Description: Adapted from the novel "Addie Pray" by Joe David Brown, PAPER MOON is set in the Midwest during the Great Depression, and follows the story of Moses Pray (Ryan O’Neal), a happy-go-lucky con artist who travels through the Midwest on a mission to swindle money out of innocent widows. While attending a friend’s funeral, Pray is called upon by two elderly ladies to deliver the daughter of the deceased, Addie (Tatum O’Neal), to her aunt in Missouri. Soon learning that the 9-year-old is almost as mischievous and manipulative as he is, Pray and Addie develop a father and daughter routine that increases their credibility as well as their income. Now, the devious duo set out on a series of misadventures involving crooked cops, bootleggers, grieving widows and a Carney dancer named Miss Trixie Delight (Kahn) who adds a little spice to their routine.
Amazon.com: A sweet and subtle gem of a movie. Newly orphaned Addie (Tatum O'Neal) falls into the care of small-time con artist Moses Pray (Ryan O'Neal, Tatum's real-life father) and turns out to be better at grifting than he is. Set in Depression-era Kansas, Paper Moon is a miracle of unity. The set design and cinematography combine to give both the flavor of documentary photos and the visual quality of movies from the period, and every performance meshes with the overall tone of sincerity, earnest optimism, and creeping desperation. The rapport between Addie and Moses is phenomenal--and being father and daughter doesn't make that a sure thing. Ryan O'Neal gives a truly great performance (perhaps the only one of his career) and Tatum won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (she's the youngest winner in history). Madeline Kahn was also nominated for her wonderfully funny and sad turn as an exotic dancer named Trixie Delight. Paper Moon has a miraculous combination of outrageous sentimentality and pragmatic cynicism; the result is genuinely touching. One of director Peter Bogdanovich's best films, and kind of a comic companion piece to The Last Picture Show. --Bret Fetzer
Paper moon Tatam and Ryan O'neal are both great in this movie, Tatum(for her age at the time) is soooo grown up.
Great movie...fun extras I came acrosst this movie late one night on cable, and it is now one of my favorites. Tatum O'neal is wonderful. There are some great extra's on the DVD as well.
Bogdanovich's Affectionate Depression-Era Road Movie Boasts the O'Neals at Career Peaks Nine-year-old Addie Loggins is the centerpiece of Peter Bogdanovich's affectionate 1973 comedy set during the depths of the Great Depression. The filmmaker was on a roll at the time as he made the coming-of-age saga, 1971's The Last Picture Show, and the screwball throwback, 1972's What's Up, Doc?, in quick succession. Cineaste that he is, Bogdanovich filmed this episodic, character-driven comedy deliberately in black and white, inspired by classics as diverse as Charlie Chaplin's The Kid, Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thieves and even John Ford's The Searchers. The result is charming if a bit overlong for the simple story being told. As the film opens in Kansas, Addie just lost her mother, and she is to be taken to live with relatives in Missouri. Enter traveling Bible salesman Moses Pray, a small-time grifter who bilks recent widows out of cash under the pretense that their late husbands had ordered personalized Bibles before their deaths. As a chronic womanizer, he knew Addie's free-living mother and promises to take her to her relatives after he extorts $200 from a local business owner.
The rest of the story is an entertaining road movie centered on the evolving relationship between Moses and Addie as she shows to have a greater gift for scams than he does. A tough-talking smoker who loves radio, Addie is a tomboy frequently mistaken for a boy, while Moses constantly resists his paternal feelings toward her even though they are kindred spirits. Complications occur first with the appearance of a tawdry carnival stripper named Trixie Delight, who threatens to come between Moses and Addie, and then with a bootlegger and his look-alike sheriff brother, who are in hot pursuit over a scam around crates of illegal whiskey. As Addie, Tatum O'Neal still has the distinction of being the youngest actor to win a competitive Oscar, and in her film debut, her unprecocious performance reflects refreshingly confident work from a child. Perhaps fearful that his daughter was stealing the movie, a well-founded fear it turns out, her father Ryan does some of his best screen work as Moses, better cast here than as bumbling musicologist Howard Bannister in "What's Up, Doc?".
As she proved with her hilarious portrayal of Howard's persnickety fiancée Eunice in "What's Up, Doc?", Madeline Kahn is an unparalleled scene-stealer as Trixie, especially as she tries to coax a belligerent Addie off a grassy hilltop. Just before peaking in Mel Brooks' farces and reunited with the elder O'Neal, Kahn shows what she can do to maximize less than half-hour of screen time. Almost as funny is the eye-rolling cynicism of P.J. Johnson as Trixie's indentured servant Imogene. The 2003 DVD has two substantial extras. First, Bogdanovich offers a full-length commentary full of his personal remembrances and sharing a deep well of cinematic knowledge. The second is Laurent Bouzereau's "The Making of Paper Moon", an exhaustive making-of featurette divided into three parts, which covers all aspects of the film's development and production and includes comments from Bogdanovich, his then-wife Polly Platt who did the production design, cinematographer László Kovács, and producer Frank Marshall.
Yes Folks, Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee... And let's Have Another Piece Of Pie. In 1971 Peter Bogdanavich gave us the superlative, The Last Picture Show. With a cast of virtual new commers, Timothy Bottoms, Cybil Sheapred, Jeff Bridges and Randy Quaid, Bogdanavich caught lightening in a jar. Then in 1973 he choose to pair father and daughter, Ryan and Tatum O'Neil to give us one of the seventies most memerable movies, Paper Moon.
The Last Picture Show was a glimpse into the lives of lonely and misbegotten characters, living in a down-and-out, oil-bust Texas town. They're all waiting for that last flicker of hope to shine before the camara winds down and the the movie house goes dark. Paper Moon explores the incredible journey of two unlikely souls adrift in the American heartland during the depths of the great depression. The background sounds of radio broadcasts connects the viewer with the popular figures of the times. The voices of Jack Benny and Fred Allen along with the music of Ozzie Nelson, Paul Whiteman and Tommy Dorsey all remind us of the innocence of the day. The voice of "Frankie Roosevelt" tells us of the hard times Americans faced amid sky-high unemployment, record drought and even bank failures. As in The Last Picture Show, Bogdanavich knows exactly how to integrate the background "radio chatter" into the scene with perfection.... "Yes Folks"!!! "let's have another cup of coffee....And let's have another piece of pie". For Addie and Moze that next cup of coffee is a sleepy little town out across a dusty corn field. And that next piece of pie is some poor, unsuspecting widow waiting with false hope and a kind heart.
Easily two of my favorite movies, The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon are absolutely brilliant. Kudos to Peter Bagdanvich for such picture perfect and finely crafted motion pictures. Surely he caught lightening in a jar yet again. My only hope is that he has at least one more up his sleeve before he packs it all in. Bravo!!! and Thank you Mr. Bogdanavich!!!
P.S. A little triva...Who's the only actor or actress who had parts in both films?
A Cute Movie Paper Moon is a technically excellent black and white film about a depression era con artist and his supposed daughter. Actually, con artist is probably too generous of a term. Although released in the same year, Paper Moon is not The Sting. Paper Moon is about low-level cons more akin to carney swindles where being fleet afoot is a prerequisite.
The publicity device for paper Moon is that the father and daughter are played by Ryan O'Neal and his daughter, Tatum O'Neal. Tatum not only stole scenes from her father, she won the Oscar for best supporting actress. (This is the same year that The Sting won Best Picture and Best Director.)
This is still an entertaining film about the developing relationship between a precocious young girl and her ne'er-do-well father. The special features are worth a watch, especially if black and white photography is of interest. The Shut Mouth Society The Shopkeeper
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
