Early 1950s. Enduring that awkward period of life between boyhood and manhood, Sonny in Duane pass their time with the movie house, football, and girls. Jacey is Duane's steady, wanted by every boy in school. The boys are torn between a future somewhere out there beyond the borders of town or making do with their inheritance of a decrepit movie house. As high school graduation approaches, they learn some difficult lessons about love, loneliness, and jealousy. With the closure of the movie house, the boys feel that a stage of their lives is closing. They stand uneasily on the threshold of the rest of their lives.
"We had to use black and white. Color made the town look too ... pretty, I guess. And one of the things in the back of my mind was the hope that maybe we could help break that silly taboo against black and white. A lot of pictures shouldn't be shot in color. Orson Welles told me once that all the great performances had been in black and white. That is almost literally the truth. There's something mysterious and enriching about black and white. Color is too realistic."
(Peter Bogdanovich)
Peter Bogdanovich
Born in 1939 to Serbian painter/pianist father and Austrian mother of Jewish descent. He began his career on stage under the tutelage of famed acting teacher Stella Adler. He went on to direct, produce and act in a number of films. An accomplished artist, he belonged to the Hollywood elite circles in the 1970s, when he made his most resounding works, The Last Picture Show, What's Up, Doc? and Paper Moon.