His guilt over the incident drives him to commit suicide by jumping off the tallahatchie bridge, leaving his. Watch ode to billy joe online full movie from 1976 yidio. Watch ode to billy joe 1976 full movie online free on. Set in 1953, the film version of ode to billy joe the spelling of billy differs in the song and film stars glynnis oconnor as bobbie lee hartley, the 15year old narrator, and robby benson as billy joe mcallister. Based on bobbie gentrys caustic pop classic, ode to billy joe fleshes out the narrative ambiguities and implications of the song with surprising success. One night, at a barn dance, he gets a little drunk and rather than going with. Now that i know why billy joe mcallister jumped off the tallahatchie. The 5th dimensions cover takes that reading a step further, turning the song into a oneact play, with different members handling the vocals of. At last, were given the answers to the questions raised by the haunting 1967 bobbie gentry song of the same title. Why did billie joe mcallister jump off the tallahatchie. He realized that he loved the girl but could not be with her in the way they both wanted him to be. Released 1976, ode to billy joe stars robby benson, glynnis oconnor, joan hotchkis, sandy mcpeak the pg movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 46 min, and received a score of out of 100 on. Ode to billy joe movie plot posted by finchmeister08 on 19 at 8. The song furthermore says nothing about her leaving home after billy joes death.
If this film had been directed by truffaut or bergman it would have swept cannes. Rent ode to billy joe 1976 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. However, the movie tells you he commits suicide for having sex with a man. Director of the movie ode to billy joe with cast robby benson, glynnis oconnor, joan hotchkis. Bobbie gentrys famous song, on which ode to billy joe is based, found much of its haunting effect in its refusal to reveal why billy joe killed himself. Perhaps an indictment of the artificial conventions of society, the film demonstrates the. Set in 1953, the film explores the budding relationship between teenagers billy joe mcallister benson and bobbie lee hartley oconnor who corresponds to the unnamed narrator of the original song, despite resistance from hartleys family, who contend she is too young to date. The news is disseminated that local boy billy joe has jumped to his death off the tallahatchie bridge. If you watch this movie, i believe that you will find yourself lost in it. What the song didnt tell you, the movie will it advertised. The actress who played bobbie lee in the movie, glynnis oconnor, was nineteen at the time. Most similar movies to ode to billy joe the list contains related movies ordered by similarity. The fact that many viewers find it almost impossible to understand is testimony to. Robby benson, then a teen idol, starred as billy joe mcallister the spelling of the.
Unfortunately, bobbies father sandy mcpeak and mother joan hotchkis forbid her to date until shes 16, and until then, billy joe and bobbie. On tuesday morning, trooper ned and trooper bosh appear at the sawmill, along with billy joes father, dan mcallister, who is looking for his missing son. Ode to billy joe is a 1976 film with a screenplay by herman raucher, inspired by the 1967 hit song by bobbie gentry, titled ode to billie joe. Eighteen yearold billy joe mcallister is in love with bobbie lee, but her father refuses to allow her to receive gentlemen callers before shes sixteen. The song furthermore says nothing about her leaving home after billy joe s death. Is bobbie gentrys ode to billie joe based on a true story. People have been debating the meaning of ode to billie joe for over 40 years, but a recent new piece of evidence that got uncovered is a sheet from a yellow legal pad with bobbie gentrys original song lyrics for ode to billie joe. Ode to billy joe is a 1976 film with a screenplay by herman raucher, inspired by the. In the movie, the mystery of the title characters suicide is revealed as a part of the conflict between his love for bobbie lee hartley and a drunken homosexual experience. In 1976, baer directed the feature film ode to billy joe, based on gentrys hit song and starring robby benson and glynnis oconnor.
On june 3, 1953, billy joe mcallister jumped off the tallahatchie. Set during the spring and summer of 1953 in rural mississippi, billy joe mcallister robby benson flirts with bobbie lee hartley glynnis oconnor as she crosses the tallahatchie bridge after the school bus lets her off as she walks on her way to her familys farm along a dirt road. Ode to billy joe is a film directed by max baer jr. May 15, 2015 after the setup, there is not much by way of plot. His guilt over the incident drives him to commit suicide by jumping off the tallahatchie bridge, leaving his girlfriend behind. It had to, i suppose, because a movie based on a song like ode to billy joe has to come up with something or be accused of. Billy joe confesses his love to the lovely bobbi lee only to cover his growing fear that he may, in fact, be homosexual. His death was seen as sad, and long ago, and unnecessary, and the singer recalled it as a key event in an unhappy time. Review by richard conner posted on 5sep2007 this movie resulted some years after bobbie gentrys haunting and enormously popular song of the same name, popular in the late 1960s. In the parking lot, james discovers the truck belonging to the alabama boys, and a brawl ensues, resulting in a broken jaw for one of the boys. Ode to billy joe by herman raucher lost classics of teen.
One night, at a barn dance, he gets a little drunk and rather than going with the hired whores, gives into his desires and sexual relations with an unnamed man. Billy joe mcallister jumped off the bridge because he was struggling with the fact that he was in love with a young girl, but physically attracted to a man. Ode to billie joe eventually found its way to a 1976 movie, directed by max baer, best known as jethro on the beverly hillbillies. The song itself kind of leaves you hanging on the reason for the death of billy joe. Its breezy bluegrass melody and catchy chorus made for an instant hit, and billie joe leapt to the top of the charts. Many commenters say that ode to billie joe reads less like a song than a story, complete with multiple characters and plot twists. Set to a backing of spare acoustic guitar chords and atmospheric strings, gentrys sensual, southernfried voice relates the story of two mississippi teenage lovers who share a dark secret that eventually leads to the boys suicide. Very weak plot, acting based on flash hit song of the 70s.
Based on the 1967 bobbie gentry song of the same name and directed by max baer, jr. In fact, each actor in the film was so wonderfully wellcast that the experience of watching them and hearing them, along with the eerily alluring mississippi location in which the movie was filmed, creates a dreamworld of magic. Ominous plot points and mundane family chatter are intermingled as the chronology of events slowly unfolds. Raucher had also written summer of 42 a few years before ode to billy joe. Ode to billy joe 1976 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Robby benson is excellent as billy joe mcallister, and glynnis oconnor is. A seventeenyearold boy is seduced into a homosexual act. Billy jo struggles with his sexuality after a drunken encounter.
In 1976, the song was adapted to a screenplay and made into the film ode to billy joe. Bobbie gentrys hauntingly enigmatic 1967 hit single served as the inspiration of this story of unrequited teenage love. Jul 27, 20 billy joe mcallister jumped off the bridge because he was struggling with the fact that he was in love with a young girl, but physically attracted to a man. The movie i felt was a bit too afraid to actually deal with billy joes potential gayness, though in leaving room for you to interpret if he was actually gay or perhaps just taken advantage of is also an interesting dynamic either way. The guilt causes him to run away, hide in the woods and eventually confess everything to bobbi lee who doesnt. Ode to billy joe 1976 movie clip your dads in trouble. The movie is based on the hit song made famous by singer bobbie gentry.
Today it remains one of the most popular country songs of all time. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, touching, serious and sentimental films with plots about family relations, love and romance, couples, youth, society, coming of age and parents and children mostly in drama, romance and crime genres. Ode to billy joe 1976 movie robby benson glynnis oconnor. Billy joe is in love with bobbie lee hartley, until he gets drunk one night and has. The song, and the later movie depict characters in chickasaw county, mississippi, and involve a young couples haunting but doomed romance set within places with wonderful, evocative names such as choctaw ridge. In 1953, bobbie lee hartley glynnis oconnor is 15 years old and in love with 18yearold billy joe mcallister robbie benson. In the summer of 1967 country singer bobbie gentry b. The mystery created by bobbie gentry in her debut single ode to billie joe cast a spell over the entire country. Based on bobby gentrys haunting 1967 song, this drama attempts to explain why 17yearold billy joe mcallister jumped off the talahatchie bridge. The film was directed and produced by max baer, jr. The movie promised that what the song didnt tell you, the movie will show you, but it took a surprisingly different turn and changed the spelling of billies name to billy. The story takes place in a small town located on the banks of the tallahatchie river. The movie, like the song, is so simple, so sweet, yet it is as deep, mysterious, and as mystical as the tallahatchie river itself. So i decided to take a trip back to more innocent years and watch ode to billy joe again, 42 years later.
Papa said to mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas, well, billy joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please. Billy joe robby benson loves girl glynnis oconnor in 1953 mississippi. As far as i can determine, the date originated in herman rauchers screenplay. This video isnt an open invitation for homophobes to rant. On the surface, the 1976 movie ode to billy joe seems like a simple teenage love story set in rural mississippi. Now that i know why billy joe mcallister jumped off the tallahatchie bridge, i almost wish i didnt. Even though people know the story is fake, people still insist on asking bobbie what was thrown off the bridge. Bobbie gentry ode to billie joe lyrics genius lyrics. Directed by max baer jr with robby benson, glynnis oconnor, joan hotchkis, sandy mcpeak. This movie resulted some years after bobbie gentrys haunting and enormously popular song of the same name, popular in the late 1960s. Ode to billy joe is a 1976 american drama film with a screenplay by herman raucher, inspired by the 1967 hit song by bobbie gentry, titled ode to billie joe. A drunken encounter traumatizes teenage billy joe robby benson, who loves a girl glynnis oconnor in 1953. It was the third of june, another sleepy, dusty delta day i was out choppin cotton, and my brother was balin hay and at dinner time we stopped and walked back to.