Paper Moon

1973
PG
1h 42m

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

54K

YOUR RATING

Tatum O'Neal and Ryan O'Neal in Paper Moon (1973)

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Play trailer3:56

2 Videos

99+ Photos

Caper Road Trip Comedy Crime Drama

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Director
- Peter Bogdanovich
Writers
- Joe David Brown
- Alvin Sargent
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

54K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Peter Bogdanovich
Writers
- Joe David Brown
- Alvin Sargent
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 9 wins & 10 nominations total

Videos2

Trailer 3:56

Trailer

Clip 1:20

Paper Moon: I Ain't Ready

Clip 1:20

Paper Moon: I Ain't Ready

Photos171

+ 164

More like this

8.0

The Last Picture Show

7.7

What's Up, Doc?

7.4

Targets

7.0

Paper Moon

8.0

A Woman Under the Influence

8.1

8.1

7.4

6.9

7.8

8.1

It Happened One Night

7.6

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Tatum O'Neal was ten years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in this movie, making her the youngest person ever to win an Oscar in a competitive category. As of 2023, she still holds this record. She was four years younger than her rival nominee, Linda Blair, in The Exorcist (1973).

Goofs
Fibber McGee's famous "closet gag", so anticipated by Addie while listening to the radio, didn't start until 1940.

Quotes
Addie Loggins: I want my two hundred dollars.
Moses Pray: I don't have your two hundred dollars no more and you know it.
Addie Loggins: If you don't give me my two hundred dollars I'm gonna tell a policeman how you got it and he'll make you give it to me because it's mine.
Moses Pray: But I don't have it!
Addie Loggins: Then get it!
Cafe Waitress: [walks over after Moses slams his fist on the table] How we doin', Angel Pie? We gonna have a little dessert when we finish up our hot dog?
Addie Loggins: I don't know.
Cafe Waitress: What do you say, Daddy? Why don't we give Precious a little dessert if she eats her dog?
Moses Pray: Her name ain't Precious.

Crazy credits
Special thanks to the people in and around Hays, Kansas and St. Joseph, Missouri

Connections
Edited into The Clock (2010)

Soundtracks
It's Only a Paper Moon
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg and Billy Rose
Performed by Paul Whiteman and Orchestra
Vocal by Peggy Healy

User reviews193

Review

Featured review

8/10

Eternally Ageless & Perpetually Engaging...

Unlike many films of the early 1970s, plenty before and after, viewing this doesn't continually remind you of the time of its creation, but instead deposits you into the age of the Great Depression where your mind resides for the duration.

The development of the relationship between Moses and Addie is near perfect, their capers, scrapes and mischief endearingly conjuring a bond they both desperately need. I didn't expect this to be anything like as engrossing, charming and engaging as it was, perhaps being the father of two daughters with attitude enhanced the experience, but whatever it was left a lasting impression.