Film Fest Podcast: Paper Moon
This week Mitch and Chris dip into the festival’s first bit of New Hollywood: the 1973 Peter Bogdonavich con-man film Paper Moon. The film, set in Great Depression-era Kansas, follows confidence man Moses Pray (played by Ryan O’Neal) as he takes the newly-orphaned Addie (played by O’Neal’s real-life daughter Tatum) to live with some of her distant relatives, forming a reluctant bond along the way.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Related Posts
Tags: Film Fest Podcast, film festival, Paper Moon, peter bogdonavich, ryan o'neal, tatum o'neal
June 30th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
I only got through about 2/3s of the movie yesterday before I had to do some other stuff, but I love what I watched. I’ll finish it up tonight and post some comments.
June 30th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
I saw this way back when I was a kid. My Dad was into classic movies and of course he made us watch this one. Great acting and an even better story!
June 30th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
I freaking LOVED this movie. I have a thing for nostalgic 30′s and 40′s type films, so that’s part of it. However, it’s the pacing and delivery of the dialogue that really grabbed me.
Something about that fast con man patter taking place between a kid and an adult really charmed me.
This was a great surprise for me.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:37 pm
“Daddy, I need to go to the shit house.”
Tatum O’Neal is fantastic in this.
Okay, so I wasn’t born early enough to know anything about big stars of the 70s, so seeing Ryan and Tatum O’Neal was a new thing for me. And after the whole Farrah Fawcett cancer ordeal that went on last year, I can finally answer my own question of, “Who the hell is Ryan O’Neal?”
Anyway, the two paired perfectly for this movie and it’s easy to see why it’s so highly acclaimed. The feel is authentic, almost as though it was filmed back in the 30s. And I almost shit when I saw Randy Quaid…
Anyway, as always, great choice, Mitch.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Thank you for putting this film in the festival this year. It was a real treat to watch it for the first time. There was plenty to love, but some things stand out.
In the auto chase, it was amazing to see real actors doing stunts in real vintage cars, all in lens, practically in a single shot. It made my blood pump harder seeing that. I think the early 70s was the only time one could have gotten away with making a movie like that, and I’m so appreciative of it (think of the chase in French Connection, also very ‘real’ especially compared to today, though the CG trend seems to be morphing again back to something more tangible).
Miss O’neal’s performance is quite amazing, but I understand they often did 40-60 takes of a scene, to get her parts right, so it becomes less of an achievement for her in my book, but kudos to Bogdonovich for having the persistence of vision to get that performance out of her, despite the difficulties. I’m glad her dad was nearby too though, given that degree of rigor.
I have avoided this film forever owing to the role Bogdonovich played in the death of Dorothy Stratten. He has no legal responsibility, and I don’t blame him, but his affair with her must realistically be considered one of the triggers that pushed Schnider over the edge (big fan of Star 80 with its well done docu-fakery). His later marriage to her younger sister is, in some ways, more distasteful. There is an argument for treating the artist and their work as separate, but I don’t entirely accept that (and don’t get me started on Polanski).
Still, I’m glad to have finally seen Paper Moon, and really enjoyed it. Despite my issues, it’s an excellent choice.