MovieChat Forums > The Last Picture Show (1971) Discussion > You have to be pretty inept to go broke ...

You have to be pretty inept to go broke running the only theatre in town


Wouldn't you?

reply

I don't think it's that the lady or Sam were inept, it's just the town was full of bored people and/or people who probably couldn't afford to go to the movies. Many rural southerners, Texans, and the like lived off less than $2 a day back then

reply

The lady running the theater claimed that there were a few thing to blame for the closing, including the impact of television which would have been introduced around the time the movie was set. Ultimately she was probably somewhat inept. She did say that Sam the Lion was more adept to run the theater than she was.

reply

"The lady running the theater claimed that there were a few thing to blame for the closing, including the impact of television which would have been introduced around the time the movie was set."

Yes and it's around the time you mention that the film cuts to a shot of Jacey watching 1952 television to emphasise the point.

It's not just television. The film suggests the town is caught between changing economic times and that many have left to pursue success elsewhere.

reply

As was said, television had the most to do with it. Also, the majority of profit for the theater isn't in the movie, but the concession. It's been a while since I saw the movie, but it looked as though there weren't all that many in attendance on a Saturday night. I'm sure there were nights during the week that only a few came to the show. One or a hundred, the costs for showing the movie are just about the same.

My folks and some friends of theirs re-opened the movie theater in my home town (population 611) not long after TLPS takes place and couldn't make a go of it for the same reasons I mentioned. My pop said the writing was on the wall when one Sat. night their only customer was the daughter of the richest guy in town. (when dad told the story I always pictured someone who looked like Cybill Shepherd)

reply

Sam was a business man and basically did all sorts of tricks to keep the place running. After he died the lady running the place didn’t have a clue of what to do.

reply

Movies are expensive and lots of small towns have lost their theaters over the years. I grew up in a small town considerably bigger than Anarene, and our theater went under in the early 70s. Recently the switch to digital (and the concomitant costs) have put many little town theaters out of business.

reply

I lived in a small town in 1961, ten years after the period of the movie, and admission to the local theater was a dime for kids and a quarter for grownups. Nobody was making bank off of running that place.

reply

Inept is a wonderful word. It needs to be used more often. Mostly to describe politicians.

reply

I also like the word “feckless.” It sounds so dirty, but it is perfectly proper in polite conversation.

reply