Main Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens
Release Year: 1976
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Peter Bogdanovich's early career as a film writer stood him in good stead for this comedy drama about the early days of the motion-picture industry, based in part on his interviews with pioneering directors Raoul Walsh and Allan Dwan. Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) is a lawyer and Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds) is a cowboy and gunman. Both are sent to California to shut down a renegade group of silent-movie makers -- financed by blustery H.H. Cobb (Brian Keith) -- who are in violation of the Motion Picture Patents Co. Trust. Harrigan and Greenway somehow find themselves working with the movie crew instead of shutting them down; they join forces with cameraman Franklin Frank (John Ritter), leading lady Kathleen Cooke (Jane Hitchcock), and precocious prop girl Alice Forsyte (Tatum O'Neal). Greenway becomes a star and Harrigan a respected director, but both battle over the affections of Cooke. Incidentally, Cobb's big speech near the end is taken almost verbatim from a quote given to Bogdanovich in an interview with actor James Stewart. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Nickelodeon, Peter Bogdanovich's love letter to the early days of silent films, is so heartfelt a film that it's a shame it isn't more successful overall. The problem seems to be that Bogdanovich fell so in love with making an homage to the era that he failed to sharpen the screenplay into a cohesive, dramatic story and to give sufficient depth to the characters. Adding to the problem is that Bogdanovich, though talented in his own right and clearly a dedicated and devoted fan of silent film creators, simply doesn't have the right feel for the slapstick that is integral to both the era and this film. The timing isn't quite right, the setups don't really work, the presentation is a little off. None of this is terrible, but it keeps the humor from really bursting forth in the way it needs to. There is one marvelous sequence at the end, as Bogdanovich recreates the Birth of a Nation premiere in a manner that creates chills. And he does get a first-rate performances from Burt Reynolds and Brian Keith (who shines in the final monologue), and a compelling one from Tatum O'Neal, even if the crucial contribution from Ryan O'Neal is severely lacking. Even with its flaws, Nickelodeon has enough going for it to make it worth viewing -- but it could have been so much more than it is. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Richard G. Berger - Art Director, Hal Needham - Coordinator, Norman Salling - Costume Designer, Theadora Van Runkle - Costume Designer, Sandra Berke - Costume Designer, Jack Sanders - First Assistant Director, Peter Bogdanovich - Director, William Carruth - Editor, Richard Hazard - Composer (Music Score), Laszlo Kovacs - Cinematographer, Robert Chartoff - Producer, Frank Marshall - Producer, Irwin Winkler - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Les Fresholtz - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Minkler - Sound/Sound Designer, Arthur Piantadosi - Sound/Sound Designer, Barry Thomas - Sound/Sound Designer, Kay Rose - Sound Editor, Peter Bogdanovich - Screenwriter, W.D. Richter - Screenwriter
Going from a lawyer to a writer, and then to a film director, is the career path on which we find Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal). But Leo has problems as well, such as being hopelessly smitten with his leading lady, who chooses to grab his attentions by getting herself engaged to his vulgar and ignorant leading man, Buck Greenaway (Burt Reynolds)!
