b'o u rh i s t o r yB ig time Hollywood producers showed up at themothers blue Ford station wagon, and the four go onSonic Drive-In in Flour Bluff, which was next door to newly opened Flour Bluff Junior High School inthe lamb, knowing that police will be hot on their trail. the original Benjamins on SPIDa divided highway the spring of 1984 looking for kids interested,The foursome break into the mansion located at theback then, not a freeway. In the drive-in scene at the with their parents permission, in working as extras oncorner of Ocean Drive and Doddridge (the one withbeginning of the film, you can see the Pizza Hut and a movie to be filmed in the area. Participants had to bethe pillars, not the castle house), and while the housethe old Sambos (now Taqueria Jalisco) across the road.willing to have their hair cut, and the pay started at $60appeared empty, they are soon discovered by Lloyd, per daybig bucks to a 14-year-old in 1984. the college-aged son of the homes owner, who hap- Much of the film took place at Dockside in Flour Bluff, The Legend of Billie Jean was the first screenplay thatpens to be the Texas Attorney General. Having seenthe oldest surf shop in Texas, which in the film was po-became a feature film for the writing team of Markthe outlaws on TV news broadcasts, and not unaffect- sitioned a few blocks from the beachin fact, Padre Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner, who went on to writeed by Billie Jeans striking beauty, Lloyd is sympathetic. Balli Park (where Bob Hall Pier is located) is ten miles Star Trek VI, Superman IV, Planet of the Apes, The Bever- The films most memorable scene is the emergenceaway,onNorthPadreIsland.Outdoorsceneswere ly Hillbillies, Flicka, and other major movies. The filmof the transformed Billie Jean, with a chopped, spikystagedwiththeJFKCausewayinthebackground, is about siblings Billie Jean and Binx Davy, two highhaircut, and fightin outfit that started as a pink on tur- the Harbor Bridge, and even the grain elevator on the school kids growing up with their divorced mother atquoise wetsuit. Lloyd films Billie Jeans statement ofnorth side of the Port of Corpus Christi.the Breeze Haven trailer park in Flour Bluff, who end upinnocence and defiance, declaring, Fair is fair!theThe movie reminds old timers that the shopping mall in a skirmish with the son of a surf shop owner. films original title. Hundreds of kids work together tohierarchy used to be reversedSunrise was the nice Hubie and his gang trash Binxs prized Honda Elitehelp their new heroine and her band of noble outlawsmall, where all the kids hung out. Padre-Staples Mall scooter, and Billie Jean heads to the shop locals knowrun from the cops, now led personally by the Attorney(now La Palmera) was where Grandma went, and was as Dockside to confront his dad about the $608 repairGeneral, whose son is pretending to be kidnapped byfalling apart. How that world has changed!bill. The lecherous shop owner tries to put the movesthe gang in an effort to stay at Billie Jeans side.on teenage Billie Jean, and Binx shows up with a silverThe Legend of Billy Jean is a running tour of CorpusHundreds of extras gathered on the beach, at Padre revolver, shooting him in the shoulder in defense of hisChristi in the early 80s. The Breeze Haven trailer parkBalli Park, for the films climactic closing scene, a place big sister. The pair race back to Breeze Haven, wherelocation is on Wheeler Avenue in Aransas Pass, but ishard to recognize today for all its changes. Join us for a the daughters of the park manager commandeer theirlocated in the film around the corner from the originalquick photo tour of The Legend of Billie Jean!106THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'