In East Texas, the summer after high school, Jack falls in love with Ginny, the daughter of the town's banker (Jack's mom's high school sweetheart). Ginny's been at boarding school; she's headed for Vassar. Over her father's strenuous objections, she spends time with Jack. At summer's end, Jack and Ginny elope to Louisiana (where 17-year-olds can marry without their parents' permission), and he gets a job in the oil fields. Her dad hires a menacing private eye to find them, Ginny's pregnant, her town doctor gives her horrible news, and Jack's mom has her own agenda. It seems that Jack and Ginny have grown up under a liar's moon. What will these sweethearts do?
Acting
Baby Matt Dillon's smolder could power the whole oil field.
Production
East Texas humidity practically drips off the screen.
Director
David Fisher
Matt Dillon
Andrew Jackson "Jack" Duncan
Cindy Fisher
Ginny Peterson
Christopher Connelly
Alex Peterson
Hoyt Axton
Cecil Duncan
Margaret Blye
Babs Duncan
Susan Tyrrell
Lora Mae Bouvier
Yvonne De Carlo
Jeanene Dubois
Broderick Crawford
Col. Tubman
Molly McCarthy
Connie Peterson
Jim Greenleaf
Mike Miller
Tonja Walker
Karen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was a CBS late-night movie that somehow got a tiny theatrical release, which explains its jarring mix of TV-movie pacing and genuinely dark subject matter.
The Louisiana marriage loophole was real—teen couples actually fled to border towns like the film depicts, making this a fascinating (if melodramatic) document of pre-Roe reproductive geography.
US
