The first love of an appealing backwoods couple ends in tragedy in this poignant drama. Billy Joe (Robby Benson) is a rough country boy who courts a young girl, Bobbie Lee (Glynnis O'Connor), over the protests of her father. But their golden romance darkens when secrets from the past result in an act that will hang over this Mississippi Delta town--and the Tallahatchie Bridge. Bobbie Gentry's enigmatic song "Ode to Billy Joe" was the basis for the film's screenplay.