The Last Picture Show

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

1971 / 118min / DCP

At the tender age of 31, Bogdanovich immediately ascended to the heights of auteur authority with this aching black-and-white evocation of the dying old West, based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry and set in a dusty Texas town in the early ’50s (McMurtry’s hometown of Archer City). Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, and Cybill Shepherd became instant sensations as a trio of teens unsure of their futures, with invaluable supporting work from Cloris Leachman as a lonely high school football coach’s wife, and Ben Johnson as the grizzled proprietor of the crumbling local movie house.

Part of Filmcraft: Judy Becker