The Born Losers

The Born Losers is a 1967 American outlaw biker film. The film introduced Tom Laughlin as the half-Native American Green Beret Vietnam veteran Billy Jack. Since 1954, Laughlin had been trying to produce his Billy Jack script about discrimination toward Native Americans. In the 1960s, he decided to introduce the character of Billy Jack in a quickly written script designed to capitalize on the then-popular trend in motorcycle gang movies. The story was based on a real incident from 1964 where members of the Hells Angels were arrested for raping two teenage girls in Monterey, California. The movie was followed by Billy Jack (1971), which saw American International Pictures (AIP) pull out of production midway through before others stepped in.