Buster and Billie

Plot synopsis:
The film is set in a small Georgia town in 1948. It follows the adventures of Buster Lane (Jan-Michael Vincent), a handsome, popular high-school senior, who is engaged to be married to his pretty, popular high-school sweetheart Margie Hooks (Pamela Sue Martin). He is the 'big man on campus' and the leader of his group of friends.
Buster's friends often visit a girl from an underprivileged background named Billie-Jo Truluck (Joan Goodfellow), who dourly gives them the sexual favors they want. Meanwhile, Buster becomes disenchanted with Margie's refusal to have sex with him, and begins seeing Billie in secret.
At first he sees Billie just for sex but eventually finds himself falling in love with her. He becomes, in fact, so taken with Billie that he breaks off his engagement with Margie and starts appearing in public with Billie, who finds a new lease on life with Buster. They are happy for the first time in their lives. Happiness for them, though, is short-lived.
Buster's friends are extremely jealous that they cannot have Billie for their own use anymore and corner her one day when they are drunk and find her out walking. When she refuses to submit to them, they rape and kill her in the heat of the moment. Buster eventually finds her dead, and is hysterical. He then goes to the pool hall where his friends are, with the guilt evident on the faces of the main perpetrators of the crime.
Enraged, Buster kills two of them, while injuring the other two. He is put into jail for this, but is released on bail the day after her funeral, which no one attends except his parents. He rips up a truckload of flowers from garden beds in the town, and takes these flowers to Billie's graveside.

Tags: revenge

Review:
This film affected me so much that, as I did not have a copy of it, I actually advertised in a newspaper for it, and someone forwarded a dubbed copy to me!The excellent acting of Joan Goodfellow (Billie) and Jan-Michael Vincent (Buster) made watching this film a great experience.
Buster and Billie touched my heart i was twelve the first time i seen it at our small town drive-in i'm forty-two now.
It was a true love story i remember crying so much and thinking Billie never had ever hurt anyone in her life or Buster.
Buster was so in love with her and treated her so very special like Billie deserved.
For all his faults, JAN MICHAEL VINCENT certainly made some great movies in the seventies (be it, THE BIG Wednesday, HOOPER, THE MECHANIC, VIGILANTE FORCE) including this (little seen) gem.
VINCENT plays Buster, a tough, high-school loner, who against the wishes of his (childish, rather ugly) friends, dates the local good-time girl (of whom, most of busters friends have been casually 'involved' with) But these two opposites find love, but as in all classic love tales, their romance is doomed.
Long after the viewer shakes off initial images of sexist, drunken teens, several scenes of true beauty, shine through this great movie.
The period details are spot-on, and there's not one bad performance (look out for a young ROBERT ENGLUND) but as with most other JMV movies, Hollywood soon moved onto bigger (although, not always better) actors, and he soon became a tragic casualty of cinema.
Another notable aspect, is the fine (and rather haunting) musical score, including the main theme (sung by HOYT AXTON) which never fails to bring a lump in my throat, and made all the more lyrical, by the movies tragic (yet strangely, touching) ending.A fine unseen gem, and well worth hunting down piece of 70's obscure 10 out of 10.
Beg, barrow or steal it and watch it as I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.I recommend seeing this movie in one sitting because it is a movie that slowly builds your feelings for the characters which will impact you more at the end of the movie.Buster Lane (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a typical country boy with maybe a little more scruples then the average southern country poke.
Beg, barrow or steal it and watch it as I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.I recommend seeing this movie in one sitting because it is a movie that slowly builds your feelings for the characters which will impact you more at the end of the movie.Buster Lane (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a typical country boy with maybe a little more scruples then the average southern country poke.
Buster's main friend is Whitey (Robert Englund--"Freddy Krueger") and they hangout and drink beers together and take a trip to the ocean and we get an idea where Buster's friends minds and morals are at and this suffices as the story comes to a close later in the movie.
Buster's main friend is Whitey (Robert Englund--"Freddy Krueger") and they hangout and drink beers together and take a trip to the ocean and we get an idea where Buster's friends minds and morals are at and this suffices as the story comes to a close later in the movie.
I little more about these friends in the next paragraph.In the meantime Billie (Joan Goodfellow) who is a very very shy country girl from a very poor family has been having sex with several of Buster's friends in a way of getting some attention.
I little more about these friends in the next paragraph.In the meantime Billie (Joan Goodfellow) who is a very very shy country girl from a very poor family has been having sex with several of Buster's friends in a way of getting some attention.
Her performance radiates innocents and loneliness and sadness and then joy and happiness later in the movie, you can feel all her feelings as the movie progresses.When Buster can't holdout any longer for sex with Margie his attentions turn to Billie and are not honorable at first.
Her performance radiates innocents and loneliness and sadness and then joy and happiness later in the movie, you can feel all her feelings as the movie progresses.When Buster can't holdout any longer for sex with Margie his attentions turn to Billie and are not honorable at first.
He finds her to be very very innocent and sees the beauty in her and finds himself falling in love but is not sure of his feelings reflecting his own youth and lack of experience to this new feeling called love.Before Buster even realized what his feelings are he acts on his basic instinct and feelings and breaks off his relationship with Margie and is seeing Billie exclusively.
He finds her to be very very innocent and sees the beauty in her and finds himself falling in love but is not sure of his feelings reflecting his own youth and lack of experience to this new feeling called love.Before Buster even realized what his feelings are he acts on his basic instinct and feelings and breaks off his relationship with Margie and is seeing Billie exclusively.
Billie is taken to her first movie with Buster to see a Tarzan movie, and you can see her elated joy at this new experience.
Billie is taken to her first movie with Buster to see a Tarzan movie, and you can see her elated joy at this new experience.
but especially hers.Meanwhile back at the ranch, the boys that were getting laid by Billie before her self-esteem got elevated by her new love comes for some more poontang.
but especially hers.Meanwhile back at the ranch, the boys that were getting laid by Billie before her self-esteem got elevated by her new love comes for some more poontang.
Of course Billie resist and fights back but is beaten, raped and killed by these boys.Buster finds her body shortly after the killing and ends up killing two of the boys who had the evidence literally written on their faces.
Of course Billie resist and fights back but is beaten, raped and killed by these boys.Buster finds her body shortly after the killing and ends up killing two of the boys who had the evidence literally written on their faces.
The movie closes with the opening song and you get a big lump in your throat in the closing scene at the cemetery with Buster at Billie's graveside.I have seen reviews that see this movie as a sweet movie that turns into a sadistic mean spirited movie and was rated as a poor to fair movie because of it.
The movie closes with the opening song and you get a big lump in your throat in the closing scene at the cemetery with Buster at Billie's graveside.I have seen reviews that see this movie as a sweet movie that turns into a sadistic mean spirited movie and was rated as a poor to fair movie because of it.
We all like happy endings and I love a good Cinderella story as much as anyone.
We all like happy endings and I love a good Cinderella story as much as anyone.
Jan-Michael Vincent is great to watch, here in his mid-70's prime.
The rest of the cast is decent as well, and it is interesting to see a young "Freddy Kruger" act all dorky before he became a horror icon.The film sets up nicely, a small town in the 40's where everyone knows everyone else and the local teenage boys screw around with a slut named Billie, who is a pretty girl but who seems to have some sort of problem.
All this leads up to a very violent ending (where we all no doubt cheer on Vincent).The film is decent enough but it does lack in some areas, especially in explaining a few certain things.
While doing a search on your website to find out what other movies Robert Englund was in besides A Nightmare on Elm Street I came across a movie that I haven't thought of in years, Buster and Billie.
I don't know if I want to ever watch it again or just keep the memory of a film that touched me deeply years ago..
Also a good JMV film and a great memory of 70s cinema.
If you are at all sensitive or a person who cries at movies, do not watch this unless you have prepared yourself with a box of kleenex and only the closest of friends who you know will not make fun of you.
(or watch it alone.) I first watched this movie at a time when I was having "boy troubles" and the object of my desire happened to look exactly like Jan Michael Vincent, the star of this movie (yeah, he was hot).
The saddest story EVER!As much as I loved the movie, I will never watch it again, even though I taped it.
This is one of those movies that you will either love or hate and if you loved it like I did it will stay with you forever.Getting a good copy of it now is very difficult and I have had to make do with a really crappy copy.
Even the DVD copy that was released is not all that good to watch.One of the very best Jan-Micheal Vincent movies I have seen, and the one movie that I remember him for most even though he made quite a few good movies in the 70's.
Jan-Michael Vincent is terrific as Buster, a rather benign hell-raiser who trades in nice girl Pamela Sue Martin for Joan Goodfellow, an easy target for the horny guys just looking for a good time.
Vincent admirably doesn't rely on his matinée good looks to get his character across; striking a nimble balance between an uninspired, ordinary kid and a young man dealing with mature emotions, the actor nearly keeps his lady-killer smile in check (he also doesn't duck the camera self-consciously--he gives what is needed).
But I'd like to think there is a poignant timelessness to this underrated film that could be appreciated by many.Part of the appeal is the childlike, naive character of Billie (played on-pitch by Joan Goodfellow, who's fallen into obscurity).
For me, she is the soul of this film.This tragic love story is not a new or unique one, but if you remember "Buster and Billie" from your old drive-in-days, I suggest you give it a second viewing.
Jan Michael Vincent is wonderful as Buster.
There is violence, love, revenge, and just about every other emotion that you can expect to find in a good movie.
Buster And Billie has come down in legend as the film where Jan-Michael Vincent bore all for art and titillated more than a few women and gay men with what they saw.
But past those few seconds people who saw this film in 1974 got to see a tender and sensitive story about teen love between two opposite type of people.Buster is the teen idol of the school, popular and handsome, and the child of some pious church going parents in his rural Georgia small town in the post World War II years.
In the best scene in the film Vincent tells his parents that she's the way she is because all she wants is people to like her.
If it is ever remade you may be sure that that part of the film's story will be toned down or even eliminated.But both Vincent and Goodfellow are a fine pair of leads and Buster And Billie has a cult status of sorts with Jan-Michael Vincent bearing all for art..
Thats the way it was in the south even in the sixties.Jan Michael Vincent did a great job.I think it was one of his best performances.It's been a long time since I've seen the movie.
I think they should try to remake it.I think Brad Pitts would make a good Buster and not sure who Billie would be..
Good movie that could have been great..
But we have to ask how it narrowly missed greatness.The chemistry between Jan Michael Vincent and Joan Goodfellow works as it is; but Hollywood was so intent on making JVM a "star" that much stronger actors were passed over.
The biggest imponderable is this: Roberta Pedon read for the part of "Billie"; if she had been chosen for the role (despite her well-known drug problems and troubled past) and a stronger male actor cast as "Buster", this movie could have become a downbeat version of "Casablanca" for the baby-boom generation.
As a young child, I was able to grasp the concept of a deep love between Buster and Billie but when things began to get ugly, it really freaked me out.
All I remember after Buster's full frontal shot was Billie getting raped and then her being wrapped in cloth or mummified in some way (this was 28 yrs.
Was it because Billie died at the end of the movie?' I said, "No".
I saw this movie late one night on TV, when i was only about 13 it has stuck in my mind ever since, because of the graphic rape scene and it was such good acting-well i thought so at the time anyway!
No other movie has stuck in my mind as much as this movie-very thought provoking-another great movie i saw Jan Michael Vincent in was white line fever (not as good as this movie though).
I can't remember who the girl was in Buster and Billie, but she was so innocent and sad, it still makes me feel sad now.
Its a wonder someone hasn't remade this movie wouldn't it be great with Brad Pitt or someone like that in it!
Buster, a popular jock at the school, loses a bet to friends, costing him the humiliation of taking Billie on a date.
Buster finds out and goes all "Billy Jack" on the movie.
I remember seeing Buster and Billie on ABC during high school and, although I could often tell when the censors were a snippin' away, I had no idea that they were circumcising the movie!
A sad love story that sells itself short by becoming very, very violent at the end.Notable for the casting of Jan-Michael Vincent as "Buster" and Robert England as "Whitey".
(And not just for the skinny-dipping scene!) Buster was the most popular boy in school, but not because he went along with the others,but because he wouldn't...
He considered Whitey to be a real friend, and not just fun to have around to make the butt of all their jokes.Billie was different, too, and, yes, at first Buster just wanted some real action (he was a male, after all), but he liked her differences, and her shyness.
That's what he was used to, and expected, because she was a "nice" girl.After a few dates with Billie, the demands of his girl-friend pall, he breaks up with her, and he sees Billie in public.A scene at their church underscores the public hypocrisy of their friends when Buster brings Billie to church and his ex-girlfriend flounces past, making a rude remark, while clinging to the arm of one of the "better" boys in town (who is one of Billie's night-time visitors).Apparently his guy friends felt it was OK to screw Billie, (and they were annoyed he wouldn't go with them, but went by himself to see her), but to BRING HER OUT IN FULL DAYLIGHT!
Obviously that wouldn't do.So his "friends" took advantage of a situation and did what they wanted with Billie.Buster took care of her, and then took care of them.Most women don't want to have fighting around - but if it's FOR them - well, that's a different matter.
(Think of the fight scene at the end of Footloose.) Now, ladies, be honest - if you'd been treated like Billie, wouldn't you want your boyfriend to defend you?
After the films were over you should have seen the looks those adults who brought me in to the movies got when people saw that I was watching both those films!
I definitely remember the skinny dipping and the full frontal stuff (Jan Michael from what I remember didn't suffer from the George Castanza "shrinkage" from the water, lol only in the movies right, guess thats the difference between the Big and little screen, eh?), and the double murder in the bar (or was it a triple?) caught the entire audience by surprise I think.
Buster and Billie is a powerful and poignant coming-of-age story, but also just very stark tale of how brutal and cruel people can be sometimes.
High-school buddies gather around to exchange girl and car stories, and the talk of the town is 'Billie' (Joan Goodfellow), a very shy, poor girl who lets this gang of upper-class boys do what they will to her.
She's a lonely girl with no friends and 'this is the only way she knows how to find affection', (as Buster later tells his father).
Buster (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a care-free, cocky young man who seems to have a penchant for taking odd-ball people under his wing.
Buster is also a 'lone ranger' among his friends  he never joined the group visits to Billie's house late at night.
He remarks to Jake the bartender that two things in a man's life should be private..."Taking a s___ and getting laid." Buster is also engaged to marry Margie (Pamela Sue Martin), his high-school sweetheart.
So Buster takes Billie out on a date.
So as their dates continue, Buster starts to fall in love with her as well.
Even the bartender Jake is offended that Buster would break up with a 'nice girl' like Margie, and start taking up with a 'bad girl' like Billie.
The movie ends with Buster at Billie's grave sitesadly saying goodbye.Wow, it's some movie!
Anyway, the performance by Jan Michael Vincent is great.