 When Jack Nicholson, who was to play Rhinelander Waldo, had to drop  out of the film less than a month before filming began, the  producers were left without a name star in the cast. It was then  that Director Forman recruited James Cagney, whom he had met at a  private dinner in Connecticut the year before. He offered Cagney any  part he wanted including (facetiously) the role of Evelyn Nesbitt.  It is speculated that Nicholson plays the role of one of the pirates  in the movie