Richard Dreyfuss won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Elliot Garfield. At 30, he was the youngest actor to win this Oscar. This record was broken by Adrien Brody when he won the Best Actor Oscar in 2003 for his lead role in The Pianist (2002) at age 29.

The disastrous production of Shakespeare's "Richard III," in which Elliot Garfield (Richard Dreyfuss) portrays the title character as gay, was based on an actual production that Marsha Mason was in (as Lady Anne) and told her husband, Neil Simon, about. Like the production in the film, it took place at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre in New York in 1974, and starred Michael Moriarty.

The only ever Neil Simon-written film nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. With five nominations, it is also the most-ever-Oscar-nominated Simon film. In its year at the Oscars, it was up against another New York writer's film, Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), which took home most of the awards this film was nominated for, The Goodbye Girl (1977) just winning the one Oscar for Best Actor - Richard Dreyfuss.

When Warner Bros. overlooked Neil Simon's rewritten script after the disastrous early shoot, (under the working title "Bogart Slept Here") the studio was still rather uneasy about making the film, but agreed to go forward after making a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to split the costs. The film was one of the earliest co-produced by two Hollywood studios, which was unusual then, but commonplace now.

One of five films written by Neil Simon that featured his wife Marsha Mason. The movies include The Goodbye Girl (1977), Chapter Two (1979), The Cheap Detective (1978), Only When I Laugh (1981) and Max Dugan Returns (1983).

Continuity

The horse drawn carriage near the end of the film passes the same bank twice, going in opposite directions.

When Elliot returns home drunk, prior to opening the window, he knocks over a white table, spilling everything and leaving the table bare. The next shot is of Elliot outside the window, reading a bad review (11 seconds before Paula starts to pull him back inside). The following shot from inside the apartment shows the table with all items returned properly (but not to the same positions). Although it's possible Paula reset the table, it's unlikely that she was able to reach all the items and return them to proper positions so quickly.

When Elliott leaves the apartment to go make the movie at the end of the film, the scarf he is wearing goes from wrapped around his neck, to hanging loose, to wrapped again between shots.

During Paula's audition for Ronnie Burn's production he selects "...the boy in the gray slacks, the girl in the green knee-socks, and the girl in the red scarf." No one on stage is wearing any of these items.

When chasing the thieves, Paula drops three items that disappear in the next cut.



Factual errors

In the apartment, Elliot and Rhonda claim they are rehearsing Act 1, Scene 4 of Richard III. Neither of their characters appear in that scene. But Elliot also remarks to Paula that he and Rhonda might have other activities in mind, so which scene they're "rehearsing" could be immaterial.

In Elliot's bedroom, he and Rhonda are actually rehearsing act 1/scene 2, not scene 4, of Richard III. But it isn't clear that all they intend to do is rehearse, so which scene they're reading could be unimportant.



Revealing mistakes

When Lucy (Quinn Cummings) pulls the old style flip-top off the can of soda, it breaks leaving a sharp piece sticking out of the opening of the can. Cummings sees it, but continues the scene with barely a flinch. Pretty savvy for a 10-year-old actor.

When Elliott is in the liquor store, the window is simple glass, and there is clearly a gap between the door and the door frame, yet when Paula is right outside being mugged, her screams are completely silent until she opens the door fully.

Based on a previous reference, the movie takes place in the early spring (also note how trees have yet to bud out). Thus, the time period of the film is late March. During a morning conversation between the two lead characters, Paula notes that it's 5:55 a.m. However, the high level of light outside the window would have been impossible at that time of day in the early spring. The scene appears to have been shot in the middle of the day, not so early in the morning.

After the mugging and Elliot confronting the muggers, Paula picks up the last of her groceries from the middle of the road and argues with Elliot. At the top of the screen, a pole can be seen blocking vehicles' entry into the street; in fact a car approaching the intersection from the other side of the cross-street is forced to turn to its left.



Miscellaneous

Used Best Foods Mayonnaise, instead of Hellmans Mayonnaise. Best foods is West coast, Hellmans is on the East coast.



Audio/visual unsynchronized

In the last "Richard" rehearsal scene, the director is heard to call out: "Good! Good!" Yet, his lips are clearly seen to be saying: "Yes, Yes!"

The brass, square doorbell button mounted on the door to the apartment sounded with an electric buzzer sound when pushed. This doorbell is actually a mechanical, spring loaded model which sounds a "ding dong" as one pushes the button in and then releases button. The mechanism is on the opposite side of the door and can be seen in later scenes. One typically sees these on office doors, small apartments, mobile homes, etc.

When Paula confronts Elliot for playing his guitar, Dreyfuss' finger movement on the instrument doesn't match the music.



Errors in geography

Paula makes sandwiches with Best Foods mayonnaise, but in the eastern U.S., the Best Foods brand is called Hellman's.

When Paula tells Elliot that somebody stole her purse, there is a NYC Police car in the background. Additionally, when Elliot confronts the muggers at the red light, there is another NYC Police car right before the intersection in the left corner.



Character error

Elliott cries that the New York Daily News described his interpretation of Richard III as a "splendid Wicked Witch of the North". The witch of the north was Glenda, the Good Witch. On the other hand the New York Daily News is no New York Times either.