Ode to Billy Joe (1976)
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78% of users liked it
(858 ratings)
Bobbie Gentry's hauntingly enigmatic 1967 hit single served as the inspiration of this story of unrequited teenage love. In 1953, Bobbie Lee Hartley (Glynnis O'Connor) is 15 years old and in love with 18-year-old Billy Joe McAllister (Robbie Benson). Unfortunately, Bobbie's father (Sandy… More Bobbie Gentry's hauntingly enigmatic 1967 hit single served as the inspiration of this story of unrequited teenage love. In 1953, Bobbie Lee Hartley (Glynnis O'Connor) is 15 years old and in love with 18-year-old Billy Joe McAllister (Robbie Benson). Unfortunately, Bobbie's father (Sandy McPeak) and mother (Joan Hotchkis) forbid her to date until she's 16, and until then, Billy Joe and Bobbie Lee are supposed to be content with occasional meetings after church on Sunday. The teenage lovers sometimes steal away for meetings on the Tallahatchie Bridge, but while the other local boys are able to slake their frustrations with the prostitutes imported for the occasional town dances, a booze-addled Billy Joe succumbs to another sort of temptation, and his guilt first destroys his relationship with Bobbie Lee, and then leads to his self-destruction. Ode to Billy Joe was produced and directed by Max Baer,Jr., best remembered as Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Max Baer Jr.
- Genres
- Gay & Lesbian, Drama
PG,
- In Theaters
- Jun 4, 1976 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Very weak plot, acting based on flash hit song of the '70s.
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Cast
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Robby Benson
as Billy Joe McAllister
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Glynnis O'Connor
as Bobbie Lee Hartley
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Joan Hotchkis
as Mrs. Hartley
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Sandy McPeak
as Mr. Hartley
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James Best
as Dewey Barksdale
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Terence Goodman
as James Hartley
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Simpson Hemphill
as Brother Taylor
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Rebecca Jernigan
as Mrs. Thompson
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Pat Purcell
as Youth In Car
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James Westerfield
as Youth In Car
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Jack Capelle
as Youth in Car
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Becky Brown
as Becky Thompson
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Frannye Capelle
as Belinda Wiggs
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William Hallberg
as Dan McAllister
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Will Long
as Trooper Bash
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John Roper
as Trooper Ned
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Ed Shelnut
as School Bus Driver
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Eddie Tair
as Tom Hargitay
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Ann Martin
as Mrs. Hunnicut
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Al Scott
as Master of Ceremonies
- Becky Bowen
