Claim: Jeff Bridges played Duane in a 1971 American drama film.

The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich , adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry .   Set in a small town in north Texas from November 1951 to October 1952 , it is about the coming of age of Sonny Crawford -LRB- Timothy Bottoms -RRB- and his friend Duane Jackson -LRB- Jeff Bridges -RRB- . The cast also includes Cybill Shepherd -LRB- in her film debut -RRB- , Ben Johnson , Eileen Brennan , Ellen Burstyn , Cloris Leachman , Clu Gulager , Randy Quaid and John Hillerman . For aesthetic reasons it was shot in black and white , which was unusual for the time . The film features many songs of Hank Williams and other recording artists played throughout .   The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Director , Ben Johnson and Jeff Bridges for Best Supporting Actor and Ellen Burstyn and Cloris Leachman for Best Supporting Actress , with Johnson and Leachman winning . In 1998 the film was deemed `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry .