IMDb RATING
6.2/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
Buck and lawyer Leo accidentally get into movie production in the early days (1910).Buck and lawyer Leo accidentally get into movie production in the early days (1910).Buck and lawyer Leo accidentally get into movie production in the early days (1910).
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Director
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- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOrson Welles urged Peter Bogdanovich to photograph the film in black and white, but the studio balked 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.
- GoofsWhen the man shoots the movie camera, the hits on the camera do not match where his is pointing the gun, and the last flash on the camera has no corresponding gunshot sound.
- Quotes
Alice Forsyte: [at a movie premiere] I hear he's changing the title for New York.
Leo Harrigan: Yeah? To what?
Alice Forsyte: "The Birth of a Nation."
- Alternate versionsA black-and-white director's cut runs seven minutes longer.
Featured review
Just finished watching the color version on Turner Classic Movies. I loved "Paper Moon," especially the wonderful depression-era music, and "The Last Picture Show" (I grew up in Texas not so far from Archer City in the same era), so that's what I knew about Peter Bogdonovich, the director. I echo many of the reviews, without having known about the reception the film apparently received at the time. Even though I was grown when it came out, I just never got around to seeing it. Maybe I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as now, as I approach 60.
Yes, it's filled with slapstick, sometimes goofy, but the audience is in on the jokes. I felt like I was invited to the party, with all these wonderful actors (not in the thespian sense, but in the popular sense)as friends. The magic is that it makes you feel comfortable, because loving movies and movie making is part of my life, too. It appreciates the audience and wants us to have a good time with it.
The director obviously loves the medium. In many ways, there was a Fellini-esque quality to it, as another reviewer wrote. The magic of Fellini was similar: he used the everyday strangeness of reality to make his films real. Hollywood is the make-believe; reality makes a better film.
This is art imitating life. It celebrates the birth of the industry and the magic of the universal language of moving pictures, captured beautifully and simply in Brian Keith's closing monologue. It is Peter's love letter to the industry and to the audience, as only a lover could compose. It is beautifully crafted, the acting balanced throughout the ensemble, and the message delivered with wry humor. Though I didn't see it when released, it may look better now, in nostalgic retrospect. It IS a love letter, and at my age, it is a delightful homage to an industry that just "doesn't make 'em like this anymore." Thank you, Mr. Bogdonovich and all the cast. Love you, too.
Yes, it's filled with slapstick, sometimes goofy, but the audience is in on the jokes. I felt like I was invited to the party, with all these wonderful actors (not in the thespian sense, but in the popular sense)as friends. The magic is that it makes you feel comfortable, because loving movies and movie making is part of my life, too. It appreciates the audience and wants us to have a good time with it.
The director obviously loves the medium. In many ways, there was a Fellini-esque quality to it, as another reviewer wrote. The magic of Fellini was similar: he used the everyday strangeness of reality to make his films real. Hollywood is the make-believe; reality makes a better film.
This is art imitating life. It celebrates the birth of the industry and the magic of the universal language of moving pictures, captured beautifully and simply in Brian Keith's closing monologue. It is Peter's love letter to the industry and to the audience, as only a lover could compose. It is beautifully crafted, the acting balanced throughout the ensemble, and the message delivered with wry humor. Though I didn't see it when released, it may look better now, in nostalgic retrospect. It IS a love letter, and at my age, it is a delightful homage to an industry that just "doesn't make 'em like this anymore." Thank you, Mr. Bogdonovich and all the cast. Love you, too.
- rewolfsonlaw
- Jul 21, 2015
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- Footlight Parade
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- $9,000,000 (estimated)
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