Nickelodeon (1976)

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Peter Bogdanovich
W.D. Richter

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

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
Arnold Soboloff	...	Cobb's Writer
Jeffrey Byron	...	Steve
Priscilla Pointer	...	Mabel
Don Calfa	...	Waldo
Philip Bruns	...	Duncan
Edward Marshall	...	Rialto Hotel Clerk
John Blackwell	...	Louie
E.J. André	...	Stage Performer
Christa Lang	...	Stage Performer
Maurice Manson	...	Stage Performer
Louis Guss	...	Dinsdale
Frank Marshall	...	Dinsdale's Assistant
Andrew Winner	...	Stage Manager
Mathilda Calnan	...	German Bakery Lady (as Matilda Calnan)
Gustaf Unger	...	German Producer
Bertil Unger	...	German Producer
James O'Connell	...	Patents Thug
Ric Mancini	...	Patents Thug
Mark Dennis	...	Cobb's Cutter
E. Hampton Beagle	...	Leo's Train Conductor
Hedgemon Lewis	...	Train Waiter
Bill Riddle	...	Sally
Dino Judd	...	Oldtimer
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Dobie
James Best	...	Jim
Jack Verbois	...	Jack
John Chappell	...	John
George Gaynes	...	Reginald Kingsley
Carleton Rippel	...	Depot Man
Rita Abrams	...	Dutch Damsel
Sara Jane Gould	...	Dutch Damsel
Mary Beth Bell	...	Dutch Damsel
M. Emmet Walsh	...	'Father' Logan
Miriam Byrd-Nethery	...	Aunt Lula
Rusty Blitz	...	Nickelodeon Barker
Les Josephson	...	Nickelodeon Bouncer
Tom Erhart	...	Nickelodeon Projectionist
Griffin O'Neal	...	Bicycle Boy
Patricia O'Neal	...	Movie Fanatic
Morgan Farley	...	Movie Fanatic
Anna Thea	...	Movie Fanatic
Elaine Partnow	...	Movie Fanatic
Joseph G. Medalis	...	Movie Fanatic
Billy Beck	...	Movie Fanatic
Roger Hampton	...	Movie Fanatic
Gordon Hurst	...	Policeman
Charles Thomas Murphy	...	Hollywood Realtor
Hamilton Camp	...	Blacker
Ted Gehring	...	Stoneman
Stanley Brock	...	Parker
Vincent Milana	...	Frank's Director
Lee Gordon Moore	...	Alice's Director
John Finnegan	...	Kathleen's Director
Christian Grey	...	Buck's Director
Robert Ball	...	Leo's Actor (as Robert E. Ball)
Chief Tug Smith	...	Elmer (as Chief Elmer Tugsmith)
Rude Frimel	...	Orchestra Conductor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jon Cutler	...	Driver (uncredited)
John Otrin	...	Man #4 (uncredited)
Carl D. Parker	...	Railroad Conductor (uncredited)
Gus Peters	...	Tex (uncredited)
Allen Williams	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Bogdanovich

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Bogdanovich
W.D. Richter

Produced by
Robert Chartoff	....	producer
Frank Marshall	....	producer
Irwin Winkler	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Hazard

Cinematography by
László Kovács

Film Editing by
William C. Carruth		(as William Carruth)

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster

Art Direction by
Richard Berger

Set Decoration by
David Silvera

Costume Design by
Theadora Van Runkle

Makeup Department
Tom Ellingwood	....	makeup artist
Ruby Ford	....	hair stylist
Marlene D. Williams	....	hair stylist (as Marlene Williams)

Production Management
Mel Dellar	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen Lim	....	second assistant director (as Steve Lim)
Jack Frost Sanders	....	assistant director (as Jack Sanders)
Arne Schmidt	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Bob Lawless	....	painter
Max Miller	....	prop person
Ed Shanley	....	construction coordinator
George Tours	....	lead man
Richard Valesko	....	property master
Dean Wilson	....	prop person

Sound Department
Richard Burrow	....	sound editor
Michael Colgan	....	sound editor
Morris Feingold	....	boom operator
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Glen Lambert	....	boom operator
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kay Rose	....	sound editor
Victoria Rose Sampson	....	sound editor (as Vickie Sampson)
Barry Thomas	....	production sound
Morton Tubor	....	sound editor (as Mort Tubor)

Special Effects by
Cliff Wenger	....	special effects

Stunts
Joe Amsler	....	stunts
Julie Ann Johnson	....	stunts
Hal Needham	....	stunt coordinator
Hal Needham	....	stunts
Ron Stein	....	stunts
Charles A. Tamburro	....	stunts (as Charles Tamburro)
Alan Gibbs	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richmond L. Aguilar	....	gaffer (as Richmond Aguilar)
Rick Borchardt	....	dolly grip
Bobby Byrne	....	camera operator
Paul Caven	....	best boy
Leonard Lookabaugh	....	key grip (as Len Lookabaugh)
Steve Stafford	....	assistant camera
Ted T. Sugura	....	assistant camera (as Ted Suguira)
Joseph E. Thibo	....	assistant camera (as Joe Thibo)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sandy Berke Jordan	....	wardrobe (as Sandra Burke)
Norman Salling	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Bill Lindemann	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Kenneth Wannberg	....	music editor (as Ken Wannberg)

Transportation Department
James D. Brubaker	....	transportation coordinator (as James Brubaker)

Other crew
Rita Abrams	....	choreographer
Neil Canton	....	production assistant
Daniel J. Heffner	....	production assistant
Stevie Myers	....	head wrangler
Grant Olson	....	craft service
Marge Rowland	....	production secretary
Charles A. Tamburro	....	helicopter pilot
Lois Thurman	....	script supervisor
Robert Weatherwax	....	dog trainer
Mae Woods	....	assistant to director
Joe Amsler	....	stand-in: Ryan O'Neal (uncredited)

Thanks
Allan Dwan	....	special thanks
Raoul Walsh	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• British Lion Film Corporation
• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• EMI Films

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1981) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• EMI Distribution (1976) (UK) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1975) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (director's cut)

Other Companies

• Howard Anderson Company, The  optical effects (as Howard A. Anderson Co.)
• Lennie Marvin Collection  piano rolls and cylinders
• Mobile Cinema Service  location unit

Also Known As:

"Peter Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon" - International (English title) (complete title)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

British Lion Film Corporation

Trivia:

Orson Welles urged Bogdanovich to photograph the film in black and white, but the studio baulked at this idea. At the March 2008 Bogdanovich retrospective held at the Castro Theater, San Francisco, the director's cut of the film was presented in a black and white print.

Quotes:

Buck Greenway:First time I saw her, I thought my teeth were gonna sweat.

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!!!