Leading actor Tom Laughlin also served as producer, director, and writer of the film, credited under the pseudonyms “Donald Henderson,” “T. C. Frank,” and “E. James Lloyd.”
       Principal photography began 24 Oct 1966, as stated in a DV production chart published four days later. The 13 Dec 1966 LAT named Big Sur, CA, as one of the locations, with additional filming completed around the Los Angeles area. A 19 Oct 1966 Var brief claimed Bill Carey was attached to appear in an onscreen role.
       Although the 5 Jul 1967 Var alleged that The Born Losers was written “long before” the popularization of the “motorcycle melodrama,” the film was marketed to capitalize on the successful release of American International Pictures’s (AIP) The Wild Angels (1966, see entry) and Devil’s Angels (1967, see entry). On 8 Mar 1967, Var announced that the independently produced project would be acquired by AIP as a replacement for another “protest theme” film, Wild in the Streets (1968, see entry), which had been temporarily canceled. While AIP was not a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), print advertisements for The Born Losers contained the disclaimer, “Recommended for mature audiences,” which invoked a comparison to the MPAA’s official classification, “Suggested for Mature Audiences.”
       The Born Losers opened 18 Aug 1967 at the DeMille and Broadway at 47th Street theaters in New York City, and on 6 Sep 1967 at thirty Los Angeles-area theaters and drive-ins. Reviews were largely negative.
       The picture marked Tom Laughlin’s first appearance as the character “Billy Jack,” which he later reprised in Billy Jack (1971, see entry) and The Trial of Billy Jack (1974, see entry). AIP launched a special reissue of The Born Losers shortly before The Trial of Billy Jack’s release in 1974, at which point it received an official “PG” rating from the MPAA. Promotional efforts heavily referenced the popularity of Billy Jack, prompting Laughlin to sue AIP with allegations that the company did not make it clear that the engagement was in fact a re-release of a seven-year-old film. According to a 31 May 1974 DV article, AIP was granted permission to continue running the advertisements as long as posters included the word “re-release” in the same size typeface as above-the-line credits. The 29 Jun 1974 LAT suggested that the film fared better with audiences during its second run, with earnings of $984,449 after three weeks in Michigan theaters, and more dates to be added in Los Angeles two months later.