PAPER MOON (1973) ***** classic film capsule by COOP

Right after watching “Swing Vote,” I discovered a film on Turner Classic Movies that I had heard about and seen clips of but had yet to experience. “Paper Moon” starring Ryan and Tatum O’Neal is a film old enough to fly under the radar of this generation of movie goers and the black and white cinematography could fool the casual watcher into thinking this was a film from the 1930’s. Like “Swing Vote,” this film features a father/daughter dynamic, yet the result is far superior and genuinely moving.

Ryan O’Neal stars as Moses Pray, a Depression Era drifter and small-time con artist who passes through a small Midwestern town to attend the funeral of a woman he once knew. At the funeral, the attendees beg him to escort the woman’s orphaned 9 year-old daughter Addie (Tatum O’Neal) to Missouri to live with her aunt. “Mo” pockets Addie’s $200 inheritance and tries to put her on a train, but the sharp and obstinate Addie refuses to leave without her money. Mo takes her along on his traveling scam spree to figure out a way to keep her money without a fuss but becomes dependant on her assistance when she turns out to be a shifty con artist herself. The two soon become steadfast partners as they grift, bail each other out of trouble and start to suspect that they may be somehow related.

Tatum won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this one. Too bad she (and her entire family) went downhill from there. This is a funny, suspenseful and heartwarming film. Just when you think the last scene is going to be a tearjerker, it jolts you with a hilarious and uplifting ending. Even “The Simpsons” devoted an entire episode to lampooning this classic. Be on the lookout for a young Madeline Kahn as carnival stripper/prostitute Trixie Delight who loosens Mo’s pocketbook, but is no match for Addie’s brilliant scheming.

Here’s a great moment from the film. Watch how Tatum commands the scene towards the end. It’s gold…