Adapted from the novel, "Addie Pray" (1971) by Joe David Brown, PAPER MOON is the story of Moses Pray and Addie Loggins. With scenery reminiscent of "The Grapes of Wrath," the film is set in the depression-era Midwestern region of the United States. As the movie opens, we see a small group of mourners clustered at a graveside. Among the mourners is Addie, the dead woman's small daughter. Moses Pray -- ostensibly of the "Kansas Bible Company" -- approaches the group, as the service concludes, and two of the elderly women remark that the child bears some resemblance to him and asks if he might be related. "If ever a child needed kin, it's now," one lady says. With no knowledge of who her father is, Addie's only haven is her Aunt's home in St. Joseph, Missouri. Having identified himself as a "traveling man spreading the Lord's gospel in these troubled times," "Mose" is prevailed upon to deliver the helpless child to her Aunt since he's going that way, anyway. Addie, wise beyond her years, soon discovers that Mose is little more than a scam artist traveling from town to town delivering unordered Bibles and charging exorbitant prices to recently widowed women whom he identifies through the obituary columns of local papers. Soon, Addie and Mose become a team, traveling from town to town, making money in every dishonest way imaginable, and looking for the ultimate score. The colorful characters they meet along the way make the film all the more interesting. Paramount among these is "Miss Trixie Delight," an exotic dancer who Mose rescues from a traveling carnival and her minion, Imogene. The film is peppered with "regional" dialog. Perhaps one of the most memorable lines of the movie is uttered when Mose is forced to wrestle a backwoodsman in order to trade his new car for the hillbilly's battered old truck. "Make him say calf-rope, Leroy!" one of the observers calls out.
Ryan O'Neal | Moses Pray |
Tatum O'Neal | Addie Loggins |
Madeline Kahn | Trixie Delight |
John Hillerman | Deputy Hardin / Jess Hardin |
P.J. Johnson | Imogene |
Jessie Lee Fulton | Miss Ollie |
James N. Harrell | The Minister (as Jim Harrell) |
Lila Waters | The Minister's Wife |
Noble Willingham | Mr. Robertson |
Bob Young | Gas Station Attendant |
Jack Saunders | Station Master |
Jody Wilbur | Cafe Waitress |
Liz Ross | The Widow Morgan (Pearl) |
Yvonne Harrison | The Widow Bates (Marie) |
Dorothy Price | Ribbon Saleslady |
Ed Reed | The Lawman - Bates' Home |
Eleanor Bogart | The Widow Stanley (Elvira) |
Frank Marshall | associate producer |
Dorothy Forster | The Widow Huff (Edna) |
Francis Ford Coppola | Executive Producer |
Lana Daniel | Moze's Girlfriend |
Herschel Morris | The Barber |
William Friedkin | Executive Producer |
Dejah Moore | Salesgirl ($20 bill) |
Ralph Coder | Store Manager |
Harriet Ketchum | Store Customer |
Desmond Dhooge | Cotton Candy Man |
Kenneth Hughes | Harem Tent Barker |
George Lillie | The Photographer |
Burton Gilliam | Floyd (Desk Clerk) |
Floyd Mahaney | Beau (Hardin's Deputy) |
Gilbert Milton | Leroy's Father |
Randy Quaid | Leroy |
Tandy Arnold | Leroy's Brother |
Dennis Beden | Leroy's Brother |
Vernon Schwanke | Leroy's Brother |
Hugh Gillin | 2nd Deputy |
Art Ellison | Silver Mine Gentleman |
Rose-Mary Rumbley | Aunt Billie (as Rosemary Rumbley) |
László Kovács | Cinematographer |
Jack Benny | Himself (on his radio show) (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited) |
Rick Fields | post production assistant |
Karen Hale Wookey | Script Supervisor |
Jeff Colyer | Extra |
Jim Jordan | Fibber McGee (on his radio show) (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited) |
Verna Fields | Film Editor |
Marian Jordan | Molly McGee (on her radio show) (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited) |
Ralph M. Leo | production accountant |
Don Wilson | Himself on Jack Benny Radio Show (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited) |
Bing Crosby | Thanks |
Gary Chason | Casting Director |
Frank Luther | Thanks |
Polly Platt | Production Designer |
Dick Powell | Thanks |
John P. Austin | Set Decorator |
Dorothy Byrne | Hairdresser |
Larry Stewart | Thanks |
Rolf Miller | makeup |
Jerry Ballew | second assistant director |
Gary Daigler | assistant director trainee |
Ray Gosnell Jr. | assistant director (as Ray Gosnell) |
Ed Shanley | construction coordinator |
James H. Spencer | set designer (as James Spencer) |
Mark Wade | assistant prop man |
Tony Wade | prop master |
William C. Carruth | assistant sound editor (as Bill Carruth) |
Les Fresholtz | Mixer |
Richard Portman | re-recording |
Kay Rose | Sound Editor |
Frank E. Warner | sound editor (as Frank Warner) |
Norman Webster | boom man |
Jack Harmon | optical effects |
Richmond L. Aguilar | gaffer (as Richmond Aguilar) |
Bobby Byrne | camera operator (as Robert Byrne) |
Dick Colean | assistant cameraman |
George Hill | key grip |
Leonard Lookabaugh | dolly grip |
Lou Noto | assistant cameraman (as Louis Noto) |
Lawrence E. Peets | best boy (as Larry Peets) |
Paul Caven | electrician (uncredited) |