Paper Moon

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

The story of Paper Moon, a 1973 film, takes place during the Great Depression, around 1935. Associate Producer Frank Marshall said the movie is funny without being slapstick, and touching without being sentimental. So, it achieves its goals without resorting to easy manipulation. It is shot in black and white which gives it a newsreel authenticity, which is fitting for the time period. There is no attempt to pretty up the look of the film because the era is one of gritty reality. Also, nothing was shot out of focus, which adds to its real feel, so that it does not overly call attention to itself as a movie. Polly Platt, the film’s production designer, and director Peter Bogdanovich’s ex-wife, said they moved the location of the story in the novel from the southern United States to Kansas because the landscapes of that state are “lonely and evocative,” with “weathered barns and houses in the middle of nowhere.” She also said that people there drive old cars, so they used automobiles in the movie that were from 1925. The setting mirrors the desolate nature that resulted from the devastating economic impact of the times. Director Bogdanovich went through songs of the era and came up with “Paper Moon,” feeling it would make a good title. The whimsical lyrics add meaning to the movie because they say that everything is a sham unless there is a belief in someone and love between two people that makes life real.

The story starts with Addie (Tatum O'Neal, winning Best Supporting Actress, the youngest ever to win an Academy Award), age nine, looking stern at her mother’s burial. There is a preacher quoting scripture. The words talk about not going with “dissemblers,” and washing oneself “in innocency,” which is the opposite of what happens to Addie as she does what she believes she needs to do to get by. Moses Pray (Ryan O’Neal), a con man, with a very obvious fake name to draw in the religiously devout, visits the grave site. He says he knew the mother, obviously in a carnal way since he throws flowers in the grave and says he knows the mother’s “ass is still warm.” A woman at the grave site says they are looking for the child's family relations and that Moses has a jawline just like Addie’s, suggesting that he may be her father. (The inside joke here is that they are father and daughter in real life). Since he is going to Missouri, the women and the preacher say Addie’s aunt lives there and he can drop her off. He does not want this burden, but must capitulate, or else his cover as a devout religious person would be undermined. So, it appears that his own con works against him here. Addie looks at him with a scowl, seeing through his facade.

There has been so much poverty that people are reduced to running a confidence games, (or robbing banks, as in Bonnie and Clyde). That Moses sells bibles is an ironic but practical way of getting somebody’s money. The film explores the need to make a connection between a parent and a child, but the roles are somewhat reversed, since the child, here, has been forced to grow up fast, and may be more devious than the father figure. Addie asks with a squinty, suspicious look and an interrogative voice why Moses is taking her. He says because he’s going that way. But, he won’t let this unanticipated errand stop him from running scams. They make a stop at a business establishment and Moses uses Addie to extort money. He tells the boss there that her name is Addie Loggins. He knows that the man’s brother caused the death of Addie’s mom because he was drunk and driving. Threatening a lawsuit by a lawyer who cares more for the poor than the rich, Moses gets $200 from the man. This scene can remind one of the major theme of The Great Gatsby, where a careless well-to-do person kills a poor woman, and is not held responsible for the action. Here, Moses is making a rich person pay for the crime, but for his own selfish purposes, not out of justice, since the society teaches that all persons must look out for themselves.

With the money, Moses gets a newer car and buys Addie a train ticket with $20 for her aunt. So, he lied about taking her all the way to Missouri. His friendly appearance is deceiving, which is necessary for a someone in the confidence racket. While they get something to eat and drink until the train arrives, he keeps saying what he thinks he should tell a child by urging her to eat her “Coney Island” hot dog and drink her “Nehi” soda. He thinks she isn’t hungry because she is afraid of being on a train and says that all her troubles will be over once she reaches her aunt’s place. But Addie is nothing like a scared little girl. He says that her mother was a “fine woman,” and someone to be proud of, which isn’t really true, but he wants, in his mind, to keep Addie’s innocence intact. He says that the mother brought “happiness” to people, which could be a euphemism for sexual favors. But Addie frankly says she heard that her mother wasn't an upstanding woman. She isn’t buying the sweet, phony lines. She wants honesty. She says her aunt doesn’t know her, won’t want her, and didn’t care for her mother. She asks if Moses met her mother, “in a barroom.” Since that would lead to sex, she wonders if he is her father. He says just because he did, confirming her suspicion, doesn’t mean he is her dad. He shares that he has endured loss, too, both his parents being dead, and he doesn’t know where his sister is. So, he, too, is alone in the world, which can be an underlying reason for them to connect with each other. She would like to have a parent, but if he isn’t her father then she says Moses owes her the $200 that he acquired from the businessman because Addie lost her mother. She basically trapped him, since if he is lying to her about not being her father, he must pay for it. She plays the innocent child in distress role, faking a temper tantrum, and says she will tell the police what he did. The scene demonstrates that Addie also can play the con game, adding to the possibility of a genetic link. He tries to talk himself out of the fix he is in, arguing that she should be grateful to him since the people where she lived wouldn’t have done anything for her. So, he believes he is entitled to payment for helping her get to her aunt. She insists on getting paid, but he no longer has the money since he bought the car and sent $20 with the telegram. She says in a low, measured, threatening voice, “Then get it.” He slams the table in anger and frustration at what he thought would be an easy play. The waitress calls Addie “Precious,” and Moses says in a seething voice that is not her name. He now realizes he doesn’t have a sweet, innocent child on his hands. He goes to the train station to get his money back and sends a new telegram about how Addie will be delayed, which shows she has beaten him at his own game.

They drive to a house and Addie sees that Moses has circled a name in the obituary page to prey on, not “Pray” with, a widow. Moses’s first name implies he leads others to the promised land, but here he only wants to lead himself there, in a monetary sense. He lies to the woman, saying he didn’t know her husband was dead, and the deceased man ordered a bible for her. Addie sees that Moses has printing tools to stamp in the survivor’s name. He gets seven dollars out of the woman.

To add authenticity to the film, Addie listens to Jack Benny or Fibber McGee and Molly radio shows which make her laugh. The thrust here is that escapism through entertainment brought relief from the harshness of the economic times. She is in the bed in the hotel room and he must sleep on the floor. She carries a cigar box that looks like a place to put a kid’s stuff, but she pulls out a cigarette from it and lights up, showing how she is not a book to be guessed at by its cover. (Tatum O’Neal used cigarettes that were made from lettuce in her smoking scenes, which made her nauseous). Moses acts like the parent and tells her she is too young to smoke, but she just stares him down, and corrects him by one cent on how much he still owes her, showing she may be the one in charge here.

As they drive, Addie looks at very poor people pulling their few belongings along the side of the road. But, Moses is too wrapped up in his own schemes to worry about others. She wants him to be a good father figure, and says something positive about what President Roosevelt said, but he is not cheered up. She asks if he doesn’t like her, and he says, no, he doesn’t, seeing her as only a nuisance at this point. They go to another bereaved woman on the obituary list, but there is a sheriff there, too, who questions whether the dead husband could have talked to Moses since the deceased man wasn’t near his shop recently. The lawman also says he never heard of the Kansas Bible Company that Moses says he represents. Addie saves his skin by joining them and saying they will be late for church to pray for “Mama.” He being with a child and talking about going to church makes Moses appear legitimate, helping him to maintain the fraud. He is ready to leave and offers to return a dollar deposit. The law officer asks how much was the bible, and Addie, knowing she can exploit the situation now as the darling child, inflates the price to $12. Moses is surprised by the figure, and backs off it, but the sheriff has been hooked and pays the money. As they drive away, Addie seems pleased with herself, and Moses is smiling too, until she says how much he still owes her, as she pastes a contrasting sweet smile over the tough, down-to-business words she speaks.

Moses offers Addie a business proposition, realizing her childlike appearance can be used to sucker people in. She is originally suspicious, saying he’s trying to not pay what he owes her. He says he’ll pay her back, but they can also make some money together. He tells her that he sets the price, because he could have gotten them thrown in jail for jacking it up with the cop. As opposed to his emotional fears, she is cool and says evenly. “We got it, didn’t we?” He tells her she just has to be a pretty little girl, but she looks down, because she’s dressed in overalls. He asks if she has anything of her mother’s to wear. She says she has her mom’s kimono, and he embarrassingly says that is not what “I had in mind.” Her remark shows she has no problem making a reference to her mom’s promiscuous ways. But even though he is supposed to be the adult, he wants to avoid the embarrassing subject. In contrast to his uncomfortable response to the sexual topic, he nevertheless has no shame about using her in a criminal action by making her fake an innocent front to work their scams.

There is now a ribbon in Addie’s hair that is meant to depict her as a sweet child. But, just below the ribbon is a scowl on her face, the image saying underneath the cute surface is a tough presence. Moses buys more ribbons but scams the shopkeeper as he diverts her with innocent talk of her children and grandchildren while he keeps changing the denominations in the money exchange. After they leave, the transaction nags at the shopkeeper, not even knowing exactly what happened. She says to herself, “that just don’t seem right, somehow.” That may be our response as we may delight in the machinations of the con, but realize it is wrong legally and ethically.

Despite her natural ability to be a realist in the current economy and able to work a scam, Addie has a moral streak in her that doesn’t want to see the destitute taken advantage of, unlike Moses. They visit a woman who looks worn down, wearing second-hand clothing. There are seven young children in the doorway with her. Addie interrupts Moses’s pitch and says the bible was already paid for and hands it to the woman as Moses looks stunned. At the next house, he has Addie sitting away from the doorway next to the car so she won’t interfere. But, Addie with her keen observation skills, realizes that the woman has an affluent lifestyle. There is a piano in the background, along with a fancy chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and she is wearing expensive jewelry. Addie runs up, and flashing a disarming smile, says the bible is worth twenty-five dollars. The woman says that’s fine and will give her an extra five bucks just for coming to her door. In a strange way, Addie is advocating an egalitarian economic system where those that can afford it pay more for things without any hardship, and those that are suffering financially are not exploited. The woman asks what’s her name and she says Addie Pray. That is the role she is playing, but it also shows that she wants Moses to accept her as his daughter. As they drive away, Addie sings “Keep your sunny side up, up …” which goes along with the “Paper Moon” song about staying positive in tough times. She smiles at Moses, expecting some approval for her actions. He gives her a harsh look, not thrilled with having his adult control over the situation usurped.

They pass another indigent family along the way. Addie says she wants to give them some money since FDR said people have to look out for each other. She looks beyond the selfish capitalist drive in order to reach a higher level of generosity. Moses wants to bring the perspective down to individual selfishness. He says that FDR does okay for himself because he doesn’t want to look “common.” So, he basically is saying it’s easy for rich politicians to preach fairness, but they don’t practice it in their own lives. She argues that $200 dollars of their stash is hers and she has a say where it goes. He is angry, wants to pay her off, and drop her at the nearest train station. But when she looks at a map, he backtracks on what he said, and changes the subject by saying how far away they would have to travel. He then talks about towns they can pass through where they can do some business. She goes along with that, because they really don’t want to end their developing business and personal relationship.

She is in bed with the music on the radio providing escapist entertainment when Moses comes in after enjoying a night with a local woman. He comically shoves his folded pants between the spring and mattress to prevent wrinkling, not being domesticated to actually iron his clothes. Addie is really awake, and because of the date, she probably has thoughts of how he and her mother acted together. After he falls asleep, she takes her cigar box and goes into the bathroom. In another instance of how the surface does not reflect what is hidden beneath the facade, she takes out the money they have swindled and reveals a false bottom to the box. She has hidden personal items, including a picture of herself with her mother, who strikes a seductive pose, cementing Addie’s association with what just happened between Moses and his date. She then mimics her mother’s pose in the mirror, tries on her mom’s jewelry, and smiles, as she plays at how men expect women to behave. This activity seems inconsistent with her personality and age, and her splashing way too much perfume on herself demonstrates the disparity. When they are in the car the next day, Moses sniffs and smells the overpowering scent and then opens the front windshield to air out the inside of the car. Addie’s facial expression loses its smile as she feels disappointed that she hasn’t been able to carry off her attempt at being an attractive woman.

The saleswoman where they bought the ribbons (or should I say “stole”) had said that she thought Addie was a boy at first and now the barber cutting Moses’s hair says the same thing. Addie is angry at that perception, wanting to be as attractive as her mother who won over males. Moses says she is as beautiful as her mother, but might need some feminine clothes, which he adds would also be good for business. He seems to always bring things around to his making a buck. He then teaches her more scams.

Addie is now getting so good at conning people, she pulls the same scheme that Moses used at the first shop to get some cotton candy at a carnival (where the film again emphasizes the wish to escape into diversion from troubles). Moses has seen the “Harem” act there several times starring Trixie Delight (Madeline Kahn), a name that leaves nothing to the imagination. Addie is not happy about it, not wanting someone else to muscle in on her getting attention from Moses. Despite his preoccupation with Trixie, Moses says that he won’t leave Addie alone in this place because he has “scruples.” When he asks her if she knows what “scruples” are, Addie, delivering one of the film’s funniest lines, says she doesn’t know, “but if you got them, I sure bet they belong to somebody else.” Her remark shoots down his pretense to ethical behavior by pointing out how he hasn’t earned anything, not even the right to say he practices ethical behavior. She had wanted to take a picture with Moses sitting on that paper moon of the title in one of the booths, which would have shown how they were making a go of it despite the hard times. But instead she picks up a solo photo of herself. She is angry at Moses for not showing a desire to be with her, and when the photographer asks where is her “pa,” she says, “he ain’t my pa.”

Back in the hotel room, Addie is smoking again, not even trying to look like a cute little girl to win over Moses. He says they will be giving Trixie Delight and her maid, Imogene (P. J. Johnson), a ride to Topeka, Kansas. He is very defensive saying she is a proper lady and that Addie is always saying they should help others. Of course, he is not being honest with Addie, as his interests are to help himself to sexual offerings.

Addie is very angry about giving up her front seat to Trixie and sitting in the back with Imogene. Trixie babbles on about her experiences, talking about dancing where a mayor attended and how a newspaper ran a large photograph of her. But, she also leaves out sordid stories, that Imogene likes to bring up, like when a man tried to crack a bottle over her head or when Trixie was almost thrown in jail. Trixie is another character that tries to put on a false front about who she is.

They stop for dinner and Addie shows her resistance to having Trixie come along by complaining they already stopped for lunch, and Addie isn’t hungry. While the two adults go into a rest stop, Addie finds out that Imogene, who she shares a cigarette with, is fifteen, and has worked for Trixie for a year. When asked if Trixie dances, Imogene says she just wags her hips and shakes her behind, so she is advertising being a dancer but is really just selling sex. She says that Trixie left the job because the boss wanted her to “put out” for his friends, and Trixie doesn’t like to provide sex “for free.” Addie asks if Trixie puts out often, and Imogene says she is “Just like a gum machine. You drop something in and she’ll put something out.” The scene is funny not only because of what they say, but because they say it being two young people who seem far advanced in their knowledge of the ways of adults. Addie learns that Trixie won’t have sex with Moses until she can get as much money out of him as she can. So, Trixie is a con artist, too, pretending to like Moses, but using him for her own purposes to survive in a world of deprivation. And, she lied to Imogene, who left with Trixie because she was promised four dollars a week which she hasn’t received. Imogene’s parents thought their daughter would make out okay working for a white woman. But, that was a sham promise, and now Imogene can’t afford to even return home. Unfortunately, the poor, instead of uniting to better themselves, many times exploit what is handy, which is other lower-class people.

Trixie gets Moses to buy her a new dress, and points out how nice a new car looks, suggesting that Moses should consider buying it. Her repetitions about the importance of “bone structure” are very funny, as she stresses appearance over anything of depth. Imogene, showing her scorn for Trixie’s comments, says to Addie that she tried to push Trixie out of a window in Little Rock. After a stop in a field for lunch, Addie makes a stand against Trixie. She wants to be the main female in Moses’s life. She refuses to sit in the back seat anymore, and complains how they aren’t working. Moses stresses his position as an adult and how a child doesn’t tell a grownup what to do. But, Addie continues to sit in the field. Trixie goes to Addie and uses kid-talk, offering a Mickey Mouse coloring book, but she is on the wrong page dealing in childhood gifts with the savvy Addie. Trixie’s phony pleasant exterior is immediately shown to be false when she trips and says fiercely, “Oh, son of a bitch!” She at first tries to win Addie over by saying how the young girl already has “bone structure,” and then offers to show her how to wear makeup. She then gets demanding when none of what she says works and demands that Addie get back in the car. Trixie reconsiders and says that Addie is going to ruin everything, and there’s no need, because Trixie will only be around for a short time to acquire a few small items for herself. She promises that she is not a threat to Addie’s relationship with Moses. She sadly admits that her relationships never last long. Trixie knows that Addie is still young and will have her day manipulating men, so Trixie pleads, just for a while, to let her, who is the physically developed adult, sit in the front seat “with her big tits.” (Actress Kahn wanted to use the less vulgar word “breasts,” but Bogdanovich convinced her, and it works because the character only pretends to be refined). Her argument that the times are tough and she needs to take advantage of the opportunity to use her physical attributes to their advantage wins a smile from Addie, who likes Trixie’s frankness. (Females may be smart here, but the emphasis on stressing their sexuality to succeed may seem not only outdated but offensive now, even though it probably fits the story’s era).

The next scene, however, shows how Trixie convinced Moses to buy a new car. Addie checks her cigar box and the look on Addie’s face shows that a lot of their money is gone. Addie realizes that Trixie means to stay long enough to drain the stash of money, which includes Addie’s share, to get more than just a few small acquisitions. Addie observes that the next hotel clerk, Floyd (Burton Gilliam), fancies Trixie, flirting with her and observing her behind as she walks up the stairs. Addie hatches an elaborate scheme with Imogene, telling her she’ll give the young girl enough money for her to go home. Imogene tells Trixie the next day that Floyd would pay $25 for a good time. Trixie moves from outrage to compliance quickly, wondering where he would get that much money, and she then says she would have to see the cash. Addie, playing the innocent child who wouldn’t lie, now wears a dress and a ribbon, and licks on a lollipop. She tells Floyd that Trixie thinks he looks like the movie star Dick Powell, that Moses is just her business manager, and tells him to print a note to Trixie to be sent with a box of candy. Addie is able to add to the printed text so it doesn’t look suspicious. She writes that Floyd will be up shortly to see her. Addie puts the note in an envelope with $25 and places it and the candy outside Trixie’s door for Imogene to give to Trixie. Addie then tells Trixie that Moses will be gone all day getting something done on the car, making it look as if Trixie has a safe amount of time to cheat on him. The two girls keep Moses away long enough by saying Trixie was having her period. Addie says to Floyd that Trixie wants him right now because she won’t be around much longer, and, says he won’t be disappointed. In a funny shot, Addie follows her words with an arching of her eyebrows a couple of times, signaling that a sexual encounter is assured. He goes up to her room, after which Addie tells Moses he must go to Trixie’s room right away. The two girls see a solemn Moses come down the hall and he tells Addie to pack up because they were leaving right away. The scheme worked, but Addie just revealed to Moses the truth before he was scammed further by Trixie.

Later, while driving, Moses says he can’t understand why Trixie would act that way. Addie says she found out Trixie carried on with a lot of men but didn’t want to tell him because he wouldn’t have believed her, which is true. But he says to her to promise him that when she grows up that she won’t be the kind of woman that goes around deceiving men. Too late, as she already has a head start, and he has been advancing her conniving ways.

Two months have passed and Moses hasn’t been in the mood to work any cons. In a hotel lobby Addie sees a guy flashing a wad of money near a phone booth, making calls and talking to another man. Moses says he’s a bootlegger, and he tells Addie to follow the man. Addie sees that he goes to a bin near some broken-down building and gets out some bottles. Moses found out from the woman at the lobby that the man’s name is Jess Hardin (John Hillerman) and that he is a bootlegger. He also has a big shot brother, but someone showed up at the desk and he couldn’t find out about him. Moses goes to the building and confirms that there is booze in it. He then goes back to the hotel lobby and says he has liquor to sell to Hardin. Moses and Addie steal the man’s own whiskey and sell it back to him for $625. But as they pull away, Hardin is hiding close by, and has heard them.

The police stop them and the sheriff (also played by Hillerman) is the brother of the bootlegger. Their resemblance points to the duality inherent in the current society, and again illustrates the deception and corruption behind the veneer of legitimacy. Only here, it is the legal system that hypocritically acts like it is fairly enforcing the law. The sheriff obviously knows that Moses sold booze for $625. Moses kept a couple of bottles for himself, which makes him guilty of possession, and his car can be confiscated. We think Addie hid the money in her cigar box, but when Sheriff Hardin discovers the hidden compartment, the money is not there. Moses looks at Addie and she indicates that it’s inside her hat, another example of the benign-appearing surface hiding a deception. The sheriff says he’ll check out about the family Moses mentioned that is supposed to be in Missouri. Addie asks the deputy if she could get her stuff back, and she grabs her belongings, along with their car key. She says that she has to go to the bathroom. But, she says, she is afraid and wants Moses to stand outside the door. As they head down the hall, she shocks Moses with her daring by yelling that they have to run. They get to the car and head out, and it is Addie who is the tough one, pressing on the accelerator as they head straight for the sheriff as he exits a building. Moses is scared and shaking as he hollers that the sheriff is shooting at them. But Addie says they’re not hitting them, trying to be reassuring in the midst of the danger. He is negative and says they won’t make it, but Addie is cool under pressure and says they will. Moses tells her they have to get to Missouri and ditch the car. They go around some farm equipment in the road which delays the police. Moses tells Addie that she is giving him heart failure, to which the gutsy Addie stresses, rhetorically, “We made it, didn’t we?”

They stop at a farm where there is a whole family of hillbilly men. These guys don’t want to swap their junky truck for Moses’s car because they can’t haul anything in it. Moses says that he’ll wrestle for it. Moses beats the man who battles him (Randy Quaid), neither of the men fighting fairly, mirroring the desperate times. For a change, Moses surprises the usually insightful Addie with his abilities. They cross the bridge into Missouri and are close to where her aunt lives in St. Joe’s. She wants to know if they are going to do some work, but when he mentions St. Joe’s, she thinks he is going to dump her with the relative. But, he says that it’s a big town and they can do some good business there. She is all smiles knowing he wants to keep her around. He shares a cigarette with her, not the best parenting, but it shows how they are bonding.

Moses is working another scam having to do with a silver mine and he is now singing upbeat song lyrics about how “just around the corner there’s a rainbow in the sky.” It appears Addie’s positive attitude is rubbing off on him, which is ironic considering what happens next. Moses leaves the hotel and encounters Sheriff Hardin and his men. Moses says he can’t get arrested in Missouri because it is outside of Hardin’s jurisdiction. Moses also points out that the sheriff’s brother is a bootlegger,  implying he wouldn’t bring in Moses for the same offense. The sheriff, however, just wants to physically hurt Moses. Moses tries to run, but can’t get away. Addie shows up at the place where they were supposed to work the con. The mark is there, but walks because Moses is late. Addie finds Moses in a stairwell and he has been badly beaten. Addie right away says that she kept thirty dollars so they can buy some bibles, and they can work their way up again. However, she soon realizes he is worried about how dangerous their activity is for her and he is going to take her to her Aunt Billie (Rosemary Rumbley).

The two of them say as they arrive at the Aunt’s house that it and her Uncle Daniel outside look nice. They are trying to minimize the effects of their breakup. He gives Addie her stuff, but doesn’t want to sentimentalize the goodbye, probably because he is afraid he will probably cause an emotional scene. To continue to lessen Addie’s attachment to him, Moses continues to say that he’s not her dad despite any physical resemblance. She’s welcomed in by the aunt as he drives away. But, his car overheats. After he pulls over, he sees that she left him a picture of her sitting on the paper moon at the carnival with a message on it. At Aunt Billie’s place there is a piano, something Addie said she wanted, but even that can’t hold her there. She runs after Moses. He tries to be tough saying he doesn’t want her with him anymore. But, she is just as tough and says he still owes her $200. The money from earlier on and the title of the film and the picture of the paper moon are repeated at the end and tie the story together, making a satisfying loop. As the car starts to head off without them, he grabs her stuff and they ride off together.

Director Bogdanovich said it’s a road story, so it’s fitting that the last shot of the movie is the two of them riding off together down what looks like an endless road. It may be a long haul, and their tactics may be as crooked as the path they are following, but they will travel it as if they were father and daughter.

The next film is Frost/Nixon.