Bogdanovich drew on movie lore to script, with W.D. Richter, a deeply affectionate love letter to those reinventing themselves while helping to invent an art form that at the time charged five cents a pop. Burt Reynolds, Ryan O’Neal, and Jane Hitchcock fall into the nascent film biz via booming mogul Brian Keith; ace casting director Lynn Stalmaster packs this film’s ranks with familiar faces such as Phil Bruns, George Gaynes, Brion James, Miriam Byrd-Nethery, and many more. We are screening Bogdanovich’s preferred black-and-white director’s cut.

Followed by a career-spanning conversation with Peter Bogdanovich on October 4