Tom Laughlin Movies
In the late '60s, former bit player and juvenile actor Tom Laughlin created a new kind of antihero and launched three low-budget films featuring Billy Jack, an enigmatic Anglo-Native American, ex-Green Beret/biker loner who used considerable martial arts skills to pound his pacifistic principles into the skulls of his adversaries. Laughlin made his screen debut in 1956, playing small parts first in These Wilder Years and then in Tea and Sympathy. The first leg of Laughlin's career lasted through the early '60s, when he left Hollywood to run a Montessori preschool. He returned to movies in 1965, this time as a director, cinematographer, editor, writer, and an actor. Working on a low-budget independently of major studios and utilizing several pseudonyms on the credits -- including T.C. Frank, Donald Henderson, Lloyd E. James, and Frank Laughlin -- he made The Young Sinner (1965).His alter ego, Billy Jack, made his debut in the exploitation biker pic Born Losers. In 1971, Laughlin released Billy Jack which starred himself and his wife, Delores Taylor. Initially released through American International Pictures (the company that distributed Born Losers), the film was picked up by Fox and then by Warner Bros. Laughlin regained control of the film by 1972 and marketed it and the sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack, by renting over a 1,000 theaters (known as "four-walling") and releasing the films simultaneously while saturating the market with an agressive multimedia advertising campaign. The technique brought results: The sequel grossed between 22 and 30 million dollars in a month and the recently re-re-released original grossed even more. The success of these gritty, critically panned, low-budget films was in large part due to the social unrest of the early '70s, when young audiences were looking for idealistic antiheroes to fight the immovable Establishment. The film's success led Laughlin and wife Taylor to create the ambitious Billy Jack Enterprises which Laughlin and associates envisioned as an empire comprised of record, book, and film subsidiaries that they would use to "change the world," making it a better place for "the little guy." At one time, Laughlin announced his intention to purchase the CBS West Coast Production Center. Unfortunately for Laughlin, times were indeed changing and his third series entry, Billy Jack Goes to Washington, was so over-earnest and unsubtle that it was barely released. His first non-Billy Jack movie, The Master Gunfighter (1975), was a virtual atom bomb at the box office. By 1976, Billy Jack Enterprises was on the brink of ruin. Still, Laughlin managed to hang on and his company survived, though it was not as big as it once was. He continues to work as an occasional actor and to promote himself as an expert in Jungian psychology, a major innovator in the rise in American independent films, and an instigator of social reform. He announced an interest in running for president in 1992. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Melissa Gilbert stars in the title role of this made-for-television adaption of the novel by Danielle Steel. Gilbert stars as Zoya, an Russian orphan who flees her homeland and falls in love with an American Army soldier stationed in Paris. The two settle in New York, start a family and all seems well, but the dramatic twists and turns for Zoya have only just begun. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Boxleitner, (more)
A man from the future fights to survive in a society thrown back to the dark ages in this sci-fi adventure set in 2022. Capt. Robbins (Ray Liotta) is a military man who, after he's convicted of the murder of his superior officer, is sentenced to a high-tech prison ruled by the Warden (Michael Lerner), a cruel taskmaster who enjoys torturing his inmates. After a scuffle with the Warden, Robbins is transferred to a primitive island penal colony known as Absalom, where the civilization is dominated by two groups, the Insiders, a peaceful tribe led by the Father (Lance Henriksen), and the Outsiders, a pack of violent misfits led by Marek (Stuart Wilson). Robbins runs afoul of the Outsiders and is injured in a skirmish; he escapes to the Insiders' camp, where he plots his revenge. No Escape was based on the novel The Penal Colony by Richard Herley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, (more)
- 1992
- R
In this last gasp of the "Carry On" series, minus most of the "Carry On" players, Jim Dale plays Spanish map-maker Christopher Columbus, who has a plan to navigate a new route to India, bypassing the Sultan of Turkey (Rik Mayall) and his sky-high tributes. He convinces King Ferdinand of Spain (Leslie Phillips) and Queen Isabella (June Whitfield) to finance his trip, and he sets off for points east with a cabin boy in tow. But what Columbus doesn't realize is that his cabin boy is, in fact, a cabin girl. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Dale, Bernard Cribbins, (more)
Dr. Jack Hammond (Dudley Moore) is a noted heart surgeon whose personality is switched with his teenage son Chris (Kirk Cameron) in this uninspired comedy. The ingestion of a brain transference serum is the catalyst for the comic catastrophe and the confusion that follows. Sean Astin and Patrick O'Neal co-star with Margaret Colin and Catherine Hicks. A decent idea for a comedy that has since been done better in Brian Gilbert's 1988 comedy Vice Versa starring Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Kirk Cameron, (more)
An orphan grows up to become an Old West legend as the story of the Lone Ranger comes to the big screen in this western saga featuring Christopher Lloyd and Jason Robards. Orphaned as a young boy, John Reid struck up a lifelong friendship with a loyal Indian boy named Tonto. Years later, Reid has become a lawyer and returned to the west in order to ensure that vicious murderers such as the Cavendish gang are brought to justice. Having previously murdered Reid's parents, the Cavendish gang proves that they still rule this lawless land when they launch an ambush that leaves the lawyer serious wounded and his Texas Ranger brother dead. Nursed back to health by his old friend Tonto, Reid dons a mask and sets out to pursue justice anonymously atop his faithful horse Silver. His timing couldn't be better, either, because the Cavendish gang is about to carry out their most ambitious misdeed to date by kidnapping President Ulysses S. Grant (Robards). Upon learning that the president has been abducted by the most violent gang in the Wild West, the Lone Ranger sets out to settle an old score while rescuing the man who will steer the fate of a nation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse, (more)
Robert Mitchum reprises his role as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe from Farewell, My Lovely, in this misconceived remake of Howard Hawks's classic 1946 film -- transferring the setting from 1940s California to 1970s London. Marlowe is hired by a rich and dying General Sternwood (James Stewart) to find out who is blackmailing him. Marlowe then meets Sterwood's daughters -- the crazy and degenerate Camilla (Candy Clark) and the more even-tempered Charlotte (Sarah Miles). Opening up a can of worms, Marlowe unveils a collection of unsavory characters -- Eddie Mars (Oliver Reed), an inveterate gambler having an affair with Charlotte; Joe Brody (Edward Fox), Camilla's ex-lover; and Agnes (Joan Collins), a sexy bookstore clerk. The plot becomes even more chaotic when it is found that Camilla has been posing in the nude for pornographer Arthur Geiger (John Justin). When Geiger turns up dead, Camilla becomes implicated in Geiger's murder. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, (more)
- 1977
The fourth film starring Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, Billy Jack Goes To Washington was a loose remake of Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. The story begins with Billy receiving a pardon for the trumped-up charges that put him behind bars in The Trial Of Billy Jack. To curry favor with youth and minority voters, Billy is appointed to a vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. However, while Billy is told to not makes waves, he discovers Washington D.C. is a hotbed of rampant corruption, and he makes it his mission to bring honesty and justice back to our government. As with his other Billy Jack vehicles, Tom Laughlin wrote and directed the film as well as playing the title role; his wife Delores Taylor also appears again as Jean Roberts, and E.G. Marshall and Lucie Arnaz round out the supporting cast. Billy Jack Goes To Washington never received a theatrical release outside of a few scattered preview screenings, though Laughlin himself recently released the film on home video. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
- 1976
- G
The Littlest Horse Thieves is a Walt Disney Production. Set in early 20th-century England, the film concerns three Yorkshire children who take pity on the ponies that are used as beasts of burden in the coal mines. The kids "liberate" the ponies with the help of a sympathetic groom. This action arouses so much public sympathy that the miners threaten to strike if the ponies are returned to their living deaths in the pits. A plot-solving last minute rescue segues into a joyous celebration, stage-managed by twinkly old Lord Harrogate (played by the indispensable Alastair Sim). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Peter Barkworth, (more)
Often described as "Ship of Fools with a conscience," Voyage of the Damned is based on a true story. In 1939, the Nazis ostentatiously loaded a luxury liner with hundred of Jewish refugees from all walks of life. The ship then tried to drop anchor in Havana, Cuba-only to have its passengers refused entry by the Cuban government, in keeping with its super-stringent immigration policies. This was exactly what the Nazis expected to happen, and indeed wanted to happen. By having the refugees turned away from Havana, the German government could "prove" that the Jews were indeed the most unwanted race on earth, thereby justifying Hitler's extermination policy. The crosssection of humanity on board the ship includes the requisite big-time stars: Faye Dunaway as a monocle-sporting countess and Oscar Werner as Dunaway's society-doctor husband; professor Luther Adler and his wife Wendy Hiller; poverty-stricken Nehemiah Persoff and Maria Schell, who hope to be reunited with their "fallen" daughter Katherine Ross; disbarred attorney Sam Wanamaker and his family (wife Lee Grant, daughter Lynne Frederick); anti-Nazi captain Max Von Sydow; and so on. Representing the Cuban government are president Fernando Rey and bureaucrat Jose Ferrer; other Havana denizens include businessman Orson Welles and minister James Mason. Despite its morbid overtones, Voyage of the Damned ends on a faintly positive note. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow, (more)
- 1975
- R
A sensitive old British spy/assassin is accused of getting emotionally involved with his victims and gets a demotion in this drama that is titled The Neutralizer on video. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Woodward
This offbeat John Wayne vehicle casts the Duke as Detective Jim Brannigan, an Irish-American detective at large in London. After the requisite culture-clash routines, it's down to business as Brannigan teams with Scotland Yard official Commander Swann (Richard Attenborough) to corral a crook who has absconded to England to avoid extradition. Judy Geeson co-stars as Jennifer Thatcher, a cute lady constable who spends most over her time fending off Brannigan's inbred chauvinism. Brannigan was co-written by Christopher Trumbo, the son of former blacklistee Dalton Trumbo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Richard Attenborough, (more)
After the success of his three Billy Jack films, actor, director, and screenwriter Tom Laughlin decided to expand his range a bit with this Western, which was adapted from Goyokin, a popular Japanese samurai film. However, since Finley (Laughlin's character here) is trained in martial arts and often defends himself (and others) by violence, while frequently espousing a nonviolent philosophy, it could be said that this wasn't much of a stretch for the once and future Billy Jack. Don Santiago (Richard Angarola) is a vicious man who helps provoke an Indian massacre that will allow him to steal the Indians' land and claim it as his own. However, his son-in-law, Finley (Tom Laughlin), is an expert hand with both guns and swords and will not allow him to push around the peace-loving Indians or fellow settlers of the West. The supporting cast features Ron O'Neal and Barbara Carrera, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her work in this film. As with his first two films, Tom Laughlin directed The Master Gunfighter but didn't take screen credit, in this case listing the director as Frank Laughlin, who happened to be Tom's son. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Ron O'Neal, (more)
- 1974
- PG
After Billy Jack belatedly became a box-office smash two years after its original release and The Born Losers, the biker film in which Tom Laughlin created the Billy Jack character, had enjoyed a highly successful re-release, Tom Laughlin brought everyone's favorite martial arts hero turned Native American mystic back to the screen for a third go-round in The Trial of Billy Jack. As Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) awaits trial for murder, Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor) continues to operate her "Freedom School" on an Indian reservation, where the student-operated television station comes under fire for airing a series of hard-hitting political exposes (just how an alternative school run by threadbare hippies obtained cameras, broadcasting equipment and an FCC license is not explained here). The attempts to silence the student journalists and run Billy Jack out of town lead to a deadly confrontation between the kids and the National Guard. Tom Laughlin wrote and directed The Trial of Billy Jack, though on-screen credit is given to his son, Frank Laughlin; similarly, Laughlin also directed the first two films under the name T.C. Frank. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
Actor/auteur Tom Laughlin created the character of Billy Jack in the motorcycle flick The Born Losers. Wandering Christlike through the Southwest, Native American Vietnam veteran Billy Jack -- soft-spoken, but well-versed in martial arts -- champions the cause of a progressive school run by Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor, Laughlin's real-life wife). The bigoted white townsfolk don't cotton to Jean's minority-group students, so they do everything they can to humiliate and physically abuse the kids. When one of her charges is cruelly coated with white flour, Billy Jack goes berserk. Thus begins an orgy of self-righteous violence, culminating with our hero being hunted down on a murder charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this melodrama, Jim Carlton (George E. Carey) is settling in for a relaxing weekend at home when his wife, Mona (Luanne Roberts) takes their baby off for a weekend trip. However, when the baby-sitter (Susan Roman) mistakenly shows up, she whisks Jim off to a wild weekend in Hollywood, where he discovers some sobering facts about his wife. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Babysitter is an ultra-cheap exploitation feature aimed at the drive-in circuit. Patricia Wymer, who is cast in this film for two important reasons, plays a seductive baby-sitter who takes a job at the home of a powerful district attorney. She goes to work on the D.A., then holds him up for blackmail money. This is the sort of film where the principal source of entertainment lies in the number of times the actors flub their lines, and the frequency with which one can spot the microphone boom. Of negligible entertainment value, The Babysitter made a great deal of money, thanks to an aggressive TV ad campaign. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Wymer, George E. Carey, (more)
- 1967
One of the first recognizable "vigilante" films in American cinema, The Born Losers tells the story of Billy Jack (writer-director Tom Laughlin), a half-breed ex-Green Beret and Vietnam veteran who makes it his business to rescue a cute mod girl from a crew of vicious bikers. Much to his chagrin, however, he finds his lethal training gets him in as much trouble with the racist cops as with the bikers, and he soon becomes embroiled in a violent struggle against all parties involved. There is blood-letting and bone-breaking to burn in The Born Losers, not to mention lots of preaching on the part of Laughlin. However, it still tops the more famous sequel, Billy Jack, and it qualifies writer-director-star Laughlin for the status of true auteur. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Elizabeth James, (more)
- 1965
In this realistic, nonexploitative drama, a high school athlete confesses his life story to a priest. The story is told in flashback. First he is seen as a top football player hoping for a scholarship so he can go to school and get away from his alcoholic father and his hard-working mother. The trouble begins when he is caught swimming in the school pool after hours and put on probation. Though he is love with one girl, he dates another, more wealthy girl. The affair goes well until they are caught in bed by her parents. Later he is falsely accused of participating in a robbery and gets expelled. The lonely youth then takes a 14-year-old slut to a secret hiding place in the church for a quick liaison. But he cannot go through with it because he is disgusted with himself. Instead he goes to confession. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1965
Not to be confused with the 1987 movie of the same name, this is one of the early films that Tom Laughlin directed before he became famous from his series on Billy Jack, an anti-hero of his time. Laughlin also stars in this uneven teen drama as its only developed character, Christopher Wotan, a high-school athlete who starts out as essentially a normal young man faced with the tyranny of a brutal coach, and the vagaries of romantic and sexual challenges. Because Christopher's father has been trampled by failure and alcohol abuse, questions arise about the son's fate as he takes on life's obstacles. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, William Wellman, Jr., (more)
Tom Gregory (Robert Hutton), a Los Angeles-based sports reporter, is flying into L.A. and lands his private plane after a rough descent through some kind of opaque midair disturbance, only to find the airport deserted. He meets Professor Galvin (Robert Burton) and his two daughters, Bonnie (Judee Morton) and Lisa (Susan Hart), who tell him that the city has been overrun by huge, hulking slime-covered subterraneans called Slime People, who appeared out of the sewers and other underground water concentrations. Appearing out of a strange thick fog apparently generated by a device of their own, they've killed hundreds, possibly thousands, panicked the population, fought the army to a standstill, and have now cut off the city with a wall of solidified fog. Gregory doesn't believe them completely, despite the presence of slaughtered corpses on the highways and back roads, until he gets to the television station where he works and screens the news footage. The quartet also makes contact with a young marine, Calvin Johnson (William Boyce), who was cut off from his unit and left for dead by the creatures. They manage to elude the Slime People and try to work out a plan for survival, making contact along the way with Norman Talliver (Les Tremayne), an eccentric writer, who is soon dispatched by the creatures. They discover the Slime People are impervious to harm by bullets or other convention weapons, their skin sealing up any wound instantly, but they can be killed by their own hollow-pointed spears, which don't allow wounds to close. That helps in fighting them off one-on-one, and the professor's reasoning that salt would be effective against slug-like creatures gives them a second weapon against the Slime People. But clearing them all out and freeing the city requires an assault against the creatures' own stronghold, which becomes even more essential when Bonnie is taken prisoner. Gregory and Cal manage to keep the Slime People busy long enough for the professor to destroy their fog-generating device. Overwhelmed by fresh air and sunlight, the Slime People start to collapse dead in their tracks, and the army is soon back in charge, doing what amounts to a literal mopping up operation. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1960
In this romantic comedy, a young basketball star proposes to a tall and intelligent coed while attending Custer College. She accepts, and he begins to worry about how they will get the money they need to survive. He then finds himself tempted to take a gambler's bribe and throw the game during an upcoming match with a Russian team. The weight of his decision affects his studies, causing him to fail a major test. As a result, he nearly misses the big game. Jane Fonda made her debut in this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Anthony Perkins, (more)
- 1959
A young college student has a stuttering problem around everyone but girls. He goes of to UCLA and is rejected by a fraternity, but meets a young blonde. The blonde has a sexy brunette roommate, and soon the brunette and the young man sleep together. Their thoughts turn to marriage, and the boy attends a speech clinic. He is halfhearted in his attempt to overcome his speech impediment and leaves the clinic. Finding out his "fiancee" is not faithful, he breaks up with her in a dramatically powerful scene. He isn't lonely too long as the blonde catches him on the rebound. He returns to the clinic in an earnest effort to improve his speech. Tom Laughlin is the writer, director and star of the film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Nyra Monsour, (more)
- 1959
Although the actual battle of the Coral Sea does not begin this standard wartime drama, there is plenty of action and suspense as the preparation stage of the battle is carried out. A submarine captained by Jeff Conway (Cliff Robertson) successfully scouts the location of enemy installations, ships, and subs and then starts to head back to friendly waters. Before chugging very far in that direction, the submarine is spotted and captured by the Japanese. The crew members are taken prisoner by an even-handed Commander Mori (Teru Shimada) and held on the Japanese forces' island base. While chaffing under a ticking clock as the day of the final confrontation draws near, an island woman is secretly enlisted to help smuggle out three of the prisoners. If they can make it off the island to their own base, then the all-important information on the Japanese positions will tip the scales in favor of the U.S. Navy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Gia Scala, (more)
- 1959
Teenager Francie Lawrence (Sandra Dee) is known to her surfing friends as "Gidget" or a "girl midget" (she is kinda on the short side). Unable to compete with the curvaceous bikinied lasses at the local beach, Gidget is assured by her understanding parents (Arthur O'Connell, Mary LaRoche) that boys will eventually pay attention to her. Turns out that Mom's right on the money, as surfers Moondoggie (James Darren) and Kahoona (Cliff Robertson) vie for Gidge's attention during the summer of her 16th birthday. Based on the novel by Frederick Kohner (who based the title character on his own daughter), Gidget was one of the surprise hits of 1959. The film spawned a host of theatrical and TV-movie sequels, not to mention the 1966 TV series starring Sally Field -- and the 1987 sitcom starring Caryn Richman. In addition, Gidget boosted the careers of several stars-to-be, including Yvonne Craig, Doug McClure and Tom Laughlin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, (more)
