The Last Picture Show (1971)
93%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
19 wins & 22 nominations total
Making excellent use of its period and setting, Peter Bogdanovich’s small town coming-of-age story is a sad but moving classic filled with impressive performances.
The Last Picture Show is a movie that will make you feel like you’re back in the 1950s, but with better picture quality. It’s a coming-of-age story that’s both sad and lovely, and it’s got some of the best performances of the New Hollywood era. You’ll feel like you’re right there in the country dance hall, necking in cars, and feeling the ennui of a dying town. And if you’re not careful, you might just shed a tear for what’s lost. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of vitality throbbing through this movie. It’s an American classic for a reason, y’all.
Production Company(ies)
Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
605 South Ash Street, Archer City, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language
Year of Release
1971
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 58m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1971 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 1999
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, written by Peter Bogdanovich, Larry McMurtry, produced by Stephen Friedman, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, Wendy Ide, Tom Huddleston, Budd Wilkins, Joshua Rothkopf, David Reddish, Danielle Solzman, Stephen Silver, Philip Martin, Mike Massie, Matt Brunson, R rating, high school, coming-of-age, Texas town, period piece, small town, friendship, love triangle, affair, coach’s wife, graduation, army, dead-end town, better life, 1950s, nudity, language, sexuality, Columbia Pictures, Mono sound mix
Worldwide gross: $29,146,131
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $239,164,117
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 600
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 26,081,147
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,300,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $10,667,397
Production budget ranking: 1,642
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,744,393
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $222,752,326
ROI to date (est.): 1,357%
ROI ranking: 82
Jeff Bridges – Duane Jackson
Cybill Shepherd – Jacy Farrow
Ben Johnson – Sam the Lion
Cloris Leachman – Ruth Popper
Ellen Burstyn – Lois Farrow
Director – Peter Bogdanovich
Producer – Stephen Friedman
Writers – Peter Bogdanovich, Larry McMurtry, Larry McMurtry
Director(s)
Peter Bogdanovich
Writer(s)
Peter Bogdanovich, Larry McMurtry, Larry McMurtry
Producer(s)
Stephen Friedman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
19 wins & 22 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (61)
At first glance, the movie is a faithful and skillful adaptation of the source, but a second look at both the film and the book reveals some interesting divergences.
March 2, 2015
Andrew Sarris
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
It’s plain and uncondescending in its re-creation of what it means to be a high-school athlete, of what a country dance hall is like, of the necking in cars and movie houses, and of the desolation that follows high-school graduation.
March 2, 2015
Pauline Kael
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
A sublime study of sexually charged ennui in a dying town in 1950s Texas.
March 2, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Wendy Ide
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The scene where Sam imparts his wisdom to young buck Bottoms may be the saddest, loveliest moment in 1970s American cinema. And that’s saying something.
March 2, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Tom Huddleston
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
For the members of the New Hollywood, it was a briefly opened window on revitalized filmmaking and venturesome storytelling.
September 28, 2011 | Rating: 4/4
Budd Wilkins
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It’s meant to make you feel sad for what’s lost, but a vitality throbs through it.
September 27, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
With movies increasingly replaced by one-note YouTube and Instagram influencers, the movie seems to ask: are we losing dreams as well?
March 20, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
David Reddish
Queerty
The Last Picture Show isn’t the most inspiring film but Peter Bogdanovich manages to direct superb performances in the period film.
January 9, 2022
Danielle Solzman
Solzy at the Movies
One of the most important movies of the New Hollywood era in the 1970s (50th anniversary)
October 29, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Stephen Silver
Tilt Magazine
There is something pitiless and strange in this movie, which weds the directness of old-school Western directors like Ford and Hawks with the freedom and permissive sweep of the late ’60s cultural moment.
March 26, 2021
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Although a technically proficient production, its ultimate resonance will largely depend on nostalgia and familiarity with 1950s.
August 30, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
An American classic in every sense.
January 23, 2020 | Rating: 4/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy…
Plot
In tiny Anarene, Texas, in the lull between World War Two and the Korean Conflict, Sonny and Duane are best friends. Enduring that awkward period of life between boyhood and manhood, the two pass their time the best way they know how
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Last Picture Show features a young Jeff Bridges in one of his earliest film roles.
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