The Ballad of Billie Blue (1972)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Ken Osborne

Writer:

William Kerwin (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Marty Allen
Sherry Bain	...	Reba
Ray Danton
Erik Estrada	...	Justin
John F. Goff		(as Bruce Kimball)
Johnny Green	...	Himself
Bruce Kimball
Jason Ledger	...	Billie Blue
Sherry Miles	...	May Blue

Also Known As:

Jailbreakin'
Star-Crossed Roads (USA)
The Legend of Billie Blue (USA)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G

Company:

B.E. Productions

What A Lesson For Us All

This movie is a true oddity - an early 70's Christian film that warns of the dangers of show biz and evil. Obviously, the fact that a very young Erik Estrada has a small part in it and veteran stand-up comic Marty Allen plays a sleazy press agent gives it some cache in a cult type of way - the movie is a mess but a fun mess. Very funny in an unintentional way - the opening credits have a song that literally explains EVERYTHING that is going to happen in the movie via hokey lyrics AND a quick montage shows Billy Blue quickly becoming a successful Country singer. So by the time the opening credits are done - Billy Blue is singing at a big Hollywood awards show (we know because there is stock footage of an audience at a Hollywood Awards show) but Billy himself is just standing in front of an ugly brown velvet curtain as he sings his big hit (which is supposed to be a country/western song but sounds like Ray Coniff or Perry Como). The film has tons of badly done scenes of show business partying and sinning and the performance by the actress who plays Billy's ungrateful wife, Mae - well, it has to be seen to be believed - she chews up the scenery and then the grass and then the trees, etc. Wow - is she awful. So awful you want to rewind and listen to her line readings again! For fans of bad cheesy movies, Billy Blue is lots of fun. He, of course, learns the evil of his ways, cleans up his life and embraces the Lord Jesus Christ. Good for him. Regardless of the message, the movie is filled with bad acting and creaky dialogue.