenes where they are padding the scene and extending sequences just to get the movie up to a full hour. The scene where Dave chases Liz and Cal in particular takes up about 5 or 6 more minutes than might be necessary, and you can't help but wonder why the two couldn't put more distance between them and their pursuer. Especially since Dave has to stop every now and then to fire off his rifle or reload it.

I disparaged Teenage Zombies way back at the beginning of my movie review blogging for it's obvious efforts to pad a 45 minute TV show into a full length feature film, so I would be disingenuous if I didn't do the same here. But Giant Leeches has a phenomenally better acting output. (If you've watched Teenage Zombies, you know that's not hard to accomplish, but be that as it may).

So the end result is that Attack of the Giant Leeches is worth a watch if you appreciate cheesy low budget schlock like I do. Just don't go into it expecting Godzilla, or for that matter, The Horror of Party Beach. I think it's better to watch it for the unintentionally funny stuff than it is for its strictly horror output.

 

Drive safely, folks. Especially if you have to cross a swamp on the way home.

Quiggy

 

Celebrate the Drive-In Week: Hot Rod Girl

Celebrate the Drive-In is a tribute to a beloved venue of the past. During it's heyday, a trip to the drive-in was one of my favorite things, both on the rare occasions as a child, and in my early adulthood. This blog is going to celebrate Drive-In Day (Jun 6) with a series of movies that I was too young to see (or in a couple of cases, not even born yet) that I wish I could've experienced in a drive-in. Keep coming back for the entire week as there will be one per day for the duration.

Don't! That's it. Just "Don't!" Presenting the next Coming Attraction! Hot Rod Girl!

 

"It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"

                                     -quote from a television '70's PSA 

 

The above quote could have been inspired by the kinds of events that happened in this film. The movie poster says it all: "Are these our children?" it asks. Given that this is an American International Pictures film, whose main fare was designed to lure teenagers into coming to see them, this sets up an interesting question: Just who was the intended audience of this film? Perhaps that question could best be answered by the fact that this film was originally released to drive-in theaters as a double feature, with the other film being titled Girls in Prison (and I leave it up to you to determine what the focus of THAT movie was...)

 

There are several other questions that will come to mind if you watch this film. For one thing: the movie is titled "Hot Rod Girl", but except for the opening sequence the main girl, the one I assume is the "hot rod girl" the title refers to, is not seen hot rodding in the film. The other scenes in which Lisa appears show her driving rather sedately,

Another thing: the poster also trumpets "Rock 'N Roll", yet the music is almost entirely modern jazz and bebop music, not the kind of rock, or rockabilly, "rock 'n roll" you would expect coming out of the speakers. And the guys and gals in the film snap their fingers to the beat coming from the jukebox as if they are hipsters in a jazz coffeehouse. The music was written by Alexander Courage. Yes, the same Alexander Courage that Star Trek fans will recognize as the writer of the theme to the original Star Trek TV series. 

The film is full of some pretty laughable dialogue, as the main teen characters engage in some banter that, while maybe true to the characters and even the teen audience watching the film, comes off as pretty funny. That said, it's not a bad movie plot wise, although it is somewhat formulaic. But given the intended audience, and the low budget tendencies of the production company, that is to be expected.

The titular Hot Rod Girl, Lori Nelson, only had a brief career in film and TV, playing mostly as secondary characters in TV and film, although for one season she was the star of a TV show called How to Marry A Millionaire, based on the Marilyn Monroe movie. I would guess that the main reason she abandoned Hollywood stardom was to be a wife and mother. Interesting credit: She starred with John Agar in Revenge of the Creature in 1955, a sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon, and then 50 years later, in 2005, she reprised her role in The Naked Monster, a parody "sequel" to Revenge. (And, OMG, after watching a trailer for THAT one, I just gotta watch the film...)

The presence of Chuck Connors, TV's The Rifleman, playing an almost carbon copy personality that he would eventually come to be known in that classic TV series is one of the better parts of the film. In addition we also get Dabbs Greer, more well known probably as the reverend on Little House on the Prairie, and Frank Gorshin, ("The Riddler" on the 60's Batman TV show). Gorshin, by the way, is making his first appearance in a credited role in this film.

John Smith (from TV's Cimarron City and Laramie) is the only other big name you might recognize, although many of the rest of the cast did have careers as secondary stars on TV and in film.  The bad guy in this film, Mark Andrews, did not have much of a career, only appearing in a total of 8 roles. His IMDb profile seems to indicate his main job in life was as a fireman, so maybe acting was just a brief sideline. (It says, as a fireman, he once saved a man from drowning).

 

 

 

Hot Rod Girl (1956): 

In the opening sequence, local darling female hot rod driver Lisa Vernon (Lori Nelson) is preparing to show off her driving skills in a drag race at the local drag strip. 

 

The genesis of the drag strip is the inspiration of Detective Ben Merrill (Chuck Connors), a well meaning police officer who is trying to remedy the rampant drag racing by the local teens on city streets, which threaten to endanger the lives of the residents. 

 

But Ben's dream of solving the issue of the illegal drag racing is up against another blockade. See, the citizens of the town don't want the city streets being used for illicit racing, but they are also so tight-assed that they don't want a drag strip outside the city either. You get the idea that the city fathers would be just as happy if they didn't give driver's licenses to anyone under the age of about 40. (There are no adults in the film other than Ben, his boss (Russell Thorson),  and Yo-Yo (Fred Essler), the local diner operator, so this reluctance is only played out through the conversations that Ben has with his boss).

 

Jeff (John Smith) and his brother Steve (Del Erickson) are driving around town after the race when a hot rodder goads Steve into racing, and the result is Steve is killed. For some reason the authorities blame Jeff, seemingly because he didn't exercise enough influence to convince his brother to NOT race. So they take away Jeff's driver's license. (Huh?).

 

Jeff becomes depressed ad throws himself into his work, as a mechanic, in the process neglecting his girlfriend, Lisa (Lori Nelson), the "hot rod girl" of this film.  Which makes her the perfect attraction for the newcomer in town, Bronc (Mark Andrews). 

 

It doesn't help that she is the odd girl out since her friends, Flat Top (Frank Gorshin) and Two Tanks (Eddie Ryder) and their girlfriends, L.P. (Roxanne Arlen) and Judy (Caroline Kearney) are more interested in each other than the hanger-on, Lisa.

 

Newcomer Bronc is an obnoxious clod and goads Flat Top into a game of chicken. Which, if you are not familiar, is a "game" where two people get into their cars and drive flat out towards each other. The loser is the one who chickens out first.  Flat Top is that guy. Which ends up making Bronc even more cocky than he already is.

 

Ben sees Bronc for the threat he actually is, and in an effort to get him to leave makes Bronc go to the drag strip with his car. But Jeff, who is in charge of clearing all drivers and their cars disqualifies Bronc's car as not being safe enough to participate. Which of course makes Bronc mad. Instead of leaving town he vows to get revenge.

 

On a mountain road outside of town he tries to get Jeff, who is just out for a drive with Lisa, to race. Ultimately another accident occurs, with a kid on a bicycle getting killed. Based on Bronc's testimony, Jeff becomes accused of being the culprit, but Ben is not so sure.

 

Ultimately Hot Rod Girl is a typical teen movie as the kind that AIP put out at the time, featuring sex (50's family safe sex, but sex nonetheless), cars and rock 'n roll (or bebop jazz posing as rock 'n roll, anyway...) It does seem to have a family friendly message to it, though, unlike may of AIP's output. The message being that one should drive safely on the city streets and county roads and save the drag racing for the local legal dragstrip. Cheaply made, it had an appeal to it's intended crowd. It got fair to middling reviews at the time, and one reviewer noted that it was less exploitational than it's title implied.

That, I would say is an accurate description. One would expect with a title like Hot Rod Girl that there was some extremely hot subjects being addressed within the film, but the women in this movie are all the kind of women that you wouldn't be nervous about introducing to your mother. There isn't even a hint of implied sexuality, although both Flat Top and Two Tanks do have a slight hint of misogynistic tendencies, putting down their girlfriends on occasion. One wonders what these girls see in these guys. The only really polite guy when it comes to his female counterpart is Jeff.

Is it top tier cinema? Hardly. See The Born Losers, reviewed earlier this week, for much better drama and very much better bad guys. Mark Andrews' Bronc is not much more threatening than Fonzie, even the Fonzie that appeared in his introductory appearance  on Happy Days. Although, Jeff Smith could easily give Richie Cunningham a run for his money on the goody goody side, if Richie were a bit more introspective.

Still, it is worth checking out.

See you tomorrow. Drive safely, folks. Really. Drive safely. Don't get suckered into drag racing with that guy in the Corvette next to you in the theater. Come back tomorrow for Drive-In!

Quiggy

 

  

  

Celebrate the Drive-In: Coffy

Celebrate the Drive-In is a tribute to a beloved venue of the past. During it's heyday, a trip to the drive-in was one of my favorite things, both on the rare occasions as a child, and in my early adulthood. This blog is going to celebrate Drive-In Day (Jun 6) with a series of movies that I was too young to see (or in a couple of cases, not even born yet) that I wish I could've experienced in a drive-in. Keep coming back for the entire week as there will be one per day for the duration.

 

Women! Can't live with them, can't shoot them! Presenting the next Coming Attraction! Coffy!

 

 

One of the tropes of the era of 70's film was the one termed as "blaxploitation". For a brief period from about 1969 to 1979 Hollywood attempted to appeal to a sector of the populace, the black audience, by producing films that were supposed to draw in a viewership of the country that did not find movie figures that it could relate to in the standard fare of the day.  

Blaxploitation is a portmanteau word, combining "black" and "exploitation". It was coined by Junius Griffin, the leader of the Beverly Hills NAACP. It was not meant to be a complimentary word. Griffin was pointing out that, by making movies that depicted blacks as power figures in the community, but as mainly working in the criminal world, was no better than the previous tradition of depicting them as subservient.

The Hollywood machine was influenced by the rising Black Power movement in this respect. The idea did have some merit, whether or not their hearts were in the right place. The basic idea was to present black people as being in control of their own destinies, without having to answer to "The Man" (the white people). While it did provide an outlet for the populace to see black people in more prominent roles, it wasn't necessarily well received by said populace.

Among the people who spoke out against this new trend was Jesse Jackson, who criticized the trend because it tended to promote a different type of stereotype, making the black person a caricature in a different form. Instead of the "yassuh, boss" caricature, the films promoted the idea that black people were violent hypersexual criminals. Often in these films the main character was working in unsavory roles; pimps, pushers, etc.

On some rare occasions the main character would be a character working on the right side of the law, but even those characters would often be less scrupulous about their actions than their white counterparts. Shaft featured Richard Roundtree as a private detective who had no qualms about taking the law into his own hands. Truck Turner starred Isaac Hayes as a bounty hunter and Black Belt Jones had Jim Kelly going head to head with the Mafia, both of which had their hearts in the right place, even if the execution of their ideals would have caused Superman to recoil in shock.

Rarer still were the use of females in starring roles. Pam Grier made a career out starring in these kinds of films, and her characters were often characterized as "embodying strength, style and resilience". She was one of the first, if not the first female action star. She got her start in the "women in prison" genre with such films as The Big Doll House (her first starring role), Women in Cages and The Big Bird Cage. But she started getting recognition for her potential in action movies with Coffy and Friday Foster.

In terms of blaxploitation films, I think many of her films helped to make the genre more accessible to people like me. She was not on the side of the criminal. Most often she was more of a vigilante, seeking justice in a world where "justice" was a mythical concept. That's why I chose Coffy as a choice for Celebrate the Drive-In Week. Her character in the film has some ideals that appealed to me, even if often she strayed into areas that the law-abiding public might frown on.

Grier went on to many other significant roles. You may remember she made appearances at The Midnite Drive-In several times. She was Wendell Jones' wife in Greased Lightning. She was a former cohort of Snake Plissken in Escape from L.A. She was also in Mars Attacks! and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.  She was a favorite of Quentin Tarantino, who cast her as the lead in Jackie Brown in 1997. And as recent as 2023 she was still active, appearing in Pet Semetary: Bloodlines.

By the way, a side note, in case you didn't know: Pam Grier is the sister of Rosey Grier, the former NFL football star turned actor, who made his debut at The Midnite Drive-In last year in The Thing with Two Heads. 

 

    

Coffy (1973):

The protagonist (I hesitate to use the word"hero") of this film is a woman who goes by the name of "Coffy". Her last name is Coffin, so the appellation appears to be derived from that. (Elsewhere I read her name is Flower Child Coffin, but I don't recall it being mentioned in the film...) Coffy is a woman with a mission.

 

 

The first time we meet Coffy is after a man called Grover (Mwako Cumbuka), enters a bar and tells his boss, Sugarman (Morris Buchanan), that he has a surprise waiting for him in his car. When Sugarman gets to the car he finds a woman desperate for a drug fix, willing to "do anything" to get said fix. It turns out, however, that she is just faking it to lure the two to a private session of her own brand of "justice". She executes both of them.

 

Sugarman and Grover

Coffy, in her private life, is a nurse. Her sister, LuBelle, has become a heroin addict, due to LuBelle's dealer, Sugarman. Coffy is determined to rid the world of those she deems responsible.  But Sugarman is only the beginning. As usual in movies like this there are higher ups that are running the show.

Coffy has a friend on the police force, Carter (William Elliot), and at one point she seems on the verge of revealing everything she has been doing in her vigilante role to him. But she backs away at the point, only hinting at the idea that the evil doers dealing drugs in the black community deserve death. 

 

Coffy and Carter having coffee

 

She also has a boyfriend, Howard (Booker Bradshaw), who is an up and comer in the world of politics. He is a city councilman on the verge of being elected to Congress. 

 

Coffy's boyfriend, Howard

 

She continues on her goal, eventually working her way into the "stable" of prostitutes run by a character called King George (Robert DoQui). This is primarily to get in contact with her ultimate drug kingpin goal, Vitroni (Allan Arbus). But in so doing she is also looking to gum up George's drug dealing. She substitutes sugar for his heroin stash.

Coffy and King George

 

Eventually she does get called to Vitroni's house, because Vitroni likes a certain type of girl which Coffy pretends to be to get inside. 

Coffy and Vitroni

 

But her ruse is discovered and she ends up being held captive. And just before Vitroni sends his henchman, Omar (Sid Haig) out on a quest to kill her, she finds out that her "loyal to the people" boyfriend Howard is not all that honest as a politician. 

 

Vitroni and Omar

Of course, Coffy manages to escape her captors and exacts more of her vigilante justice. Including that traitor of a boyfriend...

Despite the drug connection that seemed to be a part and parcel of the typical blaxploitation film, this one has several things that set it apart. For one, it has a resounding anti-drug message. And, of course, there is the fact that the main character is a woman as opposed to the generic male dominated movie. Up until this point women usually played secondary roles that were typical in lots of movies of this type.  Grier, I think, opened the door for many movies yet to come, where a female character could carry the load that was typically left to only male protagonists.

You should be forewarned, however, that the film is not without some titillating (no pun intended) scenes. In other words, several scenes with topless women. This film, being firmly entrenched in the drive-in milieu of the 70's, almost HAD to have that. But the good thing is (almost) none of it comes off as exploitative. They all happen in character with the situation at hand. Both Grier (on screen) and director Jack Hill (off screen) play these scenes well. Occasionally they may come off as a little unnecessary (I refer basically to the all out "catfight" scene in the brothel here; not the brawl itself, just that the ripping of the dresses may not have been all necessary). 

The only real objection I have to the film is the way that Vitrioni and Omar take out King George, believing that George was responsible for sending Coffy to kill him. I won't reveal here what happens, but it absolutely shocking in its execution.

 

Outside of Grier the rest of the cast is pretty unremarkable. But: Does Robert DoQui look familiar? He had pretty extensive career playing cops, but many of you who watch the same kinds of movies I do may immediately recognize him; he was the Detroit police sergeant in charge in the RoboCop films. Allan Arbus may also trigger a "hey, I know that guy!" thought. He was the psychiatrist in several episodes of the TV series M*A*S*H*. And Sid Haig menaced a lot of people in secondary roles throughout his career. None of them really stand out here, however, but that doesn't mean they were just flashes in the pan.

Don't go into this film expecting too much. As a vigilante movie. it pretty much toes the line established in movies that came before it and followed it, plot wise. You should go into it, however, expecting to see the potential from it's lead actress, who surely impacted many actresses who came after her. Is Coffy her best movie? Hardly. But she does put up a good performance.

Until next time, drive safely, folks. Remember, drugs are bad for you. And so are women with a grudge. Come back tomorrow for  Hot Rod Girl! 

Quiggy

  

Celebrate the Drive-In Week: The Born Losers

Celebrate the Drive-In is a tribute to a beloved venue of the past. During it's heyday, a trip to the drive-in was one of my favorite things, both on the rare occasions as a child, and in my early adulthood. This blog is going to celebrate Drive-In Day (Jun 6) with a series of movies that I was too young to see (or in a couple of cases, not even born yet) that I wish I could've experienced in a drive-in. Keep coming back for the entire week as there will be one per day for the duration.

 

It's a bad day when you wake up and a band of outlaw bikers are creating havoc in your home town. Presenting the next Coming Attraction! The Born Losers!

 

 

The legend of Billy Jack may not be readily apparent if you were born after about 1980. The Tom Laughlin created character of Billy Jack first appeared in The Born Losers, but his cache of appeal wasn't readily apparent until the sequel, Billy Jack. It was then that the character became something of a counterculture hero.  But even in the first outing for Billy Jack, the reluctant fighter for the rights of the downtrodden comes out.

According to history, Tom Laughlin and his wife, Delores Foster, came up with the story of Billy Jack back in the 1950's. The story that the pair wanted to tell was of an outcast veteran who used his skills to help young people from a corrupt system. (Essentially the plot of Billy Jack, except, I guess, the "veteran" was a WWII veteran at the time.) 

But Laughlin and Foster couldn't find any reputable studio willing to take a gamble. The 50's establishment in Hollywood, still operating under the repressive censorship established by Joseph Breen and the Hays code were unwilling to touch that particular keg of dynamite. But by the time the late 60's rolled around, with America dealing with much larger issues like campus unrest and a war that almost nobody wanted to continue, the doors became open a little wider.

The pair decided to take a new slant on the theme to begin with, however. As one reviewer I read says they decided to try to "ease in" and make the first film more commercially palatable. (Not sure if the end result was all that much "easier" to swallow than the first idea, but then, you can't argue that they didn't make it more "commercial"...) For one thing, our hero is now a disillusioned veteran of that less than popular war in Vietnam.

Laughlin had a new co-writer for this script, his eventual co-star in the film, Elizabeth James. The script they hashed out is based loosely on a real event. A band of Hell's Angels motorcycle club had gotten into trouble in the early 60's. Two members of the gang had been arrested in Monterrey, California for the rape of two teenage girls. In that incident, much like the story behind the film, the charges were dropped due to a lack of concrete evidence. (Whether or not that was because the motorcycle gang intimidated people in the real life incident is not mentioned in the article I read, as it was in part of the film).

The film company that produced The Born Losers was American International Pictures, which had a history of producing counterculture biker movies, but they had problems with this one, some of which had to do with financial oversights in the production, but also because the company had a difficult relationship with Laughlin, who insisted on creative control and conflicted with the studio's bottom line of "get it made and get it made cheap". So the three sequels were instead made under a different company.

  

 

The Born Losers (1967):

A biker gang, The Born Losers, headed by Danny (Jeremy Slate), have been terrorizing the small town of Big Rock. When a local accidentally bumps into one of the bikes with his car, the bikers beat the crap out of him. 

 

None of the locals have the guts to step in, but Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin), a loner ex-Green Beret who happens to be in town steps in. The bikers end up being arrested, but they also arrest Billy Jack, whose only crime apparently was doing the job the police SHOULD have done.

 

The bikers get off with basically a slap on the wrist, but the judge slaps Billy Jack with a heavy fine. As a result he has to sell his jeep to come up with the money, otherwise spend some time in jail. Billy Jack has had some dealings before with Danny. (Not sure, since it's never actually stated, but I think either they were in high school together or possibly they both served time in the Vietnam War).

 

The bikers figure they have the  upper hand in town, and as a result they eventually rape a couple of the town girls. Devastated by the actions as they are, the girls refuse the pleas to testify against the biker gang. The D.A. (Paul Bruce) and the Sheriff (Stewart Lancaster) are frustrated by this, of course, but the bikers' intimidation tactics are very thorough. They convince the girls and their families that it would be better for their safety to just lay low, or maybe even leave town. 

The coming of a new girl in town, Vicki (Elizabeth James), is a new twist on the bikers however. She, too, is a victim of the illicit sexual tactics of the band of outlaws. When the D.A. tries to approach her she seems willing to help, but only if the authorities can guarantee her safety. Unfortunately the authorities cannot convince her she would be completely safe. But maybe Billy Jack can.

 

 

Initially Billy Jack is only trying to confront the gang because they raided his mobile home and stole his stash of money he had hidden there (Billy Jack doesn't trust banks... and there is a trope that always bugs me.  Why do these loners always mistrust banks?) Billy Jack confronts the gang and demands they return his money, and that apparently is his only motivation. But in the process he develops a little bit of care for the downtrodden Vicki, a foreshadowing of the character he becomes in the sequels. The character gradually becomes a hero of sorts defending the underdog. The fact that a peace loving individual resorts to violence in order to promote peace was a source of consternation among some critics, but the character of Billy Jack gradually comes to be the kind of antihero that not only found a following in the 60's and 70's but even finds a following in today's society.

A couple of familiar faces show up during this movie. Jack Starrett, who plays the deputy, will be familiar as the sadistic deputy who gets on Rambo's wrong side in the first First Blood film.

Starrett as the Deputy

Starrett in First Blood 

 

And Robert Tessier, who may be familiar from The Longest Yard and Breakhart Pass made his film debut here, as Cueball (albeit before he shaved his head...) 

 

Tessier as Cueball

Tessier in The Longest Yard

Tessier in Breakhart Pass

 
Also appearing in a brief role is pin-up icon Jane Russell as the mother of one of the victims.

 

The film was a modest success, financially.  It went over budget as far as AIP was concerned, but even so, with a cost of $2 million to produce it managed to pull in over $35 million at the box office. It was not particularly well received by the critics. Many of them, like Leonard Maltin,  citing the aforementioned criticism of using violence to promote an anti-violence message. Bosley Crowther, in his review, also said it was "difficult to have empathy for the victimized youngsters after seeing them half-naked in beachwear, coyly edging up to the cyclists".

The Born Losers is a tough movie to watch if you are remotely sensitive to any objectifying of women, even if the message of the film is that that objectifying on the part of the cyclists is not acceptable (as opposed to some of the typical drive-in movies of the day which tried to make titillation a rite of passage of young men of the day). One of the most difficult parts of the film is when one of the girls who were victims says that she and the other girls wanted to be a part of the gangs' activities, and thus were not "raped".

While I like The Born Losers as an introduction to a character that I really liked in the sequel, Billy Jack, I would submit that this may not be a movie for all people. If you found Easy Rider a difficult movie to like, you probably will be turning off The Born Losers before Billy Jack ever begins to show he's got a pair. But if you can get over the stark images that the movie presents, it is worth a look. Fortunately the movie shies away from actually showing the sexual aspect (except for a few scenes with the girls wearing bikinis, there is not that is much overtly titillating in the film).

That wraps up today's movie. Drive safely, folks. Don't hit any motorcyclists while backing out. Come back tomorrow for Day of the Triffids!

Quiggy