Like many reviewers, I saw this in a drive-in 1974. I never forgot it, found it on YouTube (uncut version!), and watched it today.This film has numerous flaws: questionable writing, some very stilted acting, over-long scenes in dire need of editing, clichéd tropes, occasional sub-standard camera work, but...There is something unforgettable about this film. Perhaps it has a nostalgia factor for us Baby Boomers, and I don't know if first-time younger viewers would find it equally as moving. 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). She has a quiet, luminous quality that's rarely captured on screen. She barely speaks throughout the film, yet brings so much emotion via body language and expressive use of her eyes. 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. I did, and found it a rewarding experience.

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. He's going out with teen queen Pamela Sue Martin and they're considered a golden couple in the town. Joan Goodfellow is Billie, a sweet girl of easy virtue raised by some real white trash parents. She's popular too in a different way as the boys her town get to bleed the old lizard with her help.Vincent and Goodfellow in a most improbable romance fall for each other. 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. Both grow as individuals until tragedy for a lot of the cast strikes.Buster And Billie had one element of the plot I didn't really care for. Goodfellow's parents are not churchgoers and it's implied that she's the way she is because of her lack of religious upbringing. This film was set around 1948 and made in 1974 and that still might have been something you could sell the movie-going public then. I think too much has happened in the interim that dates that portion of the film. 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.

I also subscribe to the views of other IMDB writers concerning this film. BUSTER AND BILLIE made an enormous impression on my consciousness as a film viewer. I first saw it years ago, very late at night. Being teenaged at the time, this story of unconventional love in 1948 Georgia proved to be thoroughly eye-opening. 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. Their belief in the love of these two characters is reflected in their acting, reactions, and the little moments that these characters share. I have to admit that I have seen the film many times, but it is never a boring or predictable experience, even though one has knowledge of how it ends.While this film has been described as cliched and a film with only a desparate appeal to oversexed teenagers, this is simply not true. It tells a good story beautifully, with great acting, and period atmosphere. If only the films of the 1990s and the 2000s could be like this.

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). This just added to the pain.... I bawled my eyes out for about 10-15 whole minutes AFTER the movie had already ended and was turned off. I wept so loudly and couldn't control my crying eyes whatsoever. My housemates laughed at me, but it was an affectionate laugh. They had also been affected by the movie, but not to my extent. The story is SO SAD. SO SAD!!! The saddest story EVER!As much as I loved the movie, I will never watch it again, even though I taped it. It is just too sad and I don't want to go through all that bawling and crying again. This is most emotionally draining, saddest movie I have ever seen. Be prepared to cry your eyes out with this one.