Nickelodeon (1976)

Who payed the critics

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Director and self-confessed movie-lover Peter Bogdanovich does his comedic take on the early days of cinema--a project which should have been ideal, the perfect match between filmmaker and nostalgia-laden material. But "Nickelodeon", originally written by W.D. Richter before Bogdanovich did a complete rewrite job, doesn't deliver. Combining static slapstick scenes with klutzy romance, the director's timing seems perpetually off, while his large cast seems to struggle. Playing an attorney who turns moviemaker in 1910, Ryan O'Neal probably hoped to resurrect the bespectacled wunderkind he played in "What's Up, Doc?" but hasn't any funny material to work with; Burt Reynolds fares even worse as a stuntman who becomes part of O'Neal's troupe of performers, while newcomer Jane Hitchcock is unmemorable as the leading lady both men pine for. Also caught in the chaotic scramble are Stella Stevens, Brian Keith, John Ritter, and Tatum O'Neal as a pre-teen movie assistant. Tatum, so good opposite father Ryan in 1973's "Paper Moon", hasn't any chemistry with him here--she doesn't even have much screen-time. Bogdanovich painstakingly sets up visual gags that are more strenuous than funny, and his story about pioneer filmmaking never builds any momentum. One of the major movie disappointments of the 1970s. ** from ****

This homage to the childhood days of the motion pictures starts in 1910, when the young attorney Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) by chance meets a motion picture producer. Immediately he's invited to become a writer for him - the start of a sensational career. Soon he's promoted to a director and shoots one silent movie after the other in the tiny desert village of Cacamonga with a small crew of actors. But the competition is hard: the patent agency sends out Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds) to sabotage them. When they visit L.A., his crew is surprised by a new species: fans! This movie has many problems. The biggest one being it's running time. At over two hours, it's just way too long for a comedy, especially one that aspires to recreate the screwball humor of the olden days. The second problem is the confusing tone. One moment it's a love story, the next it's a slapstick comedy, then it's a history of early film-making, then it's a melodrama, then back to comedy. Repeat that for over two hours and things get pretty tiresome. Because of the constant jerking of the tone, none of the leads make much of an impression with their characters.The slapstick comedy that worked so well in director Bogdanovich's hilarious 'What's Up Doc?' falls flat on it's face here. If Bogdanovich hadn't used such a heavy-handed slapstick, there might have emerged a fond tribute to the pioneering days of silent films in the early part of the 20th Century. But instead, he has filled the movie with a whole series of non-stop sight gags that become tiresome and repetitious, even more so because none of the characters involved really come to life. As the pretty heroine of the piece, Jane Hitchcock has very limited abilities beyond staring wide-eyed into the camera lens. Burt Reynolds at least does derive several good chuckles from his comedy efforts as a reluctant participant in the troupe of silent film actors. Younger and elder O'Neal are not too bad, but Ryan is never as funny as he was in 'What's Up Doc?' and Tatum, whose performance in 'Paper Moon' is still the best child performance ever on film, isn't very memorable here.Technically, the film is handsomely produced and pleasing to look at in color, but it plods along without the benefit of a tight script or a really compelling story and suffers, mainly, from the heavy-handed approach to comedy.

I've read about how, after Peter Bogdanovich enjoyed a trio of critical and commercial successes ("The Last Picture Show", "What's Up, Doc?" and "Paper Moon"), he suffered a trio of critical and commercial failures ("Daisy Miller", "At Long Last Love" and "Nickelodeon"). Now that I've seen the last one, I would say that it's no masterpiece in any way, shape or form, but not terrible. Some of the scenes drag a little bit, but this look at the early days of the film industry has its moments. I guess that a lot of people thought that Bogdanovich was making too many nostalgia pieces and thus turned this one down. I wouldn't recommend it as your first choice, but you might want to check it out if possible. I personally think that Peter Bogdanovich deserves a lot more credit than we give him. You'll really laugh at Ryan O'Neal's and John Ritter's confusion over "Tell me where to put it." Also starring Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Stella Stevens and Brian Keith.

In 1975, I was a Teamster Driver for the studios, and one of the first locations was a location caterer for the movie Nickelodeon. With all of the behind the camera activities, I happened to notice a "drop-dead" beautiful woman, who was always near Ryan. Feeling more confident with myself during the second week, we started a conversation about everything, but really about nothing. We stayed in touch; she went her way and I went my way. Before a short period of time, we went out (she insisted on driving). Why? Because she owned a 1925 Silver Cloud, black and silver in color. That was 1979, and during the summer of '80, I landed a prime job as the caterer for a total of 9 weeks; at sea; off Catalina Island; 3 meals per day; 7 days a week. It was just me and the ship's crew of 7. I had to always be there to service cast, crew and the ship's crew. O.K. not bad, but it got a lot happier on the 4th week end. I phoned Sheree and asked her to visit. She did. We stayed close friends, and in 1994, we got married. I never did see the movie!