Cinema: In the Pawpaw Patch

BUSTER AND BILLIE

Directed by DANIEL PETRIE Screenplay by RON TURBEVILLE

This is a wistful little period piece about a gang bang. The film makers —and especially the screenwriter, who based his script on real people from his high school days—wax nostalgic for delicate love and ruined innocence. These commodities were evidently to be found right after World War II down in rural Georgia, where some kids on the way to being good ole boys conduct puberty rites by jumping on the acquiescent body of Billie (Joan Goodfellow). Acquiescent, but not responsive. As the fellows wriggle and writhe, Billie lies there, face turned...