The Last Picture Show

The Last Picture Show (1971) is Peter Bogdanovich's drama, worth watching online on iFILM. It settles into the dusty Texas town of Anarene in the early fifties, where time moves so slowly you can barely hear it pass. Shot in stark black and white, adapted from Larry McMurtry's novel.

Sonny and Duane are finishing high school and playing for a football team that keeps losing. Duane is going with Jacy, the prettiest girl in town; Sonny drifts into an affair with Ruth, the coach's older wife, lonely in her own house. The place is small enough that everyone knows everyone's secrets, and everyone has something to hide. The one movie theater is closing, and a whole way of life seems to close with it. Some will leave for the army, some will stay and grow old right there on Main Street.

In smaller parts you get Jeff Bridges and a debuting Cybill Shepherd, while Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman each won an Oscar for this film. Bogdanovich works without a score, leaning on radio tunes and wind, and the quiet aches more than any soundtrack could. The picture has long been preserved in the United States National Film Registry. Stream The Last Picture Show (1971) online on iFILM.