I first became aware of Cloris Leachman, who died last week at age 94, in 1971 – in her Oscar-winning performance in The Last Picture Show. Then I enjoyed her as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein and as Phyllis Lindstrom in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Much later, as I delved into film noir, I learned that her movie debut was in the startling opening scene of the 1955 atomic noir Kiss Me Deadly.
What I didn’t know was that Leachman had, beginning in 1947, already amassed over 100 of her 285 screen credits before The Last Picture Show. Before her great run in the 70s, she had a prolific career in television, including guest appearances on Perry Mason, Mannix, The Big Valley, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke and 77 Sunset Strip. She even appeared 28 times in a recurring role on Lassie.
But Leachman will be forever remembered for her performance at age 45 as Ruth Popper in The Last Picture Show. Ruth Popper is the neglected wife of the football coach in a windswept Texas hamlet, a woman trapped in the most profound loneliness. She seeks comfort in an affair with Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), the local good kid, who is 18 and is entranced by the teen vixen Jacy (Cybill Shepherd).
Leachman’s performance is heartbreaking – the temporary sexual pleasure never entirely mitigates Ruth’s sadness, which is always peeking through. This relationship cannot last, and Ruth’s final monologue with Sonny is devastating.
When I saw The Last Picture Show at San Jose’s domed Century Theaters in 1971, I was the same age as the main characters – like Sonny – and I was especially interested in their sexual escapades. It’s a remarkable thing to watch a coming of age story about 18-year-olds when you are 18 and then again forty years later when you know stuff.
In 2019, the Roxie Theater screened The Last Picture Show – with the film’s legendary director Peter Bogdanovich in attendance, and I wrote about it: The Last Picture Show. The film is certainly a coming-of-age story, and the plot is about the kids. But the depth of the film – and what makes it a masterpiece – is in the middle-aged characters and how they face the real-life ennui and angst that is still ahead for the teenagers. They are played by Leachman, Ben Johnson, Ellen Burstyn and Clu Gulager. Johnson’s Sam the Lion is the anchor of the film (and Johnson won his own Oscar for his performance).
So, pour yourself a Dr. Pepper or a Jack Daniels, head to Anarene, Texas, and watch Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show. You can stream it from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and other services.
