The Last Picture Show Movie (1971): Where to watch and stream online

The Last Picture Show

1971, Movie, 1h 59min

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is one of the key films of the American cinema renaissance of the seventies. Set during the early fifties, in the loneliest Texas nowheresville to ever dust up a movie screen, this aching portrait of a dying West, adapted from Larry McMurtry’s novel, focuses on the daily shuffles of three futureless teens—the enigmatic Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), the wayward jock Duane (Jeff Bridges), and the desperate-to-be-adored rich girl Jacy (Cybil Shepherd)—and the aging lost souls who bump up against them in the night like drifting tumbleweeds, including Cloris Leachman’s lonely housewife and Ben Johnson’s grizzled movie-house proprietor. Featuring evocative black-and-white imagery and profoundly felt performances, this hushed depiction of crumbling American values remains the pivotal film in the career of the invaluable director and film historian Peter Bogdanovich.

Country: United States

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Reviews

Critic Kim Newman

rated

In essence, it’s a soap, but director Peter Bogdanovich plays it as a John Ford-style ‘closing of the frontier’ Western, with ugly-beautiful images of a West that has swapped cattle for oil but failed to strike it rich...

Read full review at Empire

Kasper Løvborg

rated

There is an incredible sense of authenticity of setting to Bogdanovich's New Hollywood masterpiece about young love in a quiet town in the early fifties. One of my all-time favorite coming of age movies.

5 years ago

Critic Brian Costello

rated

The dust storms, the country music on the radio, the nuance and subtlety in the performances all create a mood and production that seems effortless.

Read full review at Common Sense Media

Critic Roger Ebert

rated

...in 1971, it created a sensation. I saw it on its first engagement in New York, where audiences crowded in with the eagerness reserved, these days, for teenage action pictures. It felt new and old at the same time.

Read full review at Roger Ebert

Frequently asked questions

What is The Last Picture Show about? Toggle content

The Last Picture Show is a coming-of-age drama set in a small Texas town in the early 1950s. The movie follows the lives of two high school seniors,new Sonny Crawford and Duane Jackson, as they navigate their relationships, personal struggles, and future plans. The film explores themes of sexual awakening, disillusionment, and the decline of small-town America. The movie features an ensemble cast, including Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, and Cloris Leachman, and was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film was critically acclaimed and received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Where can I stream The Last Picture Show? Toggle content

The Last Picture Show is currently unavailable to stream in undefined on the streaming services we have in our catalogue

What movies are similar to The Last Picture Show? Toggle content

Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as The Last Picture Show include Barry Lyndon, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Hawaii, Breezy, A Star Is Born.