Lex Anteinternet: Movies In History: Paper Moon

I know that I wasn't the only one.

Lex Anteinternet: Movies In History: Paper Moon: 

Movies In History: Paper Moon

Paper Moon

This 1973 film came about some decades prior to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? but it also really has the feel of the Depression right, in this case in the Missouri Kansas border region.  The film surrounds the story of a con artist who arrives in the story just in time for the funeral of a woman with whom, the film strongly suggests, he has, unbeknownst to him, had a child.  The association with the deceased mother, we understand, was illicit in nature, and he never acknowledges at any point in the film that he's the child's father.  He does accept, however, a charge to take the child to an aunt.  From there, a series of adventures ensues.

The gritty nature of the film, filmed entirely in black and white, and the desperation of the protagonist, even though it's a comedy, really come through.  The lack of, or failure of, the social structure also shines through, with it not seeming all that odd, by the end of the film, that a little girl has been essentially been adopted, outside the law, by a man who was in the end a kindhearted stranger, or who may be that.

Filmed in black and white, as noted, even though well within the color film era, the cinematography and the excellent cast give it the right feel.

The protagonists are portrayed by actual father and child Ryan and Tatum O'Neal.  This is Ryan O'Neal's best film, to the extent I've seen his films, and he acts in it quite well.  Tatum O'Neal was brilliant in the film.

In terms of material details, the film is excellent, with the portrayal of Dust Bowl Kansas significantly added to by the use of black and white cinematography.

I love the movie Paper Moon, which I reviewed here all the way back in 2014.  Ryan O'Neal's character, Moses Pray, is a charming grifter who makes a living selling Bibles to widows he read about in the local paper.  That is, he reads their names, embosses the names of the decadent and widow in the Bible, and then makes a call on the window as if he's delivering the unpaid for expensive Bible.  

His conduct is reprehensible.

I couldn't help but reminded of Moses Pray after this:

Reprehensible.

At least Moses Pray was charming.

"It's a Barnum and Bailey world 

Just as phony as it can be 

But it wouldn't be make-believe 

If you believed in me"

The country is really off the rails right now.