“If you got ‘em they sure as hell belong to somebody else”
In a 9 year old orphan, who may or may not be his daughter, Moses Pray finds a kindred spirit. His charming but simple approach to scamming widows works well enough for him, but when he inadvertently gets himself into debt with little Addie, she teaches him a lesson in manipulation. A more efficient con artist than him, Addie becomes invaluable to Moses’ scheme; but with her incessant questioning of how he knew her mother, unapologetic smoking and obsession with Franklin D. Roosevelt, it’s all he can do not to abandon her along the way. And why do people keep saying they have the same jawline?
The chemistry between real life father and daughter, Ryan and Tatum O’Neal is fascinating. They share long scenes of garbled conversation and slyly cast expressions and nods. But by all accounts, they weren’t a close-knit family, Tatum had become estranged from her mother and Ryan hoped they could become closer by working together (1). Yet, when she won Best Supporting Actress at the 1974 Oscars, neither of her parents were there. “I had little sense of accomplishment […] in his eyes I read the truth: deep resentment that his own brilliant performance was being dismissed” (Tatum O’Neal, 1). Many people were also perplexed by her nomination in the Supporting category. No one was less confused than director Peter Bogdanovich who claimed she was on screen for 100 of the 103 minutes.
Joe David Brown’s 1971 novel, Addie Pray, is set in Georgia, but Bogdanovich wanted to avoid false sounding accents and based his film in Kansas and Missouri which were more familiar to him. The decision to film in black and white was to suit the book’s 1935 Great Depression era backdrop, thus evoking a certain bleakness apt for the time. Bogdanovich also worried that putting the O’Neals in colour would make them far too blonde and attractive to be convincing as desperate and penniless (2).
“Maybe I’ll get a new pair of shoes, a nice dress, a few laughs – times are hard.”
It isn’t just the door-to-door cons that provide an amusing if grim sense of place. Brands appear boldly at a time of somewhat stunted consumerism. The cigar box where their profits are kept, the magazines that Addie reads and the radio shows that she listens to are all signs of a faithfully reconstructed period (3). The infuriating and tragic figure of Miss Trixie shows the variations of survival and the whiskey scam tests the limits of the pairs’ powers of smooth-talking. Not to mention, Addie’s chain smoking is shocking by any standards; although the ones Tatum smokes in the film are made of lettuce (4).
This film hadn’t been on my radar at all until this year and I’m really glad I know about it now! Its absurdity is complimented by the genuine concerns over poverty and decency, the O’Neal’s are perfect in their roles as selfish and deceitful yet lovable rogues, and the comedy still lands today. Most people I asked mistook the title for the TV series starring Jodie Foster which was made the following year; but this deserves remembering, not only as its inspiration, but in its own right as a funny, clever and regularly touching piece of movie history.
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Paper Moon. 1974. (Film). Peter Bogdanovich. Dir. USA: The Directors Company
- Bruce Fretts. ‘Why Tatum O’Neal’s 1974 Oscar win was clouded in family drama’. Independent. 24 Jan 2019. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/oscars-tatum-oneal-oscars-paper-moon-history-youngest-winner-a8738481.html?fbclid=IwAR12n7tBaQtZ5uKs2icVL7Eq3m55623T4NeG7B33O71G8l3DtNBljAbuetk
- moviediva. ‘Paper Moon’. moviediva. Nov 2010. http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/reviewpages/MDPaperMoon.htm
- Michael Brooke. ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon…’. Eureka Paper Moon booklet. 2015.
- ‘Paper Moon’. IMDB. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070510/?ref_=ttmi_tt
Paper Moon is available on Blu-Ray and DVD. See Find the Films for where to watch or buy it.
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