The Last Picture Show

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The Last Picture Show

original movie poster
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Produced by Stephen J. Friedman
Written by Larry McMurtry
Peter Bogdanovich
Starring Timothy Bottoms
Jeff Bridges
Cybill Shepherd
Ben Johnson
Cloris Leachman
Ellen Burstyn
Eileen Brennan
Randy Quaid
Peter Bogdanovich (voice)
Editing by Donn Cambern
Release date(s) October 3, 1971
Running time USA 118 Min Edited
USA 126 Min Director's Cut
Language English
Followed by Texasville
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Last Picture Show is a 1971 film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a 1966 novel by Larry McMurtry.

Set in the semi-fictitious town of Anarene, Texas in the early 1950s, it is about the coming of age of two young men, best friends Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges).

Cybill Shepherd, making her screen debut, plays Duane's girlfriend Jacy Farrow, and their friend and mentor Sam the Lion, owner of the town's only movie theater, is played by Ben Johnson. The film also features Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms, Sharon Ullrick, Randy Quaid and John Hillerman.

Contents

[edit] Production

The screenplay was adapted by James Lee Barrett, Peter Bogdanovich, Larry McMurtry and Polly Platt (uncredited) from the novel of the same name by McMurtry. It was the first successful film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, who had already built a reputation as a film critic. It was filmed in black and white by cinematographer Robert Surtees at the suggestion of Orson Welles.[1] It was filmed in Archer City, Texas.

Several Hank Williams songs were used to set the mood.

After shooting the film, Bogdanovich went back to Los Angeles to edit the film on a Moviola. In the 1999 documentary, The Last Picture Show: A Look Back, Bogdanovich said that he edited the entire film but that he refused to credit himself as editor, reasoning that director and co-writer was enough. When informed that the Motion Picture Editors Guild required crediting an editor, he suggested Donn Cambern who had been editing another film in the next office over and had helped Bogdanovich with some purchasing paperwork.[2] In the same documentary, Cybill Shepherd said that when she went to stay with Bogdanovich during that time, it was disappointing because he was too busy editing the film.[3]

[edit] Accolades

The Last Picture Show won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ben Johnson) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Leachman). It was also nominated in the categories for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Bridges), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Burstyn), Best Cinematography (Surtees), Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

In 1998, The Last Picture Show was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It also ranked number 19 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[4] In 2007, the film was ranked #95 on the American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary Edition of the 100 greatest American films of all time.

[edit] Characters

Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson)
owns the town's cafe, movie theater and pool hall. He bets on the football team even though they are terrible. Sam symbolizes the town's conscience, punishing the kids, for example, when they treat a developmentally disabled kid poorly
Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges)
one of the popular kids in the school, dates Jacy at the beginning of the book
Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms)
Duane's buddy, who starts the novel with a girlfriend he doesn't like and ends up in an affair with Ruth
Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd)
a pretty and popular girl who sleeps around
Lois Farrow (Ellen Burstyn)
Jacy's mother, who criticizes her for dating Duane. In her younger days, she dated Sam. Has off-and-on love affair with Abilene
Abilene (Clu Gulager)
the same age as Sam, but in many ways Sam's opposite. He bets against the town's football team, sleeps with both Jacy and Lois
Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman)
the wife of Coach Popper, has a romantic affair with Sonny
Coach Popper (Bill Thurman)
the high school's athletic coach, implied to be homosexual

[edit] Sequel

The Last Picture Show is followed by the sequel Texasville (1990) based on McMurtry's 1987 novel. The film was also directed by Peter Bogdanovich (who also wrote the screenplay without McMurtry this time). The film reunites actors Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Timothy Bottoms and much of the original cast.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Peter Bogdanovich. (1999). The Last Picture Show: A Look Back [DVD].
  2. ^ Turner Classic Movies. Notes for The Last Picture Show (1971)
  3. ^ Peter Bogdanovich, Cybill Shepherd. (1999). The Last Picture Show: A Look Back [DVD].
  4. ^ Countdown: The 50 best high school movies | Photo Gallery | News | Entertainment Weekly

Book: McMurtry, Larry. The Last Picture Show: A Novel. New York, Dial Press, 1966. (Simon and Schuster reprint) ISBN 0-684-85386-8

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Films Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Targets (1968) • Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)  • The Last Picture Show (1971)  • What's Up, Doc? (1972) • Paper Moon (1973) • Daisy Miller (1974) • At Long Last Love (1975) • Nickelodeon (1976) • Saint Jack (1979) • They All Laughed (1981) • Mask (1985) • Illegally Yours (1988) • Texasville (1990) • Noises Off (1992) • The Thing Called Love (1993) • The Cat's Meow (2001) • Hustle (2004) • Runnin' Down A Dream (2007)