This write-off is being hosted by susidee 34 and SurgRN911. I want to thank them for their efforts although choosing a movie for the review was more difficult than I thought it would be. I mean if I were Mohammed Ali, there'd be a pretty clear choice but I have yet to find a
biography of my life. I did considered a number of films because they either reflected part of my life or had an effect on my life. Among those movies were:

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES(which I'd already reviewed)
THE GRADUATE(came out the same time I was getting out of college)
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND(because my falterego, Jed P. Fuddplucker is an alien)
HUD (because I swaggered like Newman did after the movie-must have looked like a dork)
FIELD OF DREAMS(I'd lost my father not too long before this movie about Father-Son relationships)
E.T. (because my daughter cried so hard when E.T. died that I thought I was going to be arrested for child abuse)

I chose "The Last Picture Show" because it represents many of the changes that I have gone Through both as a young Texan growing up in a relatively small, dusty town in the '50's as well as periods of my life thereafter. Although set in Texas, the story also represents the changes that our country went through from the 50's to the 70's.

The source material for the movie is the book by Larry McMurtry who is one of America's greatest writers. McMurtry grew up in Archer City, Texas, a small town in North Texas which is called Anarene in the movie. For a while, McMurtry wasn't too popular in Archer City because some folks recognized themselves in the novel and Larry wasn't always flattering.

From the opening scenes of dust blowing down the desolate main street with its one stoplight for the whole town and two local boys being ridiculed by two oldtimers for their team's poor performance in the Friday night's football game, this was my life.

I grew up in Odessa, Texas which was larger than Anarene but just as sandblown; just as dominated by high school football (more so actually); and just as behind the times.

Peter Bogdanovich does a tremendous job of directing the movie in a sensitive way which shows each characters' strengths and weaknesses.

The story centers around two young men and the young woman who is the object of their dreams although she is considered to be "high society" in this one horse town. All three have just graduated from high school and are contemplating what to do with their lives. Timothy
Bottoms, Jeff Bridges and Cybill Sheppard are all outstanding in their performances but the entire cast is terrific.

Ben Johnson, who performed in countless Westerns, portrays Sam, the Lion in this film. He is the conscience of the town and his performance won him an Oscar for best supporting actor. One of the most memorable scenes is when Sam is talking to Sonny (Bottoms) about life while standing near a stock tank. As he talks, the camera slowly pans around the pond and his philosophical banter as well as the beauty black and white photography by Robert Surtees are works of art.

Cloris Leachman also won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role as the forlorn wife of the local football coach who care more about X's and O's than her. We see Cloris's character move from the depths of disparity to the heights of ecstasy and back again in a riveting performance. She and Sonny have a May/November relationship which only she does not see will lead to misery.

When I first saw the film in 1971, I loved it and could more closely identify with the young characters who leave town to work or go the war (Korea). We were still involved in the insanity of the Viet Nam war in which I had lost several friends and when Duane (Bridges) and Sonny say goodbye as Duane goes off to war, I could feel the same heartpangs as when one of my best friends said his last goodbye to me in 1966. The next time I was with my
friend Bobby Eaton, I was carrying his casket.

As I've grown older, I've seen the movie several times, and I now empathize with many of the older characters. Johnson, Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan and Clay Galager all are shown as people who have lived lives full of regrets and shortcomings. None of them are bad people but nearly all of them are sad. Life had not fulfilled their wishes. I'm not saying that I'm sad but I have certainly not accomplished all that I thought I would as an idealistic teen.

Another scene stands out in my memory. The last movie shown at the lone local movie house is "Red River" starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift (in his first movie role).
Bogdanovich was ingeniously showing us a change within the movie about changes. "Red River" symbolizes the change in Hollywood films at least when they were Westerns. Clift
plays a young cowboy who rebels against a harsh, mean John Wayne (not playing the good guy for a change). More importantly, this film was the end of one era and the beginning of another. Specifically, instead of the rough and tumble extrovert of the Western (Wayne), Clift portrays the more soft-spoken, introspective hero that started to dominate Westerns for years to come (High Noon, Shane, The Unforgiven, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence).

A final word and I'll stop. In the mid 90's in Odessa (I didn't leave except for college and law school and two years in Houston), the last and biggest single screen movie theater between Ft. Worth and El Paso closed. The multiplex concept killed it. I had seen some great movies in this comfortable palace known as the Grandview Cinema and I hated to see the place torn down so that a strip mall could be built. For the last two week's of the theater's life, "The Last Picture Show" was the feature film. I took my camera loaded with fast 800 speed film and took several shots of this Black and White classic. Ironically, I won a
local award for best Black and White photography of the scene where Bottoms, Bridges and Sheppard are graduating.

As Red River closed the old theater in the film, "The Last Picture Show" was the last picture shown in this old, beautiful theater; an end to another era.

If you have not had the pleasure of seeing this masterpiece, please rent it and enjoy the days of yesteryear.

Also, please read the other contributors to this writeoff. They are:

3BCoach; artbyjude; BSmith24; bwyckoff1; charles_tatum; cntuar5; deaser26; ed_grover; exbrave; gungian; Ifif1938; jasonkirk; joydrop26; kuuleimomi; lansky2000; & lorace;
Macresarf1; Mets_gal_1; misstaegu; paulbg; pmills1210; pogomom; pyschovant; sparkfan 77; SurgRN911 and susidee 34.

I'm jumping the gun a few hours early as I'm going to in court all day tomorrow in another small West Texas town called Ft. Stockton. Thanks again to susidee34 and SurgRN911.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12