DIRECTOR: Max Baer

BOTTOM LINE: Why did Billy Joe McAllister jump off the Tallahassee Bridge? Unfortunately, in the summer of 1976, the mystery was “solved” by actor turned director Max Baer (formerly Jethro in “The Beverly Hillbillies”) whether we liked it or not. The answer: because he slept with a man. Robby Benson is not bad as the unfortunate title character. However, “Ode to Billy Joe” is reductive and backward-looking. The final scene can only be described as outrageous.

POST TITLE: Twenty-Seven Queer Films 1967-1976. Queer Cinema Comes Out

CATEGORY: My Favorites

SUBCATEGORY: Queer Film

STREAMING: Amazon Prime and Apple TV