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Storyline
Adapted from the novel, "Addie Pray" (1971) by Joe David Brown, PAPER MOON is the story of Moses Pray and Addie Loggins. With scenery reminiscent of "The Grapes of Wrath," the film is set in the depression-era Midwestern region of the United States. As the movie opens, we see a small group of mourners clustered at a graveside. Among the mourners is Addie, the dead woman's small daughter. Moses Pray -- ostensibly of the "Kansas Bible Company" -- approaches the group, as the service concludes, and two of the elderly women remark that the child bears some resemblance to him and asks if he might be related. "If ever a child needed kin, it's now," one lady says. With no knowledge of who her father is, Addie's only haven is her Aunt's home in St. Joseph, Missouri. Having identified himself as a "traveling man spreading the Lord's gospel in these troubled times," "Mose" is prevailed upon to deliver the helpless child to her Aunt since he's going that way, anyway. Addie, wise beyond her years... Written by
MARK FLEETWOOD <mfleetwo@mail.coin.missouri.edu>
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Taglines:
As P.T. Barnum put it, "There's a sucker born every minute."
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Peter Bogdanovich didn't like the title of the novel "Addie Pray", but wasn't sure whether "Paper Moon" was good enough; so he asked his mentor
Orson Welles what he thought about it. Welles replied, "That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture, just release the title!"
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Goofs
When Addie is listening to Jack Benny on the radio, Benny can be heard referencing his famous feud (it was a fake feud) with Fred Allen. This film takes place in 1935 but the "feud" did not start until 1937.
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Quotes
[
first lines]
The Minister:
Judge me, oh Lord, for I have lost in mine integrity. I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, oh Lord, and prove me. Try my reins and my heart, for Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in Thy truth.
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Crazy Credits
Special thanks to the people in and around Hays, Kansas and St. Joseph, Missouri
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Connections
Followed by
Paper Moon (1974)
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Soundtracks
My Mary
(1941) (uncredited)
Written by
Jimmie Davis and
Stuart Hamblen
Performed by
Jimmie Davis See more »
If Hayes, Kansas, and thereabouts...were the perfect locations for Peter Bogdonavich's classic "Paper Moon," then the film itself is the perfect realization of those real places forever etched in celluloid.
Few times will you ever see a film so visually wedded to its locale and cinematic style. In a typical film, you might picture the presentation of the movie working in a number of ways, but in "Paper Moon," it will forever seem like it could only have been done this way...on location, in black and white, and photographed like moving Andrew Wyeth shots of Americana.
Tatum O' Neal is terrific and justifiably won an Oscar for her part, but Ryan is wonderful as well....funny in that exasperated manner that Bud Abbott is, and the quality goes right down to the smallest bit player in the cast.
A perfect film would have great acting, great visuals and utilization of music, a superb story and lines that have you repeating them for years. Welcome to "Paper Moon." I can't recommend this blend of comedy and drama enough. A modern classic.