The 1970s was a very pivotal decade for cinema; a cinema full of incredible, personal, and fearless works of filmic art by renowned and legendary filmmakers of the New Hollywood movement such as Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Robert Altman. The late, great Peter Bogdanovich was definitely an essential part of that movement, even though his run in the decade didn’t flourish like the others. However, he did have three classics: What’s Up, Doc? (1972), Paper Moon (1973), and his 1971 masterpiece The Last Picture Show, which is the one he remains most beloved for.
Based on the Larry McMurtry novel and shot in beautiful and bleak black-and-white cinematography, the film thoughtfully and lovingly evokes the 1950s with its aching portrait of three futureless teenagers, soulful Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) handsome Duane (Jeff Bridges), and town beauty Jacy (Cybill Shepherd), and the equally bored adults that surround them. As graduation approaches (and relationships begin and end), they all try to figure out what to do with their lives and escape the grim mundanity of their small Texas town.
Rightfully nominated for seven Oscars (and winning two for Ben Johnson as Best Supporting Actor and Cloris Leachman as Best Supporting Actress), the film is also realistic in its approach to sexuality, where most of the characters use it as a crutch to relieve extreme boredom and misery. They figure that it’s only thing to do to pass the time. One of the great aspects of this classic is that it accurately depicts teenagers forced to grow up and the adults losing their old way of life to a new one. It’s one of the best films about that and generally one of the greatest films ever made.
Originally available only in the BBS box set from Criterion, the film makes its long-awaited standalone release this week. Not only does it practically contain all the supplements of that set, including two commentaries (featuring director Peter Bogdanovich and actors Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Leachman, and Frank Marshall), three making-of documentaries, screen tests and location footage, and excerpts from a 1972 television interview with filmmaker François Truffaut about the New Hollywood, and trailers, it also comes with the 1990 sequel Texasville, which is presented in both the original theatrical version and a black-and-white version of the director’s cut. It also has an essay by film critic Graham Fuller and excerpts from an interview with Bogdanovich about Texasville, with a new introduction by Bogdanovich biographer Peter Tonguette.
If you don’t already have the BBS set or even the recent Columbia Classics set (which has the film along with special features), then this new release is definitely a must have for diehard film buffs. The film itself will always stand the test of time as a true American masterpiece.
Other releases:
Duel 4K (Universal): Steven Spielberg’s tense 1971 made-for-TV thriller starring Dennis Weaver as a mild-mannered salesman unwillingly involved in a dangerous cat and mouse road trip with an unseen truck driver.
Blue Steel (Vestron Collector’s Series): The great Jamie Lee Curtis stars in Kathryn Bigelow’s 1990 thriller as a female rookie cop who has to put herself on the line when a gun-wielding psycho becomes obsessed with her.
Terms of Endearment 4K UHD (Paramount Presents): Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine give two of their best performances in the tear-jerking 1983 Best Picture Oscar winner as Emma and Aurora Greenway, a daughter and her mother who have a strong bond, but one that gets tested along the way by the joys and pains that life brings. Read Greg Hammond’s review
