Nickelodeon (1976)

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Peter Bogdanovich (writer)
W.D. Richter (writer)

Release Date:

21 December 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Dreams. 5 cents.

Plot:

This homage to the childhood days of the motion pictures starts in 1910, when the young attorney Leo...

Plot Keywords:

Celebrity | Hollywood | Movie Business | Movie Production | Film Making

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ryan O'Neal	...	Leo Harrigan
Burt Reynolds	...	Buck Greenway
Tatum O'Neal	...	Alice Forsyte
Brian Keith	...	H.H. Cobb
Stella Stevens	...	Marty Reeves
John Ritter	...	Franklin Frank
Jane Hitchcock	...	Kathleen Cooke
Jack Perkins	...	Michael Gilhooley
Brion James	...	Bailiff
Sidney Armus	...	Judge
Joe Warfield	...	Defense Attorney
Tamar Cooper	...	Edna Mae Gilhooley
Alan Gibbs	...	Patents Hooligan
Mathew Anden	...	Hecky
Lorenzo Music	...	Mullins

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:6 (f) | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (2003) (re-rating) | UK:U (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

British Lion Film Corporation

Trivia:

For the Los Angeles premiere, all guests (and some critics) paid five cents to see the movie in honor of the film and early Hollywood ticket prices. However, reaction to the picture was poor and one critic (David Sheehan, reporting for CBS News) claimed it wasn't worth paying a nickel to see.

Quotes:

Franklin Frank: It's real simple, you'll have no problem.
Leo Harrigan: I won't?
Franklin Frank: Hell, no, any jerk can direct. Now you see over there? Marty & Kingsley putting on their makeup? Those are the actors.
Leo Harrigan: Thank you very much.
Franklin Frank: Okay, now you see over there? That box on the sticks? John's putting a blanket on it. That's the camera. Now the first thing you do is tell me where to put it.
Leo Harrigan: I'm about to.
Franklin Frank: No - I'm the cameraman.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Saw it with Bogdanovitch in the Theatre

As Peter called it his Director's Cut and this was also a World Premiere. It was completely in black in white in a movie theatre for the first time ever. PB said he hadn't seen it ever on the big screen in this new and preferred way either. What a wonderful ode to the way that it was back in the 1910's.

I laughed frequently to the gags, film in-jokes, and silent film style action. Period detail was fun to see with the clothing, cars, white face for silent scenes, and silent inter-titles between scenes. All around this is one of those fun movies that's filled with a lot of info layered into the story. Even more so to those fans that know what it took to create and record performances on the first motion picture film stocks. The film score by Richard Hazard sounded like it was lifted from one of the Keystone Kops films. The cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs was superb. I loved the closing credits sequence showing a studio of glass with bright lights at night and showing the filming of soldiers marching through the set and then coming outside to go around again and again. The level of authenticity was undeniable and enjoying both at the same time. A Rare Feat.

Within the film it would show people watching silent films and what it took for those employees of that theatre to recreate with the in house orchestra and sound / special effects to be heard alongside the audibly silent film performance.

I miss John Ritter, Jane Hitchcock was gorgeous, James Best in his western garb, George Gaynes (the Commandant who got blown away in Police Academy 1), Harry Carey Jr, M. Emmet Walsh, Brian Keith, and the juicy Stella Stevens.

* Before the movie started there was a Q&A. Among the facts before the screening were these: Peter stated that the studio wouldn't let him use Cybil for this film (even though it was written only for her) or that if she would do Nickelodeon they would NOT let her do Taxi Driver. Also Peter wanted to go with Jeff Bridges in Burt's role.

That the then head of Columbia said it would be OK to film it in color and then we'll let you release it black and white. The studio also forced him to remove a scene of Ryan romancing Ritter's girl Stella. It was nothing more than Ritter seeing Ryan go into Stella's room and close the door. Ritter in that moment had Tatum at his side.

The copy we saw last night was on a Beta type tape. So there was a delay of perhaps 15 seconds in the theatre for switching the tapes. It came from the acting Columbia library mgr within the last few months. PB had only seen this print once before at Quentin Tarantino's house. QT has the gadgets necessary to play this apparently rare type of Beta stock. QT's quote for last night's theatrical screening was "It's F'ing Rad"; although QT was not in attendance.

Peter said that he hopes that there will be a future director's cut release onto DVD here in the states. As the abused Columbia release is so far only on DVD in the UK. I told him I'd love to hear his commentary for the movie. What a movie!!!