Paper Moon
Screening on Film
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
With Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, Madeline Kahn.
US, 1973, 35mm, black & white, 102 min.
Print source: Paramount Pictures
With Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, Madeline Kahn.
US, 1973, 35mm, black & white, 102 min.
Print source: Paramount Pictures
Ryan and Tatum O’Neal play a father-daughter con artist team traveling through the Depression-era Dust Bowl, fleecing widows and swindling shopkeepers, in this touching tragi-comedy. Shot in striking black and white by iconic cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, Paper Moon pays distinct homage to the work of two of Bogdanovich’s heroes – John Ford in its rural American setting and Howard Hawks in its dark humor and cynical worldview. Deeply moving without straying into sentimentality – thanks in large part to Tatum O’Neal’s characterization of Addie as resolutely wise beyond her years – Paper Moon is a poignant highlight in Bogdanovich’s early career.