The second in Tom Laughlin’s increasingly idiosyncratic Billy Jack trilogy, this three hour sequel is a passionate if ungainly political diatribe that touches on everything from Native American rights to the My Lai massacre. Delores Taylor, Laughlin’s wife and writing partner, returns as the director of the “Freedom School”, a counterculture haven for restless young navel-gazers and ground zero for Billy’s spiritual awakening.
The post The Trial of Billy Jack appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post The Trial of Billy Jack appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 3/28/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Delores Taylor, who co-starred with husband Tom Laughlin in the 1971 indie hit Billy Jack and its sequels, has died. She was 85. Her daughter Teresa Laughlin told Deadline that Taylor died March 23 and had been battling dementia while living at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home in Calabasas, CA. Taylor played Jean Roberts in Billy Jack, in which Laughlin starred as the half-Navajo martial arts expert who served as a Green Beret in Vietnam and came home to help…...
- 3/27/2018
- Deadline
Delores Taylor, the actress, screenwriter and producer who collaborated with her husband, the late Tom Laughlin, for five films featuring the countercultural hero Billy Jack, has died. She was 85.
Taylor died Friday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills after a battle with dementia, her youngest daughter, Christina, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Taylor appeared in a small role and as the narrator in the first Billy Jack film, The Born Losers (1967), then played the schoolteacher Jean Roberts opposite her husband as the title character in Billy Jack (1971), The Trial of Billy...
Taylor died Friday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills after a battle with dementia, her youngest daughter, Christina, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Taylor appeared in a small role and as the narrator in the first Billy Jack film, The Born Losers (1967), then played the schoolteacher Jean Roberts opposite her husband as the title character in Billy Jack (1971), The Trial of Billy...
- 3/26/2018
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Delores Taylor, a Golden Globe-nominated actress who starred with her husband Tom Laughlin in five indie movies featuring counterculture hero Billy Jack, died Friday. She was 85.
News of Taylor’s death was posted by her daughter on a “Billy Jack” Facebook fan page.
A native of South Dakota, Taylor met Laughlin in college and married him in 1954. Together, the two developed the character of Billy Jack, a martial arts expert who was half-Navajo, half-white Green Beret Vietnam veteran and defended youthful members of the counterculture from authorities who just didn’t understand.
News of Taylor’s death was posted by her daughter on a “Billy Jack” Facebook fan page.
A native of South Dakota, Taylor met Laughlin in college and married him in 1954. Together, the two developed the character of Billy Jack, a martial arts expert who was half-Navajo, half-white Green Beret Vietnam veteran and defended youthful members of the counterculture from authorities who just didn’t understand.
- 3/26/2018
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Tom Laughlin: ‘Billy Jack’ movie franchise comes to an end; U.S. government, Hollywood studios blamed (See previous post: “‘Billy Jack’: Tom Laughlin Revolutionized Film Distribution Sytem.”) In 1975, Tom Laughlin’s self-produced Western The Master Gunfighter — a remake of Hideo Gosha’s samurai actioner Goyokin, co-starring Ron O’Neal and Barbara Carrera — bombed at the box office after opening at more than 1,000 locations. Laughlin reportedly had spent $3.5 million to market the $3.5 million production, having hired John Rubel, assistant secretary of defense under Robert McNamara, to plan the film’s distribution tactics. Financially depleted and embroiled in more lawsuits against Warner Bros., Laughlin embarked on the Billy Jack series’ fourth — and, as it turned out — final film, Billy Jack Goes to Washington. A 1977 Frank Capra Jr.-produced reboot of Frank Capra’s 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Laughlin’s final directing effort was barely seen even in its drastically edited form.
- 12/19/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Tom Laughlin: ‘Billy Jack’ actor-filmmaker who died last week helped to revolutionize film distribution patterns in North America (photo: Tom Laughlin in ‘Billy Jack’) Tom Laughlin, best known for the Billy Jack movies he wrote, directed, and starred in opposite his wife Delores Taylor (since 1954), died of complications from pneumonia last Thursday, December 12, 2013, at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, northwest of Los Angeles County. Tom Laughlin (born on August 10, 1931, in Minneapolis) was 82; in the last dozen years or so, he suffered from a number of ailments, including cancer and a series of strokes. Tom Laughlin movies: ‘The Delinquents’ and fighting with Robert Altman In the mid-’50s, after acting in college plays and in his own stock company while attending university in Wisconsin, Tom Laughlin began landing small roles on television, e.g., Climax!, Navy Log, The Millionaire. At that time, he was also cast...
- 12/19/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Younger movie buffs may have no idea how popular the Billy Jack movies were in the early ’70s but Billy Jack and The Trial Of Billy Jack were the cool films to see when I was in middle school. The first film in the series was Born Losers in 1967, an above average entry in the biker genre notable for its odd hero Billy Jack, a brave Native American ex-Army Green Beret played by Tom Laughlin who used his karate skills to fight a nefarious motorcycle gang. Laughlin wrote and directed three sequels which costarred his wife Delores Taylor. Billy Jack was released in 1971, and this time Billy used those same skills to fight racism and oppression. With its themes of child abuse, the trampling of Indian rights, prejudice, television exposes, campus shootings by the National Guard, the Mi Lai massacre, culture clashes, Jungian philosophy, police brutality, government corruption, karate, guns,...
- 12/16/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Tom Laughlin, the actor who wrote, directed, starred in and distributed the 1970s’ Billy Jack films, died on Thursday in California. He was 82.
Actor Tom Laughlin Dies
Billy Jack was the second of four movies featuring the title character, a half-Native American former Green Beret and Vietnam veteran, as he fought on the side of a progressive school that sought desegregation. The people in the Western town wanted to keep the Native American students out of the system, which Billy Jack wouldn’t stand for.
Studios wanted nothing to do with the sequel, believing that the vigilante nature of Billy Jack would be a turn off to audiences. However, after Laughlin secured theaters to show the film, it went on to become a box-office success. His legwork to make the film happen is credited with being an inspiration to modern independent filmmakers and changing Hollywood’s marketing strategies.
Laughlin is...
Actor Tom Laughlin Dies
Billy Jack was the second of four movies featuring the title character, a half-Native American former Green Beret and Vietnam veteran, as he fought on the side of a progressive school that sought desegregation. The people in the Western town wanted to keep the Native American students out of the system, which Billy Jack wouldn’t stand for.
Studios wanted nothing to do with the sequel, believing that the vigilante nature of Billy Jack would be a turn off to audiences. However, after Laughlin secured theaters to show the film, it went on to become a box-office success. His legwork to make the film happen is credited with being an inspiration to modern independent filmmakers and changing Hollywood’s marketing strategies.
Laughlin is...
- 12/16/2013
- Uinterview
Actor-writer-director Tom Laughlin, whose production and marketing of Billy Jack set a standard for breaking the rules on and off screen, has died. He was 82. Laughlin's daughter told the Associated Press that he died Thursday at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Teresa Laughlin, who acted in the Billy Jack movies, said his cause of death was complications from pneumonia. Billy Jack was released in 1971 after a long struggle by Laughlin to gain control of the low-budget, self-financed movie, a model for guerrilla filmmaking. He wrote, directed and produced Billy Jack and starred as the ex-Green...
- 12/16/2013
- by Associated Press
- PEOPLE.com
Tom Laughlin, the actor, writer, director and producer behind the Billy Jack films, has died. He was 82. His family announced on BillyJack.com that Laughlin died Thursday "at sunset" near his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
In the four Billy Jack movies, Laughlin played the main character -- a mystical, half-breed ex-Green Beret hero with martial-arts skills -- opposite his wife, Delores Taylor, who portrayed a schoolteacher. The couple teamed on screenplays, and he directed all four films. Themes explored included child abuse, religious persecution and exploitation of the Native American.
read more...
In the four Billy Jack movies, Laughlin played the main character -- a mystical, half-breed ex-Green Beret hero with martial-arts skills -- opposite his wife, Delores Taylor, who portrayed a schoolteacher. The couple teamed on screenplays, and he directed all four films. Themes explored included child abuse, religious persecution and exploitation of the Native American.
read more...
- 12/15/2013
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Filmmaker Tom Laughlin, who shot to fame as the rugged half-breed action hero “Billy Jack,” died Thursday in Thousand Oaks, Calif., surrounded by his family. He was 82 years old. While involved at 0ne point with just about every facet of the film business, Laughlin may be best known for his series of “Billy Jack” films. He has been married to Delores Taylor since 1954, and she co-produced and acted in all four of the “Billy Jack” movies. In addition to acting, he was a producer, director and screenwriter, and drew attention for a groundbreaking promotion and release campaign on 1974′s “The Trial of Billy.
- 12/15/2013
- by Todd Cunningham
- The Wrap
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