"...and of course you're going to shoot it in black and white."
- Orson Welles to director Peter Bogdanovich
Who am I to dispute the great Orson Welles? So I fiddled with my camera's settings to shoot black and white and headed out to Archer City, site for filming of the famed "The Last Picture Show". Sure you've all seen "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" but life gets compressed pretty quickly in small west Texas towns too and I saw plenty of one year marriages in my hometown high school. What else you gonna do to make it look good after you knock her up?
Larry McMurtry's novel and screenplay sought to give vent to an unvarnished look at bored, restless teenagers and dying adults circa 1950 in the fictional town of Anarene, Texas. McMurtry spares nothing and no one as he points his spotlight in all directions, unmasking the mythology of their lives - all the while creating a mythology of rural lives long given up hope on life. It's a situation too bleak for colors - those were blown away long ago by the almighty Texas dust.
I arrived on a cloudy and sometimes rainy day. Just perfect. 
Roads leading out of town take on a mythology of their own, like railroad tracks leading out to the wider world, the place where anything can happen. As a kid, you remember every spot, every crack - that's your way out, boy. 
Royal Theater, the legendary last picture show. 
Inside the ticket booth are stills from the movie 
It was very much a cowboys' town. I felt very out of place and self-conscious taking pictures. I must have looked like a gawking tourist at a zoo. 
Here is where all the good ol' boys went to meet and eat. 
I found the football field. Perhaps the most sacred place in any rural town. Football is how God speaks to a community. Blessed are the winners for glory is thine. 
I love this shot of the secondary stands. I see so many dreams won and lost in it, memories to linger for life. In the movie, the kids are ribbed mercilessly for losing on the field. 
The lone flashing red light. You wouldn't know it from this pic, but it was a damn busy intersection. May not be a lot of people living in Archer City but it seems everyone passes through it. 
A lonely city street stretching into infinity. I couldn't imagine being anchored there for life. But once you build a family, all the world revolves around that. 
And here we see the Royal theater from the side, exposing its wrecked wall and (hopefully) repairs being made. It's indicative of what happens when you scratch the surface of a rural Texas town. 
I also took some other pics on my way up to the panhandle. You can't miss seeing one of these. Not many still operate but this one did. 
A brave tree toughing it out against the Texas wind and dry, barren landscape. 
Here a farmer's field melts into the sky. It's easy to dream on a farm. Could you imagine the "Wizard of Oz" having a cloistered apartment as its starting point? 
I also found this abandoned windmill, a photographer's dream. I could have made a postcard out of this, it speaks through the lens so well. 
The school colors of my hometown were green and gold. I always liked that combination and it remains that way till this day. From this shot of a farmer’s field, you can see where those colors were derived. 
Click here to look at the complete set.
"He was sweeping you sons-of-bitches!"
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Comments
And the damn clip got me to bawling too! I wasn't expecting that...
Scanman, I'll leave a ticket at the booth for you.
(Now, OMG, there must be some kind of mistake - if they could just take that other post and photo - off the cover).
I had thought the Royal had been restored -- obviously I'm wrong about that. What about McMurtry's bookstore on the square? Is it still there and active? I have been thinking of making a trip to Archer City for that, and to do as you did, explore the sites from one of the all-time great films.
Lovely words to take the journey as well. Strangely enough, I bumped a chair into one of my bookshelves and "The Last Picture Show" fell on my head. That was last week - and it's a wee, slim paperback.
Scarlett, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it after viewing. And don't deny your own greatness on the cover.
BBE, thanks for the nod.
OE, it was a mystical journey and best part was I only thought of it two days before when the movie came on TV.
Pro, there are actually four used bookstores there and one is huge. The hours and days are limited so call ahead first. I was dying to go in there and browse but time did not permit.
noah, those are two great examples of west Texas lore born in the same roots. Love both those films.
aim, thank you for the kind words. These pics sort of fell into my lap. I was thinking, "Am I really this lucky?" And you should read that book!
You don't need me to tell you that you have talent.
How is the fund raising for the bill board going? Send me your kickstarter link when you get set up and I'll toss in some change.
The Other: You kiddin' me, I asked it be taken down. Enough already. Yay, it's gone!
aim, I stand corrected! I have a feeling it's like "Being there" and the movie is a vast improvement over the novel.
Scarlett, great! It's a film you won't forget.
Roger: have camera, will travel.
I happen to love those little towns. They can be murderously dull and "inbred." But they also had a strange innocence about them--seriously, I'm not being romantic and it was, in some ways, dangerous for them to be so naive. When the kids left they did not fare well in the cruel world. They came back a lot. Badly smashed.
On the other hand, I saw people care for each other on levels I have never seen elsewhere. I learned to love really simple things for real, not in theory. I particularly adored the Mormon family who gave us raw milk right outta the cow...and loved to sit and talk to my German engineer genius as if he were an alien come down just for their amusement. Neither he nor they had any idea what they were really talking about. But they were sweet, strange people. And so were we, to them. It was great fun. And the milk...to die for.
And everyone seemed to be having affairs with everyone else, too--there was a scandal with the local sheriff in one town that I will never forget. He was sleeping with his deputy's wife. And one weekend...they damned near killed each other. No one was surprised. It was the talk of the town that weekend. Mostly they laughed about it. Over the farmers market produce and A & W floats.
Maybe...they're not as naive as they seem...on second thought...
This movie was about that, too. Sam the Lion...lives...
Keka, what a lovely comment and thanks for sharing that. I always believed The Last Picture Show was basically a documentary in story form: write what you see and be honest about it. Small towns do allow a sense of community that's rarely matched in a big city but yes, that's a double edged sword. Everybody knows everything.
emma, I knew you would be. We are the Avengers after all :)
As for the whole Bogdanovich thing, maybe some artists only really have one great work in them, and then they're spent.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/home/article2.html
Julie, I have to admit ignorance on the bookstores or I would have included them.
But if that One Good Thing is all a person has to give then at least they gave their all.
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