00:09Hello, I'm Ben Mankiewicz. Welcome to TCM, where you're the mark in a long con we're running.
00:14Friday nights in June, we'll be spent with lineups celebrating the art of the con.
00:18We'll feature confidence men, confidence women, and as in the film we have next, confidence kits.
00:24We begin tonight with Ryan O'Neill, starring opposite his daughter Tatum in a 1973 classic directed by Peter Bogdanovich,
00:31Paper Moon.
00:32Set in the Midwest during the Great Depression, Ryan O'Neill is Moses Prey, a traveling dime store Bible salesman.
00:39A traveling dime store Bible salesman running a con.
00:44He inherits an unlikely companion on the road, Addie, the daughter of a dead friend.
00:50Addie is Tatum O'Neill's role.
00:51Moe's cannot wait to ditch Addie, but he soon discovers the smoking, cursing, moderately hostile little girl as a gift
01:00for grift.
01:02Tatum was just eight years old when Bogdanovich cast her to play Addie.
01:07The idea came from his ex-wife and frequent collaborator, production designer Polly Platt.
01:13Tatum's dad had just starred with Barbra Streisand in Bogdanovich's previous film, a sensational screwball comedy, What's Up Doc?
01:20Platt thought Tatum had what it takes, even though she had no formal acting experience.
01:26With Tatum as Addie, it made sense to have Ryan, who'd been so funny and so charming in What's Up
01:33Doc, play Moe's.
01:35How good was Tatum?
01:37She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, even though it's really a lead performance.
01:42Tatum became the youngest Oscar winner ever.
01:45Ten years old.
01:46She still holds the record.
01:49Bogdanovich wasn't done getting good advice and acting on it.
01:53His friend, Orson Welles, advised him to shoot the film in black and white.
01:57The first season of our podcast, The Plot Thickens, told the story of Bogdanovich's life and career.
02:03Peter loved to tell stories about Welles, who advised him to shoot both The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon
02:09in black and white.
02:10You'll never get the same depth of field in color, Welles said, before asking,
02:15You know what they say about black and white, don't you?
02:18What do they say? asked Peter.
02:20It's the actor's friend, said Welles, before booming.
02:23Name me a great performance from an actor in color.
02:27Welles also backed up Peter's choice for Paper Moon's title.
02:31The novel the film is based on by Joe David Brown is called Addie Pray.
02:36As Peter searched for period music for the film, he came to love a 1932 tune called It's Only a
02:43Paper Moon.
02:44Peter also loved telling this story.
02:47When he asked Orson Welles what he thought of Paper Moon as a potential title, Welles boomed again.
02:53That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture.
02:56Just release the title.
02:58Here it is, great con artist movie, great black and white film, great period piece, great Peter Bogdanovich movie.
03:06From Paramount in 1973, also with a second straight spectacular performance from Madeline Kahn,
03:13who had made her feature film debut in What's Up Doc?
03:16This is Paper Moon.
