I have watched four or five of the cognoscente's consensus all-time greatest films. I didn't like any of them as well as The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999), imo a severely underrated film. Same with this one, Paper Moon. I watched Paper Moon on the big screen in a theater when it first came out. I haven't been able to rewatch it for free, just clips.
The late Ryan O'Neal and his real life daughter Tatum are the co-stars. Tatum is the youngest actor (10 yrs old) ever to win an Academy Award (for this film, as supporting actor).
Moses Pray is a lovable midwest conman, in the grand American tradition of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, during the Depression. Addie Pray, Moses' daughter, whose paternity Moses never acknowledges, is smarter than her father and both learns from him and out-learns him, willingly participating in Moses' scams and making them better, morally and lucratively. One of Moses' scams is "widow business". He and Addie scan the rural Kansas newspapers for recent deaths and then show up at the widow's house claiming that the dearly departed ordered a dee-luxe bible for someone named...[insert name of widow].
There are two scenes of widow business in this clip. Note director Peter Bogdanovich's use of deep focus keeping both foreground and background in crystal clarity. And note the subtle screenplay. Paper Moon is a masterpiece, underappreciated at release but now gaining recognition and a following. I have watched this short clip three times and laughed out loud at the contrast between first and second scenes and Moses' futile attempts keep control of the business template from interference by his ten-year old daughter in stealing the scenes (and the widows' money). It's absolutely adorable.
"Praise the Lord." 😂
