Peter Bogdanovich had a great start to the 1970s as writer and director. It began with The Last Picture Show.
By the later 1970s Bogdanovich's stock had declined and making movies such as Mask as a director for hire.
A few days after his death. I had another chance to see Nickelodeon.
Bogdanovich was a cinephile. This was his love letter to the early days of Hollywood that was inspired by the stories told to him by people who were there.
Nickelodeon is mainly a slapstick comedy that starts off in Chicago 1910. Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) is an incompetent lawyer who somehow staggers into a fast talking independent movie producer H H Cobb (Brian Keith.)
Cobb has been evading the Patents Company, a conglomerate of big movie producers who use patents on movie cameras to block smaller players entering the industry.
Harrigan is hired as a writer, quickly becomes a director and he keeps bumping into dancer Kathleen Cooke who has poor eyesight.
Cooke also keeps stumbling into cowboy Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds.) He was meant to deliver a saddle, he ends up becoming an enforcer for the Patents Company. Later an actor for Harrigan.
Both of the end up vying for Cooke's attentions. As they make short reels quickly. They realise that the movie industry is changing with D W Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
Nickelodeon shares a lot with Bogdanovich's earlier slapstick comedy What's Up, Doc?
Nevertheless this is a fun charming film. I enjoyed the silly slapstick. Unfortunately it got mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. The reason being it lacked a dramatic impulse. There is no real danger as the Patents Company plot just fades away.
It features strong performances. Bogdanovich was one of the few directors who could get a good performance out of Ryan O'Neal. Both he and Reynolds are exemplary in the slapstick scenes.
Reynolds exudes natural charm and charisma. Yet he is never coasting. There is good support from John Ritter, Brian Keith, Tatum O'Neal and in her movie debut; Jane Hitchcock who plays Cooke.
By the later 1970s Bogdanovich's stock had declined and making movies such as Mask as a director for hire.
A few days after his death. I had another chance to see Nickelodeon.
Bogdanovich was a cinephile. This was his love letter to the early days of Hollywood that was inspired by the stories told to him by people who were there.
Nickelodeon is mainly a slapstick comedy that starts off in Chicago 1910. Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) is an incompetent lawyer who somehow staggers into a fast talking independent movie producer H H Cobb (Brian Keith.)
Cobb has been evading the Patents Company, a conglomerate of big movie producers who use patents on movie cameras to block smaller players entering the industry.
Harrigan is hired as a writer, quickly becomes a director and he keeps bumping into dancer Kathleen Cooke who has poor eyesight.
Cooke also keeps stumbling into cowboy Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds.) He was meant to deliver a saddle, he ends up becoming an enforcer for the Patents Company. Later an actor for Harrigan.
Both of the end up vying for Cooke's attentions. As they make short reels quickly. They realise that the movie industry is changing with D W Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
Nickelodeon shares a lot with Bogdanovich's earlier slapstick comedy What's Up, Doc?
Nevertheless this is a fun charming film. I enjoyed the silly slapstick. Unfortunately it got mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. The reason being it lacked a dramatic impulse. There is no real danger as the Patents Company plot just fades away.
It features strong performances. Bogdanovich was one of the few directors who could get a good performance out of Ryan O'Neal. Both he and Reynolds are exemplary in the slapstick scenes.
Reynolds exudes natural charm and charisma. Yet he is never coasting. There is good support from John Ritter, Brian Keith, Tatum O'Neal and in her movie debut; Jane Hitchcock who plays Cooke.