If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band
1972Life in a black ghetto isn't easy for 14-year-old Billie Jean Sims, who has a father in jail, a blind grandmother, and a brother with a drug habit. Growing up among drug pushers, prostitutes, and pimps, Billie Jean still has some things going for her: fierce pride, a loyal friend named Fish, and, at last, enough savings to visit her father 1200 miles away in prison.
Acted in
Donna M. Bryan
as Billie Jean Sims
James Broderick
as Trick
Georgia Burke
as Grannie
Laurence Fishburne
as Fish
Sonny Jim Gaines
as Mr. Sims
Arthur French
as Customer
Moses Gunn
as Mr. Miller
Albert Hall
as T-Bone Sims
Dots Johnson
as Jim
John Marriott
as Jessie
George Miles
as Shake-a-Hand
Haywood Nelson
as Ronnie
Jim Pelham
as Eddie
Joseph Ray
as Walkin' Willie
Dick Sabol
as Prison Guard