Paper Moon (1973)

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Joe David Brown (novel)
Alvin Sargent (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 May 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

As P.T. Barnum put it, "There's a sucker born every minute."

Plot:

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Plot Keywords:

Bible | Great Depression | Carnival | Con | Con Man

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Ryan O'Neal	...	Moses Pray
Tatum O'Neal	...	Addie Loggins
Madeline Kahn	...	Trixie Delight
John Hillerman	...	Deputy Hardin / Jess Hardin
P.J. Johnson	...	Imogene
Jessie Lee Fulton	...	Miss Ollie
James N. Harrell	...	The Minister (as Jim Harrell)
Lila Waters	...	The Minister's Wife
Noble Willingham	...	Mr. Robertson
Bob Young	...	Gas Station Attendant
Jack Saunders	...	Station Master
Jody Wilbur	...	Cafe Waitress
Liz Ross	...	The Widow Morgan (Pearl)
Yvonne Harrison	...	The Widow Bates (Marie)
Dorothy Price	...	Ribbon Saleslady

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Boca Raton, Florida, USA

Company:

Directors Company, The

Trivia:

Peter Bogdanovich didn't like the title of the novel "Addie Pray", but wasn't sure whether "Paper Moon" was good enough; so he asked his mentor Orson Welles what he thought about it. Welles replied, "That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture, just release the title!"

Goofs:

Continuity: The Sheriff leaves Addy and Mose in his office to go get a cup of coffee at around 5 a.m., but when they run out shortly afterward, it's in clearly much later in day.

Quotes:

Moses Pray: I know a woman who looks like a bullfrog but that don't mean she's the damn thing's mother.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gilmore Girls: New and Improved Lorelai (#6.1)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

The Banks of the Ohio

A Perfect Film

If Hayes, Kansas, and thereabouts...were the perfect locations for Peter Bogdonavich's classic "Paper Moon," then the film itself is the perfect realization of those real places forever etched in celluloid.

Few times will you ever see a film so visually wedded to its locale and cinematic style. In a typical film, you might picture the presentation of the movie working in a number of ways, but in "Paper Moon," it will forever seem like it could only have been done this way...on location, in black and white, and photographed like moving Andrew Wyeth shots of Americana.

Tatum O' Neal is terrific and justifiably won an Oscar for her part, but Ryan is wonderful as well....funny in that exasperated manner that Bud Abbott is, and the quality goes right down to the smallest bit player in the cast.

A perfect film would have great acting, great visuals and utilization of music, a superb story and lines that have you repeating them for years. Welcome to "Paper Moon." I can't recommend this blend of comedy and drama enough. A modern classic.