A bible salesman finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership as a money-making con team in Depression-era Kansas.
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Wuchak
7
By Wuchak
***Ryan O’Neal and his kid daughter Tatum in 1930’s Kansas***
In Depression-era Kansas, a conman who sells Bibles (Ryan O’Neal) is coerced into allowing a precocious 9 year-old (Tatum O’Neal) to ride with him as they travel to St. Joseph, Missouri, where her aunt lives. Madeline Kahn plays a carnival “dancer” with P.J. Johnson as her teen aide. John Hillerman appears in a double role as a bootlegger and police officer.
"Paper Moon" (1973) is a B&W drama with amusing moments. Imagine “The Highwaymen” (2019) and “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967), but with a lighter tone and much less severe criminality, mixed with father/quasi-daughter antics. The movie’s entertaining throughout, but the ending’s too low-key for my tastes (How about some good ol’ fashioned emotion?). But that’s a minor quibble.
The film runs 1 hour, 42 minutes and was shot in Kansas, Nebraska & Missouri (with one part done in Pasadena).
GRADE: B
