"Paper Moon" Five and Ten

Practicing the art of distraction.
From the 1973 movie "Paper Moon" starring Ryan and Tatum O'Neal.

[@Brendan-Black]

Paper Moon is my favorite film of all-time.

[@dbbberry]

I read once that Ryan O'Neal didn't understand this scene, he couldn't figure out the scam. After several explanations from the director, Ryan still didn't get it. The director said "JUST DO IT!" Every time I watch this scene I have to watch real close or I won't figure out the scam either.

[@heene]

That's very interesting,

[@MichaelAkoneto]

One of the greatest iconic movies

[@odietamo9376]

Such a great movie, in every sense.

[@cyndeewenzel4992]

I finally get this! Thanks! This is one of my all time favorite movies.

[@bloodonthesnow]

he pays $.15 for the ribbons and gets $4.85 back. he's even. he keeps the change so he now has 4 bills. He uses one of his own bills to give her 5 ones in "exchange for a 5." he's even again. she keeps the 1s in her hand and never puts them back. he distracts her with questions. and with the $5 bill she JUST gave him.. says.. "how about you give me a $10?" so he hands her his five. he's down 5. but as asked, she hands him a $10... and thus he is now UP $5.

[@bloodonthesnow]

​@Shannon L. Freng i think it depends on how you view the ribbons. does "a ribbon in each color" represent only the planned "cost of doing business" to get the $10 bill in the end? or would he have bought them anyway, and only decided to try the con while he was paying? my logic was: he exchanged $0.15 for $0.15 worth of ribbons, so that part nets out. either way, it's neat to see that people are still reading my 12-year old youtube comment on this haha

[@ronaldwoodard3795]

Tranter, first of all, this movie is a DEFINITE classic. But, even though you explained the con very well, I STILL can't follow it! Yeah....I know I'm slow so I'll keep studying your interpretation. Thanks! Signed: SLOW AS A SNAIL, RON!

[@stutzbearcat5624]

Plus 4.85 circa 1930 was like what, $75 now! Hell, bread was 3-5 cents a loaf and gas was 11 cents a gallon!

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

It took me working as a cashier with a cash register as old as the one she's using for me to comprehend it. And I got rooked 2x by other methods, but I never got fooled by a fast talker. I got fooled as a 19 year old by some dude spilling change on my side of the counter and as I bent to pick it it this guy pulled all the twenties out, and not a soul in line behind him said a word. Big black guy who did it, and the second guy in line after him said to me "Miss, you need to keep an eye on your cash drawer. That guys just took out some money." White guy. I guess he didn't want to cause any problems with the scary black dude. I was almost as mad at him as I was at the guy who stole the money!🤐

[@gereshomeE]

Thanks!... err I think... 🤔

[@BrainyGavinLee]

One of my favourite films and one of my favourite scams!

[@williamturner1517]

George C Scott, in the Flim Flam Man pulls that same stunt.

[@kentclark6420]

Now we know what clerks in those little out of the way shops have to deal with.

[@Hocicologo]

Después de la adulación, viene la traición

[@MrCanack]

Despite watching this 20 times and reading the comments, I was still confused. Here's the FULL explanation: Cashier needs 15 cents. (TRANSACTION 1) "Can you break a five?" --> Cashier provides him with $1 in coins, and $4 in singles. That's why she gives him the coins and says "That's 1, ....". ***He evenly swapped out the $5, he never paid the 15 cents.*** (TRANSACTION 2) "Can I give you 5 ones back and you give me that 5 dollar bill?" --> Cashier takes his 5 singles and gives him a $5 bill. NOTE: CASHIER GIVES HIM THE $5 BILL WHEN THE SCENE CUTS TO THE KID BRIEFLY (0:52 - 0:55). They don't actually show this happening. This is what messed me up. Maybe this was to easily confuse the audience as well. ***That was an even exchange.*** (TRANSACTION 3) "Why don't you just give me a $10 bill. Here's a 5, there's 5 more there." --> Cashier takes the $5 bill from the guy and adds that with the 5 singles she is holding. That adds up to $10, so she gives him a $10 bill. This is the problem. Those 5 singles she is holding? That is her money from Transaction 2. After giving the $5 bill to the guy when the cut scene happened, she should have put her 5 singles into the register. ***After transaction 1 & 3, cashier is down $5.85 altogether. Extra Note: His excuse for swapping so often was because his wallet is old and busted. Less bills won't cause it to break.***

[@MrCanack]

@Shannon L. Freng I was mistaken and you are correct. Thank you for the great explanation :)

[@maxmeh2342]

@@MrCanack She didn't give him $1 in change. She gave him 85 cents in change. That's how you count change back. Kids these days don't even know how count change. They'd be lost without a cash register. The ribbons cost 15 cents. He gave her a dollar. She gave him 85 cents and said "That makes a dollar". They're even. He pockets the 85 cents, then takes an additional one out of his wallet...adds it to the 4 ones she just handed to him. He asks her for a 5 in exchange for the 4 ones. He hands her the 4 ones. She hands him a 5. At this point they're even. It's then that he distracts her with chatter, and he hand her back the 5 in his hand and points to the 5 ones in her hand and he asks for a ten in exchange for the five he's giving her combined with the 5 ones in her hand (which don't belong to him, but she's distracted). She takes his five and her 5 ones, and gives him a ten. He's up $5, and he leaves ASAP.

[@Shelty47]

Luv this film! My fav bit is the car scene- I wanna sit in the front" Let ole Trixibelle with her big t-ts sit in the front. Brilliant film.

[@marksheffield7833]

Its okay. You can say tits. After all Peter Bogdanovich told Madeline Kahn to say it.

[@ernestinemaloy8680]

Mine is when they're in the diner and she argues that he could be her pa cos they have the same jaw and he says...and I quote...I know a woman who looks like a bullfrog but that don't mean she's the damn things MOTHER...kills me every time...🤣😂😂😂🤣😍🤩

[@noahmizrahi9834]

"It dont seem right, somehow" as she looks directly into the camera.

[@aferguson1960]

Profit is $4.85 plus the goods. You can start with $6 (a five and a one) and end up with $10.85 plus the ribbons. Pretty slick. ;)

[@ipolson]

You must get the DVD for the Directors commentary and the blooper reel is excellent !

[@InAnotherTimeGirl]

I'm going to Amazon right now. I got some gift card money.

[@hugo182]

@thx291 yeah, I agree with you! I think if they hadn't cut the scene, most people would notice that at first.

[@Landaux]

No wonder this movie won 3 Academy Awards! :-)

[@marksheffield7833]

No it was NOMINATED for 3 Oscars, in fact 4 - Best Sound (Richard Portman Les Fresholtz), Best Adapted Screenplay (Alvin Sargent), Best Supporting Actress (Madeline Kahn), and Best Supporting Actress (Tatum O'Neal) with O'Neal winning. She is still the youngest person to have ever won an Oscar.

[@SimpleAnimeFan]

I laughed so hard at the end

[@kamacazi8]

gave her 5. gave him change EVEN gave her 5 ones. gave her 5 gave him 5 ones gave him 10 He is up 5 in the end. not the change.

[@GirlWithNoRace]

@noobishmyspacer I also had to watch it two times, that was pretty slick :)

[@josephmetz890]

He got the ribbons for free and made $5 by asking for ten before he left.

[@swaldron5558]

Still not understand.

[@andywood5699]

Addie pulls the switch at a local fairground but I would have thought a carnie would have been smarter to pick up the scam. However, she gets away with it and the audience sees how she's learned to pull off this fraud.

[@OstryPerec]

В конце на лице читается "системная ошибка"

[@MacSmiley]

Yikes!! Five dollars was a LOT of money back then. I've watched this scene 'bout 10 times now, and I still can't get the math down! How much did he get away with?

[@marksheffield7833]

$9.85.

[@ClassicKrusty]

$5 I think

[@XL4U]

Real scam that is used today. 1)Purchase made for .15 with a $5. bill 2)Change $4.85 3)Coins are kept and a single is added to the four dollars then a $5 bill is requested. 4)Cashier has the 5 singles in one hand and pulls a five dollar bill from the till and hands it over. Before the cashier can put away her 5 singles the conman hands back the $5. saying "take this $5. and you already have the five singles now just give me a ten". Result: Profit $5.85 plus free goods

[@maxmeh2342]

He's not up $5.85 and ribbons. He's up $5. He paid 15 cents for the ribbons. Don't forget, he pulled out the additional single at the start of the scam.

[@XL4U]

It’s called Change Raising and it is a very popular scam. You combine the money you pay with the change you get back and a few dollars more to get a larger bill. It’s good to engage the sakes person is some sort of diverting conversation so that they are not concentrating on the money. The great thing about it is that if they don’t fall for it, you can feign confusion and it all seems like an honest mistake on your part. It is done by con artists at rest stops on the interstate highways.

[@annajeehee]

Yes agreed barrowak99723

[@alternit]

I still don't get it - he got $4.85 in change, then gives her the 4 back plus one and asks for a $5.00 bill - no problem as far as I see - then gives her another $5 and asks for a $10 - how does he make any money?

[@courtneykurtenbach2230]

He gave her five ones in exchange for the five dollar bill he gave her earlier. He is just switching out five ones for a five. The lady gives him the five and still has the five ones he gave her to switch out in her hand. He distracts her and asks if he can give her another five in addition to the five she has in her hand to exchange for a ten. She forgot that the five in her hand wasn't his, it was supposed to go back in the drawer. So she gave him an extra five dollars.

[@courtneykurtenbach2230]

And I forgot to mention that he just handed her back the five she just gave him. So he hands her back the same five and gets ten dollars back because she added the five in her hand to the five he gave her, thinking it was his.

[@BullToTheShit]

this video explains it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKmrnYhtqM5ordU

[@caspargrindcore]

£5.85

[@n2o4me]

no he skinned her for five.