It was June 1959 when the married Burton Pugach was jilted by his gorgeous young girlfriend — and hired someone to toss lye in her face, blinding the love of his life.

Pugach, whose heinous attack became a tabloid sensation, was jailed for 14 years. Upon his release, Pugach was interviewed on local television — and proposed, on camera, to his blind and disfigured victim, Linda Riss.

Strangely enough, she accepted.

They were pronounced parolee and wife in 1974.

When documentary filmmaker Dan Klores, 57, read a newspaper piece about the pair four years ago, it became his new obsession: the bizarre tale of boy meets girl, boy maims girl, boy marries girl.

The relationship between Pugach and Mrs. Riss is the focus of his latest film, the aptly named “Crazy Love,” which opens in New York June 1 and expands elsewhere in subsequent weeks. The documentary’s biggest fan, in another improbable turn, is Burt Pugach.

“Dan Klores is a genius,” said Pugach, who comes off as corrupt, creepy and controlling during his better moments in the film. “He did an excellent job. For the first time, the story has colors — it was no longer black and white.”

“Crazy Love” is a slice of the city that has lurked somewhere inside Mr. Klores’ subconscious, he said.

“I wasn’t aware it had stayed within me,” Klores said about the Pugachs’ story. “But there was an article on Burt and Linda in the Sunday (New York) Times. And as soon as I saw it, I said, ‘Oh, I remember this. And this is a good story.'”

Burt and Linda showed up at the documentary’s Manhattan premiere and received a rousing ovation when they stood side-by-side in the front of the theater after the credits rolled.

“What Dan Klores did was to point out that I’m not defined — and I shouldn’t be defined — by that single act,” Pugach said in an interview before the premiere. Still, he can’t escape what happened: “Even without the movie, I live with it every day. You can’t hide your past.”