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 Randy Quaid Peter Bogdanovich (voice)
Release date(s)	October 3, 1971
Running time	USA 118 Min USA 126 Min Director's Cut
Language	English
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 (November 1951 - November 1952), it is about the coming of age of two young men, best friends Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges).

Cybill Shepherd 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 movie also features Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms, Sharon Ullrick, Randy Quaid and John Hillerman.

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.

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.

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. This movie ranked number 19 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.)

[edit] Trivia

• Save for the closing credits, all the music in the film is being played on either record players, radios or television sets or by live performers. A large proportion of the compositions are by Hank Williams.

• Almost all the camera shots are at eye level.

• Director Bogdanovich brought many of the lead actors back together to reprise their roles in Texasville, a 1990 sequel set in the same town thirty years later. This film is also based on a McMurtry novel of the same name.

• This was Cybill Shepherd's film debut.

• Larry McMurtry's novel has been followed by three sequels: Texasville, Duane's Depressed, and When The Light Goes. The latter two have not yet been produced as films.

[edit] Reference

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

• The Last Picture Show (1971) at the Internet Movie Database
• YouTube
• YouTube-The end

Films Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Targets • Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women • The Last Picture Show • What's Up, Doc? • Paper Moon • Daisy Miller • At Long Last Love • Nickelodeon • Saint Jack • They All Laughed • Mask • Illegally Yours • Texasville • Noises Off  • The Thing Called Love • The Cat's Meow • Hustle • Infamous