The Last Picture Show

[iamwhatiseem]

One good thing about Hollywood droning out 25 to 1 garbage films, you spend time looking at old movies.
I had seen parts of this movie a few times on regular TV, but it never really captured my attention. Perhaps due to 45 commercial interruptions.
Anyway... we watched it last night.
This is a great movie.
I had no idea it had so much nudity, that was a surprise.
It is a simple story of a couple teens growing up in a a dying small town. Sounds boring, but the quality of the writing/acting as well as a solid storyline keeps you easily interested.

Not to be missed...

 

[DudleySmith]

Had a lot of great actors in it, and very good writing, too. There wasn't a bad actor anywhere in the movie, a relatively low budget one to boot. It was one of Bogdanivitch's better directing efforts. They managed to get the accents close as well, always a plus for movies about Texas or the South in general. I've always hated Giant because of the stupid accents ruining the picture.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

One good thing about Hollywood droning out 25 to 1 garbage films, you spend time looking at old movies.
I had seen parts of this movie a few times on regular TV, but it never really captured my attention. Perhaps due to 45 commercial interruptions.
Anyway... we watched it last night.
This is a great movie.
I had no idea it had so much nudity, that was a surprise.
It is a simple story of a couple teens growing up in a a dying small town. Sounds boring, but the quality of the writing/acting as well as a solid storyline keeps you easily interested.

Not to be missed...

Larry McMurtry, the author of the book from which this film is derived, who just died in March, was amazingly astute when crafting his characters. I've read every one of his books and never get tired of rereading them. One of my favorite films ever. I think the film makers were completely true to McMurtry's vision.

Thanks for the nudge, iamwhatiseem. I just went to Amazon and got "The Last Picture Show" on DVD. I also found and purchased three McMurtry books that I had never seen before, so I have to take back my claim that I had read all of them.

 

[whitehall]

Fashion model Cybil Shepard was overrated as an actress. The movie was depressing. They did a remake (I forget the title) equally depressing.

 

[lg325]

I believe it was supposed to set the mood of dreary depression because the town was dying and there was no future there and the characters were grasping to whatever happiness and memories they could before the town and life they knew vanished.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I believe it was supposed to set the mood of dreary depression because the town was dying and there was no future there and the characters were grasping to whatever happiness and memories they could before the town and life they knew vanished.

Exactly.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Fashion model Cybil Shepard was overrated as an actress. The movie was depressing. They did a remake (I forget the title) equally depressing.

The movie was supposed to be depressing.

Do you mean the follow-up, "Texasville"? I agree it was a flop.

 

[Flopper]

One good thing about Hollywood droning out 25 to 1 garbage films, you spend time looking at old movies.
I had seen parts of this movie a few times on regular TV, but it never really captured my attention. Perhaps due to 45 commercial interruptions.
Anyway... we watched it last night.
This is a great movie.
I had no idea it had so much nudity, that was a surprise.
It is a simple story of a couple teens growing up in a a dying small town. Sounds boring, but the quality of the writing/acting as well as a solid storyline keeps you easily interested.

Not to be missed...

It is truly a great movie. When I was kid, I lived in a small Texas town that was dying for about 2 years and this movie certainly brought back memories. The movie is a sad but moving classic filled with great performances. Peter Bogdanovich made excellent use of its period and setting to create a masterpiece. However, I don't think most movie goers would like this movie.

 

[Flopper]

Fashion model Cybil Shepard was overrated as an actress. The movie was depressing. They did a remake (I forget the title) equally depressing.

Yes, it was depressing, as many classics.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

It is easy for younger generations to not understand how life was for people pre 1960.
The vast majority of men fit this statement: You spent most of your days at a place you hated to be, doing something you hate to do, with no chance of doing anything different for the majority of your life.
For women, it was a life of long days doing tedious tasks with no hope of any kind of excitement.
Indeed a popular statement of the time "Men live lives of quiet desperation". Only, it was really "People live lives of quiet desperation". Men spent their days doing grinding hard work, women spent their days in solitude and boredom.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

It is easy for younger generations to not understand how life was for people pre 1960.
The vast majority of men fit this statement: You spent most of your days at a place you hated to be, doing something you hated doing with no chance of doing anything different for the majority of your life.
For women, it was a life of long days doing tedious tasks with no hope of any kind of excitement.

I especially got that from the female characters. Desperation.

God! McMurtry's characters are incredible!

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I especially got that from the female characters. Desperation.

God! McMurtry's characters are incredible!

Agreed.

 

[Larsky]

Larry McMurtry, the author of the book from which this film is derived, who just died in March, was amazingly astute when crafting his characters. I've read every one of his books and never get tired of rereading them. One of my favorite films ever. I think the film makers were completely true to McMurtry's vision.

Thanks for the nudge, iamwhatiseem. I just went to Amazon and got "The Last Picture Show" on DVD. I also found and purchased three McMurtry books that I had never seen before, so I have to take back my claim that I had read all of them.

Larry's son, James McMurtry, is an accomplished recording artist. Not mainstream, but an excellent catalog of songs.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Larry's son, James McMurtry, is an accomplished recording artist. Not mainstream, but an excellent catalog of songs.

YES!!!!!!!!! "We Can't Make It Here Anymore" has been a favorite for years. I think it's a nice fit with the desperation of the characters in "The Last Picture Show".

 

[Larsky]

YES!!!!!!!!! "We Can't Make It Here Anymore" has been a favorite for years.

That song is about 20 years old, but could have been written yesterday.

"Choctaw Bingo" is also a favorite.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

That song is about 20 years old, but could have been written yesterday.

"Choctaw Bingo" is also a favorite.

Yep. Just more great characters!

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

And now I'm going to get nothing done today because I'm sitting here watching James McMurtry videos! LOL!!! I can think of worse ways to spend a day.

 

[whitehall]

The plot was lame, the actors were no big deal so what's the draw about a depressing movie?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

The plot was lame, the actors were no big deal so what's the draw about a depressing movie?

Yeah... that is why it won so many awards and set the careers of several actors.
At a time when awards actually meant something

 

[Flopper]

It is easy for younger generations to not understand how life was for people pre 1960.
The vast majority of men fit this statement: You spent most of your days at a place you hated to be, doing something you hate to do, with no chance of doing anything different for the majority of your life.
For women, it was a life of long days doing tedious tasks with no hope of any kind of excitement.
Indeed a popular statement of the time "Men live lives of quiet desperation". Only, it was really "People live lives of quiet desperation". Men spent their days doing grinding hard work, women spent their days in solitude and boredom.

I was a teen in the 50's and I remember quite well what life was like. By today's standards, opportunities were limited for just about everyone and it may seem that people lived their lives in quiet desperation from our point view today. Social norms were rigid for everyone. Men were bread winners and women were homemakers. However, it was not uncommon for mothers to go to work when the kids were older and of course single women worked. The family structure was much different than today. Single parent families were relatively rare compared today. Families did activates together, going to movies, picnics, watching TV, etc. In general, people were more dependent on family members, neighbors, co-workers than today. I suppose if people at that time understood how limited their lives were do to social mores, they would have been pretty miserable but they didn't so for most people those were the happy days.