Johnny Edge (Mark Harmon) offers his final nickel to watch a moving picture in the nickelodeon theater run by 47-year-old Peter Kessler (Vincent Gardenia).
Peter is contractually obligated to show pictures made by The Combine, currently the leading film production company in New York state.
Here, they learn that making pictures requires an expensive license, which prompts them to sell the nickelodeon theater to associate George Pappas (José Ferrer).
With the money earned from selling the nickelodeon theater, Peter acquires the license and establishes his own film production company, Magnum Studio, granting Johnny 10% of the shares.
Also joining are Peter's family, consisting of his loyal wife Esther (Kaye Ballard), his rebellious son Mark (Robert Picardo) who dreamt of becoming a car engineer but is pressured into film directing by his father, and the young Doris (Brianne Leary), who is secretly in love with Johnny.
While producing their first feature film in California, Craig, the male lead and a Broadway star, makes impossible requests.
Two years later, he returns to Hollywood and finds out that Magnum Studio is now co-run by Henry Farnum (Robert Culp), a former associate of Slade with a commercial mindset.
Instead, he spends most of the studio's budget on the silent film The Flapper, which stars Astrid and is directed by Stillman who secretly has an affair during production.
Johnny refuses to cancel the project and, to everyone's surprise, recasts the lead role with Dulcie, who in previous years has been working as an actress in Paris.
Feeling betrayed, he blacklists Johnny and threatens to end Dulcie's career unless she keeps quiet about the affair and temporarily quits working to give Mark a child.
She feels betrayed, especially considering that she had plenty of opportunities to start an affair with her admirer Zack but rejected him out of loyalty to her husband.
Slade and Farnum's scheme to take over Magnum Studio continues, with help from Lawrence Bradford (Ray Milland), an investor who gets hold of Peter's shares of the company in his bid to finance five more silent films.