Learning at the knees of the masters through his extensive interviews with John Ford, Howard Hawks and others from Hollywood’s Golden Age, film journalist Peter Bogdanovich was given an opportunity most critics dream of – to be able to step into the shoes of those they crticize to prove they know of what they speak. As a director, he did not disappoint, his first film a social commentary on the violence portrayed in the medium and its effects (“Targets”), his follow-up an elegiac look at a dying small town and its inhabitants (“The Last Picture Show”) and his third effort, an unabashed homage to the screwball comedies of the 1930’s (“What’s Up Doc?”)
Disproving the notion that good things only come in threes, Bogdanovich’s fourth film proved to be a classic as well. “Paper Moon” not only takes place in the 1930’s but looks as if it was made in that era as well. Sporting the crisp black and white cinematography of Laszlo Kovacs, the film follows the exploits of Moses Pray (Ryan O’Neal), a traveling grifter with no scruples, and Addie Loggins (Tatum O’Neal), a wily nine-year-old girl who’s smarter than he is and may be his daughter. Together, they veer about Kansas towards Missouri, where the girl will be left with an aunt she barely knows. Along the way, they dupe unwitting widows into buying bibles their husbands, Moses claims, had ordered for them. Addie learns the tricks of this trade and a few other cons as well, proving a worthy compliment to Moses’ small-time enterprise. Growing close to this father figure, Addie is threatened when he picks up carnival dancer Trixie Delight (Madeline Kahn) and her assistant Imogene (P.J. Johnson), the pair draining away the nest egg, the pair have accumulated.
There’s a sense of intimacy and grandeur at play, Moses and Addie set against the rolling plains of the Midwest throughout, the quiet vistas not so much dwarfing the pair as much as sheltering them. Though the soundtrack of hits from the era are memorable, there are many quiet moments of contemplation as well, each of the two leads considering their relationship to one another as well as their uncertain future.
Kahn, as in everything she appeared in, is a delight. Bawdy yet vulnerable, her Trixie dominates the second act, so much so that it comes as no surprise that the film falters a bit once she’s out of the picture. Be that as it may, the O’Neals are captivating throughout, Ryan giving arguably his best performance. Wisely, he doesn’t try to compete with his daughter, but plays off her to great effect, his reactions to her and all the chaos she brings, at perfect pitch.
It’s no surprise Tatum took home the Oscar for her supporting performance. There’s an assuredness about her that many performers twice her age and older never master. Never consciously cute or mannered in any way, she projects a sense of intelligence that seems natural, but never allows us to forget that Addie is also a scared, hurt little girl in search of a sense of stability.
The Criterion Collection edition comes with both a Blu-Ray and 4K disc, the latter providing a degree of astonishing clarity that does justice to Kovacs’ work. Supplements include an essay by critic Mark Harris, a three-part making-of documentary with Bogdanovich, production designer Polly Platt, producer Frank Marshall and Kovacs, an insightful archive interview with Platt and excerpts from “The Tonight Show” featuring the director and the O’Neals regaling Johnny Carson with anecdotes about the making of the movie.
As usual, this is a package of the highest quality from Criterion and a worthy companion to Bogdanovich’s other seminal works, “Targets” and “Picture Show,” which were both recently added to the collection.
