Sightlines · reception
How Paper Moon was received
1973 · Peter Bogdanovich · Paper Moon on Sightlines
The arc
A genuine hit in 1973 — the capstone of Bogdanovich's astonishing hot streak after The Last Picture Show and What's Up, Doc? — and its stock has only risen as his later career cratered, making it feel like a golden moment preserved in amber.
What’s debated
The evergreen debate is Tatum O'Neal's Oscar: she's plainly the film's lead, so was her Supporting Actress win category fraud — and did it rob her own co-star Madeline Kahn?
Its footprint
The image of tiny Addie in her cloche hat, cigarette in hand, staring down her con-man partner is endlessly referenced — helped by the irresistible hook that Ryan and Tatum O'Neal are a real father and daughter playing a maybe-father and daughter.
Where it stands
A Letterboxd comfort classic and the consensus pick for 'the last great Bogdanovich' — the New Hollywood movie that loved Old Hollywood best.
Did you know? Tatum O'Neal won Best Supporting Actress at age 10, still the youngest competitive Oscar winner in history — beating her own co-star Madeline Kahn in the same category.
Named by the director
- Orson Welles — Bogdanovich's mentor and houseguest, whom he consulted on the film; Welles famously told him the title Paper Moon was so good he shouldn't make the picture — 'just release the title!'