Product Description

Lace up your sneakers and get ready for fast-paced fun with this "first-rate" (The Hollywood Reporter) musical co-starring OscarÂ(r) winner* Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker) and Jim Backus ("Gilligan's Island")! Featuring Duke's "energetic and appealingly innocent" (Films & Filming) performance and memorable music, this "refreshingly unpretentious charmer [is] a fun film from beginning to end" (Citizen-News)! Billie (Duke) is a bright-eyed tomboy whose love of that crazy rock 'n' roll beat helps her outrun the entire high school boys' track team! But while she is winning medals, her father (Backus) is busy campaigning for mayor on a platform of male superiority! And to complicate things even further, Billie's new boyfriend Mike (Warren Berlinger)a fellow team member fearful of being left in the dustwants her to quit the squad forcing Billie to make a decision that could change her life forever! *1962: Supporting Actress, The Miracle Worker

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23098 in DVD
• Brand: DUKE,PATTY
• Released on: 2004-05-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 87 minutes

Customer Reviews

The Girl With the Beat
This is the story of a 15-year-old girl who can outrun all the boys on the track team because she uses "the Beat," the rhythm of rock music in her head to help her run faster. She's invited to be on the boys' track team, to the consternation of the school principal and her father (reliable character actors Richard Deacon and Jim Backus)-especially embarrassing her father, who's running for mayor on what today would be thought of as a "male chauvinist ticket." Dad changes his tune when Billie becomes a track star, but his mayoral opponent has another family secret up his sleeve.

Of course at the end Billie takes the 60s way out and decides she'd rather be a girl than a track star, which infuriates many people, but the film was actually very daring for 1965 with its "everyone should do what they like" theme: no one actually ever coerces Billie to leave the team, not her envious team-mates, or her father, or the boy who wants to be her boyfriend-it's Billie's decision to stop running, not anyone else's.

This is just a nice pleasant rainy Saturday afternoon film with some great character actors, including Jane Greer, who plays Billie's mom who takes her husband with a grain of salt, the aforementioned Jim Backus, who wishes his little girl had been a boy (this leads to a very heart-rending scene where Dad refers to Billie as "son"), Susan Seaforth before she did DAYS OF OUR LIVES, a pre-THAT GIRL Ted Bessell and pre-BEWITCHED Dick Sargent, and Patty Duke as Billie, who actually comes off very natural as a tomboyish girl who feels out of place with everyone. (Her dyed blond hair is a fright, though; how did two brown-haired parents manage to have a blonde daughter anyway?) And of course lots of cool 60s dance scenes and clothes.

One point taken off for the DVD, which uses widescreen for the titles and pan and scan for the rest. It's good quality DVD, but the framing ruins several scenes. Someone must have had the original widescreen print somewhere; why not just transfer that?

BILLIE NOW ON DVD
It's nice to see this wonderful flick on DVD. Starring Academy Award winner PATTY DUKE as Billie Carol, a young gal who scores on the Track Team but feels like a "Lonely Little In Between" in her private life. Ted Bessell plays her young brother in Law, and the wonderful Jim Backus plays her dad. Duke sings three songs in the film - "Funny Little Butterflies" "A Girl is a Girl" and the aforementioned "Lonely Little In Between". Her performance, including her dance routines, are totally enjoyable. She literally sparkles on the screen and it is easy to see how Patty Duke made the transition from child star to teen star to more mature roles. If you are looking for a DVDthe whole family can watch and enjoy,BILLIE would be an excellent choice.A MUST for Duke fans!

HAPPY TIMES!!
This has been a favorite of mine since I first saw it.It is a very happy,upbeat comedy that brings back the happier times in our country. It showcases some fine 60s actors such as Jim Backus and Ted Bessell.Patty Duke is great in this role.A must see.