Billy Jack (1971)

Oft reviled nowadays and cited as one of the 'worst films ever', the reality is that, back on its early seventies release, Billy Jack (1971) was a big hit.  It tapped in to the whole youth counter culture of free love and peace, while also serving up generous helpings of violence.  Because that's the thing that most contemporary viewers find hardest to comprehend about Billy Jack: that the film encompasses a massive contradiction at its heart.  While, on the one hand writer/director/star Tom Laughlin seems to endorse the values of the counter-culture, with many of the main characters preaching and practicing pacifism in the face of extreme provocation and violence, he also seems to endorse the idea that, ultimately, violence can be the right way to protect these values.  Perhaps Billy Jack's defence of his use of violence might have been to argue that he was only following the principles of the martial arts he employs - to use greater force against itself.  After all, he is never the instigator of the violent confrontations he becomes involved in - he only acts to protect others from violence.  Moreover, he is invariably outnumbered and his opponents represent the wealthy vested interests who wield the power in town.

At heart, Billy Jack is a modern day western, with the bigoted townsfolk trying to run off the local Indians, sorry, progressive school for wayward kids, of which half Native American Billy Jack is self appointed protector.  That the school is located on Native American land and its pupils include several Native Americans only reinforces the western theme.  All the western tropes are there -the nasty town boss, his even nastier spoiled son (who has a thing for underage girls and rape),  the well-meaning but ineffective town sheriff, the evil deputy in the pay of the boss, the local rednecks, the virtuous school teacher, the lone hero, etc.  As a film, Billy Jack is something of a slog, with the plot frequently grinding to a halt for some singing from cute hippie kids, bouts of improv (involving Howard Hesseman in an early role as a drama teacher), Billy Jack performing tribal rituals and frequent lectures on pacifism, children's rights and racial prejudice.  The halting rhythm robs the film of any pace, never really building up a head of steam, despite the generally well-staged action sequences, which are too widely spaced to garner any momentum for the plot.  The performances, also, are very variable - Tom Laughlin might be trying for 'strong and silent' with his portrayal of Billy Jack, but what actually comes over is 'stiff and awkward'.  The villains fare rather better, with Kenneth Tobey's crooked deputy, in particular, being satisfyingly unpleasant.  

Despite the vitriol often now directed at Billy Jack, it actually isn't that bad.  Tom Laughlin might not have been the auteur he clearly thought he was, but in its own clunky way, the film does at least try to explore issues such as prejudice and child abuse, as well as attempting some kind of dialectical over the issues of pacifism and what constitutes justifiable violence.  To its credit, it doesn't present the viewer with a neat ending allowing its hero to resolve all the issues and ride off into the sunset - he is forced to face the consequences of his actions.  If nothing else, the film provides a fascinating time capsule of  early seventies USA, with traditional conservatism feeling threatened and helpless in the face of the social change the school kids represent.  The film, of course, wasn't the character of Billy Jack's first outing - he had already appeared in 1967's Born Losers, facing off against a biker gang in another small town.  The success of Billy Jack ensured that it also wasn't his last outing: The Trial of Billy Jack followed in 1974 and picked up where the 1971 film left off.  A fourth film, Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) was basically a remake of Mr Smith Goes to Washington and failed to secure widespread distribution.  A fifth film was abandoned in 1985 due to lack of finance.  These later films were even more self-indulgent on Laughlin's part and far preachier than the first two.  Billy Jack might, particularly by today's standards, be self-righteous and confused in its morality and message but, at a distance of half a century, makes for fascinating viewing with regard to the portrait of early seventies America that it presents.