8.0/10
40,845
194 user 89 critic

The Last Picture Show (1971)

18+ | | Drama, Romance | 22 October 1971 (USA)
Trailer
1:27 | Trailer
In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Larry McMurtry (screenplay), Peter Bogdanovich (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Reviews
Popularity
2,684 ( 719)
Won 2 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 22 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Timothy Bottoms ... Sonny Crawford
Jeff Bridges ... Duane Jackson
Cybill Shepherd ... Jacy Farrow
Ben Johnson ... Sam the Lion
Cloris Leachman ... Ruth Popper
Ellen Burstyn ... Lois Farrow
Eileen Brennan ... Genevieve
Clu Gulager ... Abilene
Sam Bottoms ... Billy
Sharon Ullrick ... Charlene Duggs (as Sharon Taggart)
Randy Quaid ... Lester Marlow
Joe Heathcock Joe Heathcock ... Sheriff
Bill Thurman ... Coach Popper
Barc Doyle Barc Doyle ... Joe Bob Blanton
Jessie Lee Fulton ... Miss Mosey
Learn more

More Like This 

Paper Moon (1973)
Certificate: 13+ Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

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
Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn
Targets (1968)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

An elderly horror film star, while making a personal appearance at a drive-in theatre, confronts a psychotic Vietnam War veteran who has turned into a mass-murdering sniper.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Stars: Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Arthur Peterson
Certificate: G Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Stars: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn
Certificate: PA Crime | Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

In a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?

Director: Otto Preminger
Stars: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.

Director: Bob Rafelson
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush
Klute (1971)
Certificate: 18A Crime | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Stars: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi
Crime | Drama | Film-Noir
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.

Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane
Certificate: PG Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.

Director: Nicholas Ray
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
The Big Heat (1953)
Certificate: G Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.

Director: Fritz Lang
Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando
Certificate: PG Adventure | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

At a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract.

Director: Howard Hawks
Stars: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth
Nashville (1975)
Certificate: PG Comedy | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.

Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley
In Cold Blood (1967)
Biography | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.

Director: Richard Brooks
Stars: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe
Edit

Storyline

In tiny Anarene, Texas, in the lull between World War Two and the Korean Conflict, Sonny and Duane are best friends. Enduring that awkward period of life between boyhood and manhood, the two pass their time the best way they know how -- with the movie house, football, and girls. Jacy is Duane's steady, wanted by every boy in school, and she knows it. Her daddy is rich and her mom is good looking and loose. It's the general consensus that whoever wins Jacy's heart will be set for life. But Anarene is dying a quiet death as folks head for the big cities to make their livings and raise their kids. The boys are torn between a future somewhere out there beyond the borders of town or making do with their inheritance of a run-down pool hall and a decrepit movie house -- the legacy of their friend and mentor, Sam the Lion. As high school graduation approaches, they learn some difficult lessons about love, loneliness, and jealousy. Then folks stop attending the second-run features at the movie... Written by Mark Fleetwood <mfleetwo@mail.coin.missouri.edu>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

The story of big dreams in a small town. See more »

Genres:

Drama | Romance

Certificate:

18+ | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed mostly on location in Archer City, Texas, the city upon which the fictional town of Anarene was based. The swimming pool scene was filmed at the Burns estate in Wichita Falls. Ironically, the inside shots of the Royal theater were filmed at the still-active theater in nearby Olney, Texas. At the time of the filming, the actual Royal theater was nothing more than a shell. Likewise, the Cloris Leachman character's house was located in Holliday, Texas. Anarene was once a real town, just a few miles from Archer City. See more »

Goofs

The camera's shadow can be seen at the bottom of the screen as it tracks a car towards the end of the film. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Radio announcer: President Truman'll be here tomorrow, so all you folks in Dallas turn out, chuh hear? This is Cowboy Rhythms on KTRN, Wichita Falls, here's Hank Williams' big hit tune, "Cold Cold Heart".
Sam the Lion: You ain't ever gonna amount to nothing. Already spent a dime this morning, ain't even had a decent breakfast. Gimme the chalk. Why don't you comb you hair Sonny, it sticks up, look like you smelled'm wolf. I'm surprised you had the nerve to show up this morning after that stomping y'all took last ...
[...]
See more »

Alternate Versions

Special edition includes seven minutes of footage not included in the original release. See more »

Connections

References White Heat (1949) See more »

Soundtracks

Slow Poke
(uncredited)
Written by Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart, Chilton Price
Performed by Pee Wee King
See more »

User Reviews

 
No doubt one of the top 10 best movies ever made.
23 January 2005 | by dennis-219See all my reviews

A beautiful and heart wrenching movie that gets better and better as the years go by. I saw this when it came out in 1971, I knew it was good, but I didn't really understand how good or why. Over the years I have gone back and watched it again, and as my life changed I began to relate deeper each time I saw it. Bogdonovich was WAY ahead of the game on this one.

This is one of those rare movies that you can go back every five years and watch for the first time. Myself having been raised in Del Rio, Texas in the late 50's and early sixties, I can attest that this is a totally accurate picture of what coming of age in west Texas was really like for most of us.


73 of 95 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 194 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more »
Edit

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 1971 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

The Last Picture Show See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

$1,300,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$29,133,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$29,146,131
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed