Last Picture Show

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The Last Picture Show

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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 bookSonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms): Duane's buddy, who starts the novel with a girlfriend he doesn't like and ends up in an affair with RuthJacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd): a pretty and popular girl who sleeps aroundLois 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 AbileneAbilene (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 LoisRuth Popper (Cloris Leachman): the wife of Coach Popper, has a romantic affair with SonnyCoach Popper (Bill Thurman): the high school's athletic coach, implied to be homosexual

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.