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:

Adapted from the novel, "Addie Pray" (1971) by Joe David Brown, PAPER MOON is the story of Moses Pray and Addie Loggins...

Plot Keywords:

Precocious Child | Across State Lines | Nostalgic | Con Man | Bible

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

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Boca Raton, Florida, USA

Company:

Directors Company, The

Trivia:

The scene in which Addie says, "I want my $200!" shows the Dream Theatre's marquee displaying _Steamboat Around the Bend (1935)_ placing the film in 1935.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Mose and Addy are agreeing to meet after they arrive in St. Joseph, he tells her to meet him on the 'Corner of East Wearing and Burlington.' There is no Wearing, (east or west) or Burlington in St. Joseph, MO. The streets in downtown St. Joseph, MO are numbered and/or named after the children of St. Joseph's founder, Joseph Robidoux.

Quotes:

Addie Loggins: [about Trixie Delight] She always has to go to the bathroom. She must have a bladder the size of a peanut.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Soundtrack:

After You've Gone

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.