The Last Picture Show. 1971. USA. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Screenplay by Larry McMurtry, Bogdanovich, based on the novel by McMurtry. With Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman. 118 min.
In Larry McMurtry's novel, set in Anarene, Texas in the early 1950s, Peter Bogdanovich located the perfect canvas for his signature tone of mournful melancholy. Photographed in stark black and white by Robert Surtees, the film traces the desperate romantic entanglements of teenagers Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), Duane (Jeff Bridges), and Jacy (Cybill Shepherd) against a backdrop of desolation and decline. Bogdanovich links the principal adult characters, especially Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson, who won an Oscar alongside Cloris Leachman for her portrayal of the lonely Ruth Popper), with the fading spirit of a weathered, diminished Old West. The narrative culminates with Sonny and Duane attending a screening of Howard Hawks's Red River, a film whose mythic vision of Texas stands in stark contrast to the desperate affairs, petty gossip, and everyday tragedies depicted here. Columbia Pictures, initially hesitant about such an uncommercial project, found itself with an acclaimed critical triumph that garnered eight Academy Award nominations and helped establish the studio's renewed commitment to director-driven filmmaking, helping to establish an American New Wave.