Okay… You KNEW this was coming… Clips from the films, and in 1080p24 HD!!
The first clip: The classic ‘I Just Go BERSERK!!’ scene from ‘Billy Jack’.
What most people don’t know is this scene more than anything else in the film is THE REASON Billy Jack came to be. It recreates an event Tom actually lived through back in Winner, South Dakota, in 1953. Tom was visiting Delores and her family on winter break from Vermillion college and while sitting at the Pheasant Bar, some of the locals told with great glee how they had poured the local Indians monthly flour allotment over their heads to make them white. Tom was seething. He wanted to beat these imbeciles to a pulp. But he was on his best behavior, trying to make a good impression on Delores’ family and friends. But the ‘savagery’ and ‘idiocy’ of this event stuck with him for over 15 years as he and Delores struggled to get ‘Billy Jack’ made. He was determined to throw this kind of cruel stupidity through a plate glass window, which he finally did at the end of this famous scene.
Just one of the incredible stories behind inspiration for and making of ‘Billy Jack’ we’ll be detailing in the Billy Jack documentary.
(Many more clips are lined up in the que… stay tuned!)
I first saw BILLY JACK in Mobile, Alabama in 1971, the summer I turned sixteen. The film profoundly influenced my self-awareness (as a somewhat rebellious teen); so much so, in fact, that remnants of that effect can be SEEN in another “classic” film…CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND! Here’s how it came about: I was visiting at my grandmother’s about five years after seeing BILLY JACK; one day, while shopping in West Point, Georgia, I found (and bought), a Navajo hat - just like BILLY’S! A year later, it was announced that filming would commence on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS in Mobile. My entire family (sans my Dad), were signed on as extras! Well, I determined to “stand out,” (however I could), from the crowded scenes, so,as my homage to BILLY JACK, I DRESSED JUST LIKE HIM (in my “extras” filming)! A close viewing of the evacuation scene at the train depot in “Gilette, Wyoming” (Mobile), made the final cut of the film! You can see “BILLY’S” hat (and ME, under it), very clearly in the film, on the station platform. I even heard later that one scene had to be re-shot, because the “hat” showed up TOO much! All I know for sure is, I’ll always remember, fondly, BOTH experiences: BILLY JACK and my own (brief) tenure in “the movies!”
I saw Billy Jack back in the early/mid 70′s as a young kid.
Billy Jack was a big influence on me- it was one of the things that got me interested in learning martial arts.
I, like Billy Jack, have a strong sense of fairness and justice, and like Billy Jack, I’ve used my martial arts skills to defend the weak and the innocent.
I wish we had more Billy Jack’s in the works, instead of what passes for “men” in this day and age.
EXACTLY!! billyjack is not just a man with a violent temper, it comes from being outraged by injustices to innocent people. children even. the character billy jack has been to Vietnam, he’s witnessed firsthand vile atrocities to helpless people at the hands of bigger people who thought they were better than they. we can also assume that billy jack, being of mixed heritage, was mistreated also as a child, and what does every victim of this sort of thing wish for? the skills and ability to do something about it. well, take that mistreated person, send him off to the army and make him into a walking weapon, and after that when he’s again faced with that same old disgusting behavior, whether its aimed at him or at children, the evil doers had best watch out because a man with a protective soul and little patience is liable to put a stop to them…maybe for good!
This is and always has been since I was fifteen, my favorite movie.
When I saw this scene I was shaken quite a bit. I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing and had no idea that this kind of thing happened to any other race in this country beside the black people. I live in Western Carolina not too far from the Cherokee Reservation. And most folks in these mountains are proudly part Cherokee. We just didn’t have those problems here. We are all just neighbors here. Even the folks on the res. But when I saw this scene, even though I was just a kid, I hated Bernard when he did that to those kids. And I just loved it when Billy kicked their butts. We should all stand up to the bullies in this world. I do every chance I get. I haven’t ever thrown anyone through a window. But my 6′ 8″ 300lb self has come to the rescue of quite a few over the years. Not just because of Billy, but because before I “grew up” I was the victim of many a bullie in school. Billy Jack put the courage in my heart to do this, I believe. Thank you Billy Jack.
I had seen Billy Jack a long time ago and thought this was the most awesome movie that I had seen. After all these years,it is still the most awesome movie to be made,that does tell how even today,we do still discriminate against those that for some reason that we don’t like. I do hope that you will post more parts of the movie as I would love to see it again! This is one movie that is worth seeing over and over again. It really does tell a great story in all this.
Thanks, Gary. We will certainly be posting more of the film, in fact I just posted more video today. But we’re not likely to get the whole thing up. To watch it over and over, you can visit one of the links on our ‘Where Can I Get…’ page. Thanks again!
Frank,
I agree with Michael Appel. This scene is the best scene of the movie… a “Bernard had it coming” moment fulfilled. You wait and wait thru out the movie for this for this kind of justice to prevail… THEN, finally it does.
Thanks for resurrecting this unequaled movie! AND please re-post the entire scene.
Leon Epperly
THIS IS THE GREATEST SEQUENCE IN MOTION PICTURE HISTORY - WHEN UNEDITED.
Frank - Tom has a unique ability of conveying an idea onto film so the viewer gets hit with a visual impact of the point he is trying to make. An example of this is the opening sequence of THE BORN LOSERS. When the kid is getting beaten up by the motorcycle gang and noone has the courage to help him. When the store owner won’t even let him use the phone to call the police, Billy Jack just can’t stand by and let this take place. He gets his rifle and holds the entire motorcycle gang at bay, preventing them from continuing their assault on, and possibly killing the boy. Along come the police and Billy Jack is also arrested. In court, he gets a larger fine and more jail time than the motorcyle gang. He attorney tells him, “Go help someone again sometime.” That’s the way life is. Your father captured it perfectly.
The ice cream parlor scene is a masterpiece. The kids are afraid to go into the store to get ice cream because they know the owner is a racist. All they can do is watch the white kids enjoy ice cream. Finally, they go in, don’t get served, and if the store owners brutality of discriminating against them isn’t enough, Bernard and Dinosaur also humiliate them by making them white. Again, Billy Jack is outraged and just can’t stand by. He goes berserk! Then, he kneels down by the girl and wipes the flour off her face and makes sure they are all okay. That is the real Billy Jack. The man who loves those children, protects them, and is outraged by the way they are treated, and allowed to be treated, by society. Even though he knows he’s going to have to face the town now, he goes outside and stands tall knowing he did the right thing.
Your father fought long and hard to have his films released unedited by the studios who wanted to take away a lot of their meaning and make them little more than dime a dozen action films. In my opinion, you are doing Tom injustice by not showing the ice cream parlor sequence in its entirety. You have edited a masterpiece - a work of art. It should start with the kids outside, afraid to go in, and end with Billy Jack leaving the shop after consoling the child victims.
My wife and I had long arguments about Billy Jack. She is not a fan. She points out the violence in the film, and in that scene in particular. The first time we discussed it I agreed with her. But explained not violent in the way she says. The violence is what the store owner, Bernard, and Dinosaur did. She did not see that. She did not understand that form of violence. Before going berserk, Billy Jack explained the impact that violence would have for years to come on those children. That was the true violence. It took me a long, long time to open her eyes and understand the film. Tom was a genius in having Billy Jack go over to Sunshine and brush the flour off her face after the fight. THAT IS THE REAL BILLY JACK. That is who Billy Jack is and what Billy Jack is all about. Please post the entire sequence, Frank.
Thank you.