The Grifters

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

A grifter is someone who cons people illicitly out of their money. Which means that “confidence,” or trust, is gained under false pretenses. The con artist discards legal and social rules for selfish reasons. One of the characters in the movie The Grifters (1990), trying to justify outlaw activity, says, “laws are made to be broken, aren’t they?” People are drawn to that desire of ultimate individual freedom that liberates someone from all restraints. We call these swindlers “con artists,” because there is admiration for their crafty plans and performances. However, that admiration dwindles when we become their “marks,” and then the repercussions of their practices hit home. 

 

The film starts with a written quote from, of all things, the Walt Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, which talks about working a “grift.” Dishonesty even creeps into the “G” rated world of a beloved children’s story, so drawn are we to this renegade lifestyle. Martin Scorsese, producer of the movie, provides the first lines of the film in a voice-over. He says that bookies pay out winnings based on racing track odds. If a longshot comes in, that means a big loss for a bookie, “unless you have somebody at the tracks to lower those odds.” Immediately we are in the world of illegal betting and corrupt practices. 

 

Lilly Dillon (a platinum blonde Anjelica Huston) drives into a racetrack parking lot in New Mexico. She is that “somebody” working for the gangster. Director Stephen Frears uses the split screen technique to show Lilly and her son, Roy Dillon (John Cusack), at another location, checking out stuff in the trunks of their cars. The shot shows that, although these two have not been in contact, they are connected in disturbing ways. The screen splits into three shots to include the third star and person in this weird criminal triangle, Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), getting out of her car.  She wears a sexy, tight-fitting, seductive outfit, just like Lilly. The names of the two women produce “Lilly Langtry,” who was a beautiful actress, attributes a female con artist can use, who had some romantic scandal in her life and was involved in horse racing. The film thus establishes similarities between Lilly and Myra.  

 Roy works a couple of small-time cons on a bartender and a patron, similar to the money duplicity scams seen in another film about grifters, Paper Moon. Meanwhile, Mom is placing thousands of dollars on longshot horses to lower the odds. If one wins, the bookie still pockets a hefty amount which will defray any losses. Myra, who seems playful and innocent outwardly, attempts her own scam when she tries to pass off a piece of jewelry as being authentic. The jeweler (Stephen Tobolowsky) says she is a “valued customer,” (which in the context of the movie is an ironic statement) but the diamonds, set in authentic platinum filigree, are fake. As she leaves, the jeweler says he is open to anything else of value she may have to offer. She is shot looking through the bars on the door, which suggest a prison cell, a possible destination for a thief down the road. She says that he is looking at what she has to offer, which is herself. This attempt at getting cash for sex is met with moral disappointment by the jeweler, who says, “The fine setting and workmanship usually means precious stones. It always hurts me when I find they’re not. I always hope I’m mistaken.” It is an interesting metaphor for a swindler, who appears genuine but at heart is a phony. 

 

Roy repeats his attempt to get change for a twenty-dollar bill when only providing a ten dollar note at a bar. However, the bartender is wise to his ploy, and slams a club hard into Roy’s chest, propelling him against a jukebox, and he stumbles out of the place. Again, the one who is targeted to be a mark reacts with anger, and not appreciation, concerning the con artist’s technique. A policeman finds Roy bending in agony over the hood of his car. He wants to help, but Roy says he just ate bad shrimp and has to see clients. Roy can’t be helped by the law because he will be exposed as someone breaking it.

 

Lilly gathers up the ticket stubs discarded by losing patrons, probably to defray taxes on winnings. She puts money in an envelope for the gangster she is working for, Bobo Justus (Pat Hingle). Bobo’s first name sounds like a nickname for an ape, and his last name appears to be a perversion of “justice,” since the kind that he inflicts is anything but legally sanctioned. Lilly also puts money in a metal box under the trunk carpet, indicating she is skimming off of Bobo’s winnings. If anything goes, then scammers will swindle other scammers. Lilly’s next stop is in La Jolla, so she decides to stop in Los Angeles to see her son. 

 In his apartment, Roy flips coins trying to predict whether heads or tails will show up. It’s as if he is trying to defy the odds of probability, which shows his reckless arrogance. He is delirious from his wound and dreams of his mentor, Mintz (Eddie Jones), who Roy is subconsciously summoning for help, because the apparition asks, “What do you want, kid?” There is a flashback to when Roy met Mintz, who was doing some card tricks at a bus depot. Roy asks how he accomplishes the illusion, and Mintz says the young Roy should be in school. Roy’s witty response is, “I am in school,” which means he is learning the skills of Mintz’s trade. (IMDb notes that the witty dialogue comes right from the book, written by Jim Thompson, on which the movie is based). One of the first things Mintz teaches Roy is not to have a partner, because it, “cuts your score in half right down the middle.” In addition, it’s like, having “an apple on your head,” and handing “the other guy a shotgun.” The partner can expose and frame his supposed ally. So, the thrust here is that if one is a grifter it’s better to be a loner, an outsider. Mintz goes on to say, “Grifter’s got an irresistible urge to beat a guy who’s wise.” It’s the thrill of taking down a formidable opponent that is intoxicating. And the danger is that a grifter may be tempted to take down a partner to get that adrenaline rush, and the partner feels the same way. He goes on to tell him that it’s better to do the “short” con since the “long” variety, implying the big, complicated score, is fraught with the possibility of going to jail. Mintz also tells Roy to lose the flashy leather jacket, since it draws attention. His witty, contradictory comment is, “any blind man could spot you.” 

 Myra has been Roy’s girlfriend for two months. She stops by his place and his injury doesn’t prevent him from being funny when he grabs her breasts and says that “the twins are restless,” and they should be “put to bed.” Later Simms (Henry Jones), the building manager, calls to tell Roy he has a visitor he describes as “a very attractive young lady.” Roy doesn’t refer to her as “Mom,” but addresses her as Lilly, another indication of him not seeing her as a parent. Huston isn’t that much older than Cusack, and the fact that mother is good-looking and there isn’t that much difference in their ages adds an uncomfortable Oedipal element to the story. When she sees him after eight years she doesn’t give him a maternal hug but kisses him lightly on the lips. When barriers to forbidden behavior are knocked aside, dangerous possibilities may enter people’s lives.

 

He is quietly sarcastic about how far from a normal relationship they have when he says he figures she received his Christmas cards, and tells her “I’d have been hurt if you hadn’t dropped by.” When she asks what he’s been doing, he gets defensive, and she realizes he is not well. After confessing to getting assaulted, she drops Bobo’s name with a doctor and bullies the physician (Sandy Baron) to get treatment for Roy, who is bleeding internally. When the doctor expresses doubts about Roy’s prognosis, Lilly says he’ll fix her son or she’ll have the doctor killed. Talk about being a patient’s advocate.

 

The meeting between Lilly and Myra at the hospital is hostile, probably because each woman sees the other as a rival for Roy’s attention.  Myra says she is Roy’s friend. Lilly says, “I imagine you’re lots of people’s friend,” insinuating promiscuity on Myra’s part. Myra shoots back that seeing Lilly in a stronger light shows she is “plenty old enough to be Roy’s mother.” Lilly’s interesting comment is, “Aren’t we all?” She could be implying that all women mother their men, so there is a hint of incest in every male-female relationship. Roy wakes up and assumes Myra called for medical help, but she says his mother saved his life. Lilly says softly to Roy, but humorously, that it was “the second time I gave it to you.” Roy says thanks but is not overly expressive in his gratitude. He tells Myra that he was an inconvenience to Lilly, having been born when she was fourteen, so she called him her brother to avoid the embarrassment, which is what Roy suggests he was considered by his mother. Lilly turns cold again when she doesn’t receive enough warmth from Roy and leaves to go to the track. When he says, “I guess I owe you my life,” she says as she walks out the door that he “always did,” thus reminding him that he will always owe her that debt. 

 

Lilly might feel punished for taking the time to tend to her son because she is late at getting to the racetrack, which results in her not getting to place a large bet on a longshot that wins. Back at the hospital, Myra is intrigued by Roy’s mother being involved with gambling. She doesn’t know that Roy is a con man, but wants to know if there might be some joint venture they can become involved in. Most likely Roy is thinking about Mintz’s advice about going it alone.

 

Lilly returns to the hospital and babies Roy by saying she stopped at his place to pick up the mail and she can handle paying bills. He reminds her he can take care of that himself. She is out of sync as to how to be a mother because of the age discrepancy and the extended time away from him. She knows that he is grifting based on how he is living, and she says he isn’t tough enough for that life, noting he doesn’t have “the stomach for it.” Considering the way Roy sustained his injury, she is literally right. Lilly has hired the nurse who was assigned to Roy at the hospital, Carol Flynn (Noelle Harling), to “take care” of him when he goes home. But Roy tells Carol that his mother hired her so that he would have sex with her and keep him away from bad influences. It is Myra who Lilly sees as a threat, who she probably considers to be someone like herself, a person that will reinforce Roy’s criminal activity. Roy asks if Lilly is jealous, which is a strange thing to say to one’s mother. She basically replies that Myra isn’t worth getting jealous about. Lilly is trying in her clumsy, crude way to protect Roy. However, he is an adult who has been on his own and doesn’t like having decisions made for him. She walks out snarling that she gave him his life and what he does with it is up to him. It appears as if she is telling him that she gave him a chance to pursue a worthwhile life and he is trashing it. He calls Myra and says he’s getting out of the hospital and they should go to La Jolla to enjoy the beach there. That is not the real reason, another deception, since that is where Mom is going. 

 Myra’s landlord, Joe (Gailard Sartain), wants her to pay her back rent. She says she always pays up, “one way or another,” which means she has made him the same offer she presented to the jeweler in the past. Joe says he needs cash this time, and she makes a smiling threat that maybe she could get the money from his wife or from his child’s “piggy bank.” She goes into her bedroom and gets naked. She puts money on her bureau. She gives him a choice of which to take, jokingly saying he can’t have both according to the “Intercourse Commerce Commission.” He picks the “lady” over the “loot.” 

 

Bobo confronts Lilly outside. She stops walking and we know she is scared but she quickly recovers with a fake smile. Bobo is immune to her charms, and is brutal when he says, “I may just flush you down the toilet,” for missing the bet on the longshot. She at first starts to lie about how she didn’t place money on the horse, but after a threat tells the truth about Roy being in the hospital. His response is, “What the fuck are you doing with a son?” It’s unbelievable to him, and maybe to us, that she could possibly think she can play the role of a mother, given her lifestyle. He asks her if she has a long coat she can wear over her dress. She looks nervous now and says she doesn’t, but he says he’ll loan her a raincoat. It’s a strange question, but given how nasty this guy is, it doesn’t bode well. 

 

Back at his house, there is a difficult scene to watch as Bobo punches Lilly hard in the stomach. She doubles over and falls to the floor. This blow echoes what happened to Roy when he messed up, and how she said her son didn’t have “the stomach” to be a grifter. Then he tells her to go to the bathroom to get him a towel. She can hardly breathe but she does as she’s told as he apathetically lights up a cigar. He then knocks over a bag of oranges and tells her to wrap the oranges in the towel. They both know that there is a scam that has an insurance company pay for wounds resulting from beating someone with a towel full of oranges which leaves “ugly” bruises. If the person isn’t hit properly, then Lilly knows there can be “permanent damage” of internal organs. She must be so servile that she has to prepare her own punishment. (Ever since oranges were used in the Godfather films, the fruit foreshadows bad happenings. See Children of Men, Cusack’s Identity, Lost, Big Love, etc.). Bobo doesn’t beat her, only scares her, but throws her to the floor and inflicts a cigar burn on her hand, suggestive of a figurative rape, the large cigar being a phallic symbol. The movie again shows that freedom from any rules of behavior allows the most brutal of human impulses to be unleashed. Afterwards, Lily must still behave in a subservient position to protect herself, complimenting Bobo’s suit. He asks if she is stealing off of him. She knows that if she didn’t admit to some petty thievery, he would suspect that she was planning to take a large amount from him at one point. As she says of any subordinate, “If he’s not stealing a little, he’s stealing a lot.” She recites additional con artist rules supposedly imparted by Bobo himself, since he states one that instructs, “take a little, leave a little.” She says, “A person who don’t look out for himself is too dumb to look out for anybody else,” which means that an employee can’t be trusted to care about the employer’s interests if he’s not protecting his own. Even among this underbelly social world, there must be some rules, even if they are an alternative version of the “straight” life. But, because the specialty of these people is fakery, it’s difficult to discern the truth. Bobo replaces his barbaric behavior with acceptable social etiquette as he asks about Lilly’s son, and says to give him a “hug” for him. With this guy one never knows if that hug will be a crushing bear embrace. He’s like a domestic abuser who one moment tells his partner he loves her and the next strikes her. 

 

Another example of how grifters specialize in false appearances shows up in the next scene where Roy takes a painting off the wall of his place and unlatches the back of the frame to expose rows of stashed cash. He needs some extra money for his trip to La Jolla. Even on the train to the beach, Roy is looking for marks. He pulls the bill switch on the bartender, and targets some sailors (one of whom is played by Jeremy Piven, who will rejoin Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank). Myra sees him cheating the sailors with loaded dice and smiles, as she is impressed since she too is a swindler at heart.

 Later at dinner, Myra drops her ditsy façade and makes Roy drop his act of being a salesman. She tells him she can see he is a grifter, a good one, and they are both short-con operators. The chemistry between then shows that not only opposites attract. They talk the swindler “lingo” now and she wants them to try for the “long con,” which Roy knows requires a partner, something Mintz told him to avoid. She did it for ten years with the older Cole Langley (J. T. Walsh), from whom she took her name. She praises his lack of scruples in her upside-down view of life by boasting, “He was so crooked he could eat soup with a corkscrew.” They went after rich men looking for investments. There is a long flashback that shows an operation similar to the one in The Sting, only here involving the stock market. There is an expensive set-up and phony FBI agents which culminates in a simulated shooting of Myra. The whole point is to make the illusion look like reality. But the stress of plotting to escape the world’s restraints took its toll on Cole, who became unhinged. Although Myra again tries to hide the truth by saying he retired, Roy knows the location where Cole resides is for the “criminally insane.” Myra says she is great at drawing in the victims, and Roy realizes she is doing the same to him, only her goal is to get him to do the long con with her. She later seduces him most likely to try to seal the deal, and although Roy knows he is being manipulated, she is difficult to resist.

 

Lilly may know how to act submissive when the circumstances dictate it, but she is tough when those weaker than she try to take advantage of her. She elbows a drunk in the throat at a diner who is coming on to her and she carries a gun with a silencer, the sound suppression device being another way of hiding what is actually happening. Roy is able to visit his mother, being in the same town. He wants to give her four grand to repay her for the medical expenses. He doesn’t like being indebted to her. He notices the cigar burn on her hand, which becomes important later. She again tries to get him to stop grifting, saying it has one “go up or down. Usually down, sooner or later.” He says, in response to what turns out to be her ironic warning, “Well, I’ll let it be a surprise, then.” Boy, will it ever. 

 

Myra follows Roy to where Lilly is staying and then she tails her to the racetrack. Borrowing binoculars, she sees Lilly store some of the cash in her hidden metal box (which echoes Roy’s camouflaged picture stash), another example of dissembling. Myra now knows Lilly is skimming. Roy is resistant to teaming up with Myra and she blames his reluctance on Lilly’s dislike of her. Myra is already setting up a job, but Roy tells her “you scare the hell out of me … You’re double-tough and you are sharp as a razor and you get what you want or else. But you don’t make it work forever. Sooner or later the lightning hits, and I’m not gonna be around when it hits you.” Despite his problems with Lilly, he’s actually repeating what his mother said about how grifting eventually goes downhill. But, sometimes, as we see, one can’t escape one's choices. He says he’s okay where he is, and Myra scrutinizes him and sees below the surface of Roy’s feelings. She says it’s Lilly who has a hold on him and suggests that there is an incestuous connection between Roy and his mother. She says, “you like to go back where you been,” which suggests the womb. He smacks Myra and then tells her to get out. The male violence mirrors what happened to Lilly. Myra implies that Roy was conning himself, not allowing to see the truth about how he felt toward Lilly.

 

Right after the confrontation with Myra, Roy calls Lilly and says he would like to visit her and talk things over, suggesting they are older now and could resolve some matters between them. Lilly smiles and seems happy about Roy reaching out to her. After he hangs ups he says to himself, “Well, who’s a boy gonna talk to if not his mother?” That sounds a great deal like Norman Bates in Psycho saying how a boy’s best friend is his mother. And we know how well that relationship turned out.

 Lilly gets a tip from Irv (Michael Laskin), who works for Bobo, that someone told Bobo how she stole from him and hid the cash in her car. (Lilly is wearing a sexy outfit, and it is disturbing to think it could be for Roy’s arrival). Since Myra was threatening to go after Lilly, we know it was she that is exposing the family secrets. Lilly immediately gets in her car and drives off past Myra hiding (of course) in her car. Bobo’s men find Lilly’s place empty and her Cadillac gone. Soon after, Roy arrives and is angry, thinking Lilly stood him up. 

 

Lilly drives off to Phoenix (possibly another reference to Psycho, since Marion Crane stole money in that city and drove away with it, like Lilly), and checks into a motel. Myra followed her. Both women are wearing sexy clothes, and the woman at the motel desk mistakes Myra for Lilly at first when she enters the office. It’s another example of the film mixing sex and motherhood together. Lilly attaches the silencer to her gun, being prepared in case Bobo’s men show up. Myra gets a room and has assorted keys to open doors. She gets into Lilly’s room, jumps onto Lilly in her bed and starts choking her.

 

We jump ahead in the story as Lt. Pierson (Xander Berkeley) greets Roy at the Phoenix airport and says that his mother killed herself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face. He also says the police found a large sum of money in the trunk of her car. Roy has a difficult time believing his mother would commit suicide, given how she put all her energies into surviving. He says, “nothing would make her check out.” Lilly never was caught by the police before so there is no fingerprint record for her. In addition, the wound destroyed the teeth, so there could be no dental match. So, Roy was called to identify the body. But, Roy notices that there is no burn on the right hand of the corpse. Yes, the body is really that of Myra. Lilly killed her and literally changed places with her and faked (a grifter’s strength) her own death. And, the filmmakers conned the audience as well. (Is there maybe another Hitchcock film reference here? In Vertigo, Kim Novak’s character pretends to be another woman who is killed). Roy plays along, sheds crocodile tears and says, “Mom,” which is not a sign of grief but an acknowledgement of Lilly’s scheming. 

 

Lilly had to leave the money she took from Bobo in the car. Otherwise, it would look as if she faked her death and ran off with the cash. So, Lilly needs to replace that money to make sure she can disappear and solidify her bogus death. Where can she get the loot? From her son. She walks into the lobby where Roy lives wearing Myra’s red dress and covers the side of her face to continue the charade so that Simms thinks she’s Myra visiting Roy. (Angelica Huston said that they wanted to make Lilly’s look go from pale to blood red, “clotted,” most likely to suggest the journey to violence). She breaks into Roy’s place since he wanted to give Lilly four thousand dollars to pay her for medical expenses. So, she knows he has been doing pretty well at grifting. She previously noted that the painting of a clown was not his taste, so she finds the cash inside the frame and puts it into Roy’s briefcase. Roy surprises her there, and confirms that the cops believe she is dead. 

 

Lilly tells Roy the truth about how Myra attacked her and then she shot her. She figured it out so that she could get out of the criminal world she put herself in. He tells her she can’t have his money. He acts like depriving her of cash will force Lilly to not grift, but he may just not want to give up his stash. He suggests she use what she has and Myra’s credit cards to go somewhere and get some work. But she is angry because she “never had a legit job” in her whole life on which to fall back on. Roy says she has to go straight and live a quiet life, and he is ready to take her advice and stop grifting. They both seem to want to let go of the life they have chosen, but actions have consequences, and past deeds can catch up to one.

 

She gets them some ice water and she acts like she could have drugged one of the drinks. He says she wouldn’t do that, and she says he has no idea what she might do “to live.” She is telling him she is capable of anything to survive. The warning she gave earlier is closer to home now. She reminds him that she gave him his life twice and she wants him to do the same for her once. He still refuses to let her have his money, and says his funds would run out anyway, and she would be in the “rackets” again, working for another Bobo. She tries another ploy, saying that she is not really his mother and she attempts to seduce him to get her way, just as Myra used sex with the landlord. Again, we have the blending of the two characters. He first returns her kiss and then is horrified by what is happening. She swings the briefcase, which shatters a drinking glass he is holding. A shard slashes Roy’s carotid artery. She screams in agony but still gathers the money up and leaves as her own son bleeds to death. She gave him his life twice and now takes it back. She earlier said that grifting is either going up or down. Lilly is now pictured descending in an elevator on her way to escape. She couldn’t sink any lower, and director Stephen Frears said he wanted to symbolize her descent into hell.

 

In this world of no laws or rules, all types of horrific crimes are possible: theft; beatings; betrayal; incest; murder. When the selfish desires of the individual rule, who is safe?

The next film is Jezebel.

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.