Paper Moon

Maverick Hollywood director Peter Bogdanovich affectionately recreates the world of the 1930s Dust Bowl in this beloved, briskly entertaining chronicle of one of cinema’s unlikeliest, and most charming, crime sprees. Real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal (who, at the age of 10, became the youngest-ever Oscar winner for her spark-plug performance) play off each other with almost musical agility as a Bible-hawking con man and the precocious, recently orphaned tomboy who falls into his care—and soon rivals her newfound father figure’s skill as a swindler. With period-perfect detail, glowing monochrome imagery by cinematographer László Kovács, and a memorable supporting cast (including the hilariously inimitable, Oscar-nominated Madeline Kahn), Paper Moon is a witty, loving portrait of two natural-born hustlers on a road trip through Depression-era America. (Dir. by Peter Bogdanovich, 1973, USA, 102 mins., Rated PG)