Just recently rented it. Some notes:
“One Tin Soldier” was originally done by a Canadian Christian band called Original Caste. It was covered for the movie by a (literally) Satanic group called Coven. The producers neglected to pay for the rights; so, the movie starts right off with some intellectual property theft.
Even though the school is on reservation land, almost all the kids are white. Actually, that might have been explained while I was daydreaming; it’s really hard to focus on this movie for too long.
I noticed a young Howard Hesseman as one of the instructors. They were played by a San Francisco improv group called The Committee; in the middle of the movie we see them doing an improv skit in the town square – the same place Billy Jack fights all those rednecks – with the cooperation and even participation of the Sheriff and City Council members. Kind of bizarre; it’s like it’s two different towns.
For that matter, the Sheriff seems like a pretty decent guy – why does he have no control over his deputy?
Boy, those Indians sure are better and wiser than white people. (And I’m damn tired of Whitey keeping me down.)
Bernard is a remarkably self-aware, articulate heavy. A couple of times, he muses about why he’s so fucked-up, then goes ahead and does something bad anyway.
I did like the scene where Billy Jack dispatches Bernard. No drawn-out fight scene, just a quick chop to the Adam’s apple.
What the movie is really good for is acting as a time capsule, showing the mindset in a particular part of American culture at a particular time. While I was watching it, I kept feeling like the vibe was a couple of years earlier than the 1971 release date; sure enough, it was filmed in 1968 and '69.
Sometimes Delores Taylor looks a little like Willem Defoe. Nevertheless, her naked swimming scene was fascinating to me when I was 10 and the movie was a huge summer hit.
