American Graffiti is a 1973
coming of ageComing of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
film co-written/directed by
George LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
starring
Richard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
,
Ron HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
,
Paul Le MatPaul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
,
Charles Martin SmithCharles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
,
Cindy WilliamsCynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
,
Candy ClarkCandace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
,
Mackenzie PhillipsMackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
and
Harrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
. Set in 1962
Modesto, CaliforniaModesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
, American Graffiti is a study of the
cruisingCruising is a social activity that primarily consists of driving a car. Cruising can be an expression of the perceived freedom of possessing a driver's license. Cruising is distinguished from regular driving by the social and recreational nature of the activity, which characterized by an...
and
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
cultures popular among the post–World War II baby boom generation. The film is a
nostalgicThe term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
portrait of teenage life in the early 1960s told in a series of
vignetteIn theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...
s, featuring the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures within one night.
The genesis of American Graffiti was in Lucas's own teenage years in early 1960s Modesto. He was unsuccessful in pitching the concept to financiers and distributors but finally found favor at
Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
after
United ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
,
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
,
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
,
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, and
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
turned him down. Filming was initially set to take place in
San Rafael, CaliforniaSan Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day. As a result, most filming for American Graffiti was done in
PetalumaPetaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
.
American Graffiti was released to universal critical acclaim and financial success, and was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. Produced on a $775,000 budget, the film has turned out to be one of the most profitable movies of all time. Since its initial release, American Graffiti has garnered an estimated return of well over $200 million in box office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. In 1995, the United States
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
Plot
Recent high school graduates and longtime friends Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander meet John Milner and Terry "The Toad" Fields at the local
Mel's Drive-InMel's Drive-In is an American restaurant chain founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California....
parking lot. Despite receiving a $2,000 scholarship, Curt is undecided if he wants to leave the next morning with Steve to go to the Northeastern United States to begin college. Steve lets Toad borrow his 1958
Chevy ImpalaThe Chevrolet Impala is a full-size automobile built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced for the 1958 model year. Deriving its name from the southern African antelope, Chevrolet's most expensive passenger model through 1965 had become the best-selling automobile in the United...
for the evening and while he will be away at college. Steve's girlfiend Laurie, who is also Curt's younger sister, is unsure of Steve leaving, to which he suggests they see other people while he is away to "strengthen" their relationship.
Curt, Steve and Laurie go to the local
sock hopThe sock hop was an informal sponsored dance at American high schools, typically held in the high school's own gym or cafeteria. The term sock hop came about because dancers were required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. These hops were a cultural feature of...
, while Toad and Milner begin cruising. En route to the hop, Curt sees a beautiful blonde girl in a white 1956
Ford ThunderbirdThe Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
. She mouths "I love you" before disappearing down the street. After leaving the hop, Curt is desperate to find the mysterious blonde, but is coerced by a group of greasers ("The Pharaohs") through an initiation rite that involves hooking a chain to a police car and successfully ripping out its back axle. Curt is told rumors that The Blonde is either a
trophy wifeTrophy wife is an expression used to describe a wife, usually young and attractive, who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband, who is often older and affluent.-History:The term's etymological origins are disputed...
or prostitute, which he immediately refuses to accept.
Steve and Laurie break up following a series of arguments, and Milner inadvertently picks up Carol, an annoying
teenybopperThe term teenybopper was invented by marketing professionals and psychologists, later becoming a subculture of its own. The term describes a young teenager, particularly a girl, who follows adolescent trends in music, fashion and culture. The term was introduced in the 1950s to refer to teenagers...
who seems fond of him. Toad, who is normally socially inept with girls, meets a
flirtatiousFlirting is a playful, romantic, or sexual overture by one person to another subtly indicating an interest in a deeper relationship with the other person, and can involve verbal communication as well as body language...
and somewhat rebellious girl named Debbie. Meanwhile, Curt learns that DJ
Wolfman JackRobert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
broadcasts from just outside of Modesto, and inside the dark, eerie radio station, Curt encounters a bearded man he assumes to be the manager. Curt hands the man a message for The Blonde to call him or meet him. As he walks away, Curt hears the voice of The Wolfman and, seeing him broadcasting, realizes he had been speaking with him.
The other story lines intertwine until Toad and Steve end up on "Paradise Road" to watch Milner race against the arrogant Bob Falfa, with Laurie as Falfa's passenger. Within seconds Falfa loses control of his car after blowing a front tire, plunges into a ditch and rolls his car. Steve and Milner run to the wreck, and a dazed Bob and Laurie stagger out of the car before it explodes. Distraught, Laurie grips Steve tightly and tells him not to leave her. He assures her that he has decided not to leave Modesto after all. The next morning, Curt is awakened by the sound of a phone ringing in a telephone booth, which turns out to be The Blonde. She tells him she might see him cruising tonight, but Curt replies that is not possible, because he will be leaving. At the airfield, he says goodbye to his parents, his sister and friends. As the plane takes off, Curt, gazing out of the window, sees the white Ford Thunderbird belonging to the mysterious Blonde.
Prior to the end credits, an on-screen epilogue reveals that John was killed by a drunk driver in December 1964, Terry was reported missing in action near
An LộcAn Loc is a small town in Bình Phước Province in southern Vietnam, located approximately 90 km north of Saigon with a population of 15,000...
in December 1965, Steve is an insurance agent in Modesto, California, and Curt is a writer living in Canada.
Cast
- Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
as Curt Henderson
- Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
as Steve Bolander
- Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
as John Milner
- Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
as Terry "The Toad" Fields
- Cindy Williams
Cynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
as Laurie Henderson
- Candy Clark
Candace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
as Debbie Dunham
- Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
as Carol Morrison
- Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Bob Falfa
- Bo Hopkins
Bo Hopkins is an American actor.-Career:Hopkins has appeared in more than one hundred film and television roles in a career of more than forty years, including The Bridge at Remagen, The Wild Bunch, The Getaway, American Graffiti, White Lightning, Radioland Murders, The Killer Elite, Midnight...
as Joe Young
- Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
as XERB Disc Jockey
- Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
as Peg
- Manuel Padilla, Jr. and Beau Gentry as Carlos and Ants
- Jim Bohan as Officer Holstein
- Jana Bellan as Budda
- Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids
Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids, now known as Flash Cadillac, are an American retro rock 'n' roll band. They are best known for their portrayal of the group Herbie and the Heartbeats in the film American Graffiti, to which they contributed three songs: cover versions of "At the Hop" and...
as Herbie and the Heartbeats
- Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
as Blonde in T-Bird
- Deby Celiz as Wendy
- Lynne Marie Stewart
Lynne Marie Stewart is an American film and television actress, best known for her performance as Miss Yvonne, the Most Beautiful Woman in Puppet Land. She originated the role in the 1981 stage show The Pee-wee Herman Show and on the CBS television show Pee Wee's Playhouse...
as Bobbie Tucker
Inspiration
During the production of
THX 1138THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction film directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch...
(1971), producer
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
challenged co-writer/director
George LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
to write a script that would appeal to
mainstreamMainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
audiences. Lucas embraced the idea, using his early 1960s teenage experiences
cruisingCruising is a social activity that primarily consists of driving a car. Cruising can be an expression of the perceived freedom of possessing a driver's license. Cruising is distinguished from regular driving by the social and recreational nature of the activity, which characterized by an...
in
Modesto, CaliforniaModesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
. "Cruising was gone, and I felt compelled to document the whole experience and what my generation used as a way of meeting girls," Lucas explained. As he developed the story in his mind, Lucas included his fascination with Wolfman Jack. Lucas had considered doing a documentary about The Wolfman when he attended the
USC School of Cinematic ArtsThe USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
, but dropped the idea.
Adding in semi-autobiographical connotations, Lucas set the story in 1962 Modesto. The characters Curt Henderson, John Milner and Terry "The Toad" Fields also represent different stages from his younger life. Curt is modeled after Lucas's personality during USC, while Milner is based on Lucas's teenage
drag racingDrag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
and junior college years, and
hot rodHot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
enthusiasts he had known from the
Kustom Kulture"Kustom Kulture" is an American neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who drove and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today....
in Modesto. Toad represents Lucas's
nerdNerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
years as a freshman in high school, specifically his "bad luck" with dating. The filmmaker was also inspired by
Federico FelliniFederico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
's
I VitelloniI vitelloni is an Italian comedy drama film directed by Federico Fellini. Recognized as a pivotal work in the director's artistic evolution, the film has distinct autobiographical elements that mirror important societal changes in 1950s Italy....
(1953).
After the financial failure of THX 1138, Lucas wanted the film to act as a release for a world-weary audience:
"[THX] was about real things that were going on and the problems we're faced with. I realized after making THX that those problems are so real that most of us have to face those things every day, so we're in a constant state of frustration. That just makes us more depressed than we were before. So I made a film where, essentially, we can get rid of some of those frustrations, the feeling that everything seems futile."
United Artists
After
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
abandoned Lucas's early version of
Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
(1979) (during the post-production of THX 1138), the filmmaker decided to continue development on Another Quiet Night in Modesto, which he eventually changed to American Graffiti. To co-write a fifteen-page
film treatmentA film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline , and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits...
, Lucas hired
Willard HuyckWillard Huyck is an American screenwriter, director and producer, best known for his association with George Lucas. They met as students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and along with others, they became members of a renowned group of amateur filmmakers called The Dirty Dozen...
and
Gloria KatzGloria Katz is an American screenwriter and film producer, best known for her association with George Lucas. Along with her husband Willard Huyck, Katz has created the screenplays of films including American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the notorious Howard the Duck.-...
, who also added semi-autobiographical connotations to the storyline. In attempting to use the treatment to attract financing, Lucas and producer
Gary KurtzGary Kurtz is an American film producer whose list of credits include American Graffiti, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. He later produced The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz after departing from the Star Wars series...
began pitching American Graffiti to various Hollywood studios and production companies, but they were unsuccessful. Financiers believed
music licensingMusic licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself...
issues would distract the film's budget. Alongside
Easy RiderEasy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
(1969), American Graffiti represents one of the first films to avoid a traditional
film scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
approach and successfully rely on scenes specifically synchronized to an assortment of songs.
THX 1138 was released in March 1971 and Lucas was offered opportunities to direct
Lady IceLady Ice is a 1973 crime film about an insurance investigator who becomes involved with a wealthy young woman he suspects of fencing stolen jewelry. The film was directed by Tom Gries, and stars Donald Sutherland, Jennifer O'Neill, and Robert Duvall....
(1973),
TommyTommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
(1975) or
HairHair is a 1979 American film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center...
(1979). He turned down the offers, determined to pursue his own projects, despite his desperation to find another film to direct. During this time, Lucas conceived the idea for an untitled
space operaSpace opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
, which would later become the basis for his
Star WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
franchise. At the May
1971 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Michèle Morgan *Pierre Billard *Michael Birkett *Anselmo Duarte *István Gaál *Sergio Leone *Aleksandar Petrović *Maurice Rheims *Erich Segal...
, THX was chosen for the
Directors' FortnightDirectors' Fortnight is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. The section was created in 1969 after the events of May 1968, in which the Cannes festival was canceled in solidarity with striking workers....
competition. There, Lucas met David Picker, then president of
United ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, who was intrigued by American Graffiti and Lucas's as-yet-untitled space opera. Picker decided to give Lucas $10,000 to develop Graffiti as a screenplay.
Lucas intended to spend another five weeks in Europe and hoped that Huyck and Katz would have a screenplay by the time he returned, but they were about to start on their own film,
Messiah of EvilMessiah of Evil is a film made in 1973 by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the husband and wife team behind the film version of Howard the Duck as well as the screenplay for American Graffiti....
(1972), so Lucas hired
Richard WalterRichard Walter is an author, educator, screenwriter, commentator, consultant and chairman of the University of California, Los Angeles graduate program in screenwriting. He has written several works, including the Essentials of Screenwriting, published in June 2010, and the novels Escape from Film...
, a colleague from the
USC School of Cinematic ArtsThe USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
. Walter was flattered, but instead tried to pitch Lucas a screenplay called Barry and the Persuasions, a story of
East CoastThe East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
teenagers in the late 1950s. Lucas held firm - his was a story about
West CoastWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
teenagers in the early 1960s. Walter was paid the $10,000, and he began to adapt the Lucas/Huyck/Katz treatment into a screenplay.
Lucas was dismayed when he returned to America in June 1971 and read Walter's script, which was written in the style and tone of an
exploitation filmExploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
, similar to 1967's
Hot Rods to HellHot Rods to Hell is a 1967 suspense film, originally intended for television, but released in theaters instead after its producers considered it too intense for TV viewers. It is one of many exploitation-type films from noted producer Sam Katzman, whose work is generally regarded as of higher...
. "It was overtly sexual and very fantasy-like, with
playing chickenThe game of chicken, also known as the hawk-dove or snowdrift game, is an influential model of conflict for two players in game theory...
and things that kids didn't really do," Lucas reasoned. "I wanted something that was more like the way I grew up." Walter's script also had Steve and Laurie going to Nevada to get married without their parents' permission. He redrafted the screenplay, but Lucas fired Walter over creative differences.
After paying Walter, Lucas had exhausted his development fund with United Artists. He began writing the script, completing his first draft in just three weeks. Drawing upon his large collection of vintage records, Lucas wrote every scene with a musical backdrop in mind. The cost of licensing the 75 songs Lucas wanted was a contributing factor in United Artists' ultimate rejection of the script, which the studio also felt was too experimental - "a musical montage with no characters." United Artists also passed on Star Wars, which Lucas shelved for the time being.
Universal Pictures
Lucas spent the rest of 1971 and early 1972 trying to raise financing for the American Graffiti script. During this time,
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
,
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
,
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
all turned down the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the film. Lucas, Huyck and Katz rewrote the second draft together, which, in addition to Modesto, was also set in
Mill ValleyMill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
and
Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Lucas also intended to end American Graffiti showing a title card detailing the fate of the characters, including the death of Milner and the disappearance of Toad in Vietnam. Huyck and Katz found the ending depressing and were incredulous that Lucas planned to include only the male characters. Lucas argued that mentioning the girls meant adding another title card, which he felt would prolong the ending. Because of this,
Pauline KaelPauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
later accused Lucas of
chauvinismChauvinism, in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a belief in national superiority and glory. It is an eponym of a possibly fictional French soldier Nicolas Chauvin who was credited with many superhuman feats in the Napoleonic wars.By extension it has come...
.
Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz took the script to
American International PicturesAmerican International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
, who expressed interest, but ultimately believed American Graffiti was not violent or sexual enough for the studio's standards. Lucas and Kurtz eventually found favor at
Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, who allowed Lucas total
artistic controlArtistic control or Creative Control is a term commonly used in media production, such as movies, television, and music production. A person with artistic control has the authority to decide how the final product will appear. In movies, this commonly refers to the authority to decide on the final...
and the right of
final cut privilegeFinal cut privilege is a film industry term, usually used when a director has contractual authority over how a film is ultimately released for public viewing.- Condition :...
on the condition that he make American Graffiti on a strict, low budget. This forced Lucas to drop the opening scene, in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist.
Universal initially projected a $600,000 budget, but added an additional $175,000 once producer
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
signed on. This would allow the studio to advertise American Graffiti as "from the Man who Gave you
The GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
(1972)." However, Lucas was forced to concede final cut privilege. The proposition also gave Universal
first look dealA first look deal is an arrangement, usually in the film industry, where either a company or in some cases an individual enters into a commercial agreement with a studio under which they must allow the studio the right of first refusal in relation to developing and/or producing a project the...
s on Lucas's next two planned projects, Star Wars (1977) and
Radioland MurdersRadioland Murders is a 1994 black comedy mystery film directed by Mel Smith and co-written/produced by George Lucas. Radioland Murders is set in the 1939 atmosphere of old-time radio and pays homage to the screwball comedy films of the 1930s...
(1994). As he continued to work on the script, Lucas encountered difficulties on the Steve and Laurie storyline. Lucas, Katz and Huyck worked on the third draft together, specifically on the scenes featuring Steve and Laurie.
Production proceeded with virtually no input or interference from Universal. American Graffiti was a low-budget film, and executive
Ned TanenNed Stone Tanen was an American movie studio executive behind films that included American Graffiti and Animal House....
had only modest expectations of its commercial success. However, Universal did object to the film's title, not knowing what "American Graffiti" meant; Lucas was dismayed when some executives assumed he was making an Italian movie about feet. The studio therefore submitted a long list of over 60 alternative titles, with their favorite being Another Slow Night in Modesto and Coppola's Rock Around the Block. They pushed hard to get Lucas to adopt any of the titles, but he was displeased with all the alternatives and persuaded Tanen to keep American Graffiti.
Casting
The film's lengthy casting process was overseen by
Fred Roos-Life and career:Roos was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Florence Mary and Victor Otto Roos. Beginning in television as a casting director for The Andy Griffith Show, Roos went on to produce most of Francis Ford Coppola's films subsequent to The Godfather, including Apocalypse Now...
, who worked with producer Francis Ford Coppola on The Godfather. Because American Graffitis main cast was associated with younger actors, the casting call and notices went through numerous high school drama groups and community theaters in the
San Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. Among the actors was
Mark HamillMark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
, the future
Luke SkywalkerLuke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
in Lucas' Star Wars trilogy.
Over 100 unknown actors auditioned for Curt Henderson before
Richard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
was cast. George Lucas was impressed with Dreyfuss' thoughtful analysis of the role, and, as a result, offered the actor his choosing of Curt or Terry "The Toad" Fields. Roos, a former casting director on
The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, suggested
Ron HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
for Steve Bolander. Howard reluctantly accepted the part in attempting to avoid his
typecastingIn TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
as a
child actorThe term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
.
Bob BalabanRobert Elmer "Bob" Balaban is an American actor, author and director.-Personal life:Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television...
turned down The Toad out of fear of typecasting, a decision which he later regretted.
Charles Martin SmithCharles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
, with one TV credit under his belt, was eventually cast in the role.
Although
Cindy WilliamsCynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
was cast as Laurie Henderson, the actress hoped she would get the part of Debbie Dunham, which ended up going to
Candy ClarkCandace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
.
Mackenzie PhillipsMackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
, who portrays Carol, was only 12 years old, and under California law, producer Gary Kurtz had to become her legal guardian for the duration of filming. As Bob Falfa, Roos cast
Harrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
, who was then concentrating on a
carpentryA carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
career. Ford agreed to take the role on the condition that he would not have to cut his hair. The character has a
flattopA flattop is a type of very short hairstyle similar to the crew cut, with the exception that the hair on the top of the head is deliberately styled to stand up and is cut to be flat, resulting in a haircut that is square in shape...
haircut in the script, but a compromise was eventually reached whereby Ford wore a
stetsonStetsons are the brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri.Stetson eventually became the world’s largest hat maker, producing over 3.3 million hats a year in a factory spread over . Today Stetson remains a family-owned concern...
to cover his hair. Producer Francis Ford Coppola encouraged Lucas to cast
Wolfman JackRobert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
as himself in a
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
. "George Lucas and I went through thousands of Wolfman Jack phone calls that were taped with the public," Jack reflected. "The telephone calls [heard on the broadcasts] in the motion picture and on the soundtrack were actual calls with real people."
Charles Martin Smith (18) and Ron Howard (19) were the only two real teenage principal actors of the film.
Filming
Although American Graffiti is set in 1962
Modesto, CaliforniaModesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
, Lucas believed the city had changed too much in 10 years and initially chose
San RafaelSan Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
as the primary shooting location. Filming began on June 26, 1972, however, Lucas soon became frustrated at the time it was taking to fix camera mounts to the cars. A key member of the production had also been arrested for growing marijuana, and, in addition to already running behind the
shooting scheduleA shooting schedule is a project plan of each day's shooting for a film production. It is normally created and managed by the assistant director, who reports to the production manager managing the production schedule...
, the San Rafael City Council immediately became concerned about the disruption that filming caused for local businesses and had therefore withdrawn permission to shoot beyond a second day.
PetalumaPetaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
, a similarly small town approximately 20 miles north of San Rafael, became more cooperative and American Graffiti moved there without the loss of a single day of shooting. Lucas convinced the San Rafael City Council to allow two further nights of filming for general cruising shots, which he used to evoke as much of the intended location as possible in the finished film. Shooting in Petaluma began on June 28 and proceeded at a quick pace. Lucas mimicked the filmmaking style of
B movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
producer
Sam KatzmanSam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
in attempting to save money and authenticated low budget filming methods.
In addition to Petaluma, other locations included
Van Ness AvenueVan Ness Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, running from Market St north to the Bay. Originally named Marlette Street, the street was renamed Van Ness Avenue in honor of the city's seventh mayor, James Van Ness. Van Ness Avenue begins at Market Street near the Civic...
in San Francisco,
SonomaSonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
,
RichmondRichmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
,
NovatoNovato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. Novato is located about north-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 30 feet above sea level . The 2010 U.S. Census estimated the city population to be about 51,904. Novato is about ...
and the
Buchanan Field AirportFor the other uses, see Concord Airport .Buchanan Field Airport is located in Concord and Pacheco, California, USA, 27 nautical miles northeast of San Francisco International Airport, in Contra Costa County...
in
ConcordConcord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...
.
More problems ensued during filming: Paul Le Mat was sent to the hospital after an allergic reaction to walnuts. Le Mat, Harrison Ford and Bo Hopkins were often drunk between takes, and had conducted climbing competitions to the top of the local
Holiday InnHoliday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
sign. One actor set fire to Lucas' motel room. Another night, Le Mat threw Richard Dreyfuss into a swimming pool, gashing Dreyfuss' forehead on the day before he was due to have his close-ups filmed. Dreyfuss also complained over the wardrobe that Lucas had chosen for the character. Ford was arrested one night while in a bar fight and kicked out of his motel room. In addition, two camera operators were nearly killed when filming the climactic race scene on Frates Road outside Petaluma.
Principal photographythumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
ended on August 4, 1972.
The final scenes in film, shot at Buchanan Field, feature a
Douglas DC-7CThe Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and...
airliner of Magic Carpet Airlines which had previously been leased from owner Club America Incorporated by the rock band
Grand Funk RailroadGrand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...
from March 1971 to June 1971.
Cinematography
Lucas considered covering duties as the sole
cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, but dropped the idea. Instead, he elected to shoot American Graffiti using two cinematographers (as he had done in
THX 1138THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction film directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch...
) and no formal director of photography. Two cameras were used simultaneously in scenes involving conversations between actors in different cars, which resulted in significant production time savings. After
CinemaScopeCinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
proved to be too expensive, Lucas decided that American Graffiti should have a
documentaryDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
-like feel, and shot the film using
TechniscopeTechniscope or 2-Perf is a 35mm motion picture camera film format introduced by Technicolor Italia in 1963. The Techniscope format uses a two film-perforation negative pulldown per frame, instead of the standard four-perforation frame usually exposed in 35mm film photography...
cameras. He believed that Techniscope, an inexpensive way of shooting in
35 mm film35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
and utilizing only half of the film's frame, would give a perfect widescreen format resembling
16 mm16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
. Adding to the documentary feel was Lucas's openness for the cast to
improviseImprovisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
scenes. He also used
goofIn filmmaking, a goof is a mistake made during film production that finds its way into the final released picture. Depending upon the film and the actual scene, the goof may have different effects: a loss in realism, an annoyance, or it could just be funny. It is often a type of continuity error...
s for the final cut, notably Charles Martin Smith's (Toad) arriving on his scooter to meet Steve outside Mel's Drive-In. Jan D'Alquen and Ron Eveslage were hired as the cinematographers, but filming with Techniscope cameras brought lighting problems. As a result, Lucas commissioned help from friend
Haskell WexlerHaskell Wexler, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.-Early life and education:Wexler was born to a Jewish...
, who was credited as the "visual consultant".
Editing
Lucas wanted to have wife
MarciaMarcia Lucas is an American film editor.In 1974, Lucas and Verna Fields were nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing for their work on American Graffiti...
edit American Graffiti, but Universal executive Ned Tanen insisted on
Verna FieldsVerna Fields was an American film editor, film and television sound editor, educator, and entertainment industry executive. In the first phase of her career, from 1954 through to about 1970, Fields mostly worked on smaller projects that gained little recognition. She was the sound editor for...
, who had just finished
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's
The Sugarland ExpressThe Sugarland Express is a 1974 American drama film starring Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, William Atherton, and Michael Sacks. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, his first film to be intended as a theatrical release .It is about a husband and wife trying to outrun the law and was based on a...
(1974). Fields worked on the first
rough cutIn filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The rough cut is the first stage in which the film begins to resemble its final product...
of the film before she left to resume work on
What's Up, Doc?What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
(1972). Following Fields's departure, Lucas struggled with editing the film's story structure. He had written the script so that the four (Curt, Steve, John and Toad) storylines were always presented in the same sequence. The first cut of American Graffiti was three-and-a-half hours long; and, in removing an hour and a half, numerous scenes were cut and many others were shortened and combined. The film became increasingly loose, with the result that the presentations of scenes no longer resembled Lucas's original "ABCD structure." At 112 minutes, Lucas completed his final cut of American Graffiti in December 1972.
Walter MurchWalter Scott Murch is an American film editor and sound designer.-Early life:Murch was born in New York City, New York, the son of Katharine and Canadian-born Walter Tandy Murch , a painter. He went to The Collegiate School, a private preparatory school in Manhattan, from 1949 to 1961...
assisted Lucas in post-production for
audio mixingAudio mixing for film and television is a process during the post-production stage of a moving image program by which a multitude of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels...
and
sound designSound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...
purposes. Murch suggested making Wolfman Jack's radio show the "backbone" of the film. "The Wolfman was an ethereal presence in the lives of young people," said producer Gary Kurtz, "and it was that quality we wanted and obtained in the picture."
Soundtrack
Lucas's choice of background music was crucial to the mood of each scene, but he was realistic about the complexities of copyright clearances and suggested a number of alternative tracks. Universal wanted Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz to hire an orchestra for
sound-alikeA sound-alike is a recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the voice-over world, it may also refer to those who recreate the voice and...
s. The studio eventually proposed a flat deal that offered every music publisher the same amount of money. This was acceptable to most of the companies representing Lucas's first choices, but not to
RCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
- with the consequence that
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
is conspicuous by his absence from the soundtrack. Clearing the
music licensingMusic licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself...
rights had cost approximately $90,000, and as a result there was no money left for a traditional
film scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
. "I used the absence of music, and sound effects, to create the drama," Lucas later explained.
A
soundtrack albumA soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
for the film, 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti, was issued by
MCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
. The album contains all the songs used in the film (with the exception of "Gee" by the Crows, which was subsequently included on a second soundtrack album), presented in the order in which they appeared in the film.
Release
Despite unanimous positive praise at a January 1973
test screeningA test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release in order to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population, and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or provide feedback in some form. Harold...
, which was attended by Universal executive
Ned TanenNed Stone Tanen was an American movie studio executive behind films that included American Graffiti and Animal House....
, the studio threatened to re-edit American Graffiti from George Lucas's original cut. Lucas and producer Francis Ford Coppola began conflicting with Universal, to which Coppola offered to literally "buy the film" from the studio, insisting he was prepared to reimburse Universal's $775,000 budget.
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
also gave similar offers to the studio. The conflicts between Lucas and Universal only led to the studio threatening to have
William HornbeckWilliam Hornbeck was an American film editor.He was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Film Editing, and won the award for A Place in the Sun . Other important credits include It's a Wonderful Life , Giant , and I Want to Live!...
completely re-edit American Graffiti.
When Coppola's
The GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
(1972) won the
Academy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
in March 1973, Universal decided to cut only three scenes (about four minutes) from Lucas's cut. This included Toad's encounter with a fast-talking car salesman, an argument between Steve and his former teacher Mr. Kroot at the sock hop, and Bob Falfa's effort to serenade Laurie with "
Some Enchanted Evening"Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.In the musical, it is sung as a solo by Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who falls in love with the American navy nurse Nellie Forbush. In this song he sings of seizing the moment so...
". However, Universal believed that American Graffiti, in its edited form, was only fit for release as a
television movieA television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
.
Positive
word of mouthWord of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
came from various employees at Universal and the studio dropped the TV movie idea and began securing theaters in Los Angeles and New York for a
limited releaseLimited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
. However, Universal presidents
Sidney SheinbergSidney "Sid" Jay Sheinberg is a lawyer and American entertainment executive. He is married to actress Lorraine Gary.-Early life and education:...
and
Lew WassermanLewis Robert "Lew" Wasserman was an American talent agent and studio executive, sometimes credited with creating and later taking apart the studio system in a career spanning more than six decades...
found out about the critical praise in LA and New York, and the marketing department rejuvenated their promotion strategy for American Graffiti, by investing an additional $500,000 in marketing and promotion. The film was released in the United States on August 1, 1973 to
sleeper hitA sleeper hit, a.k.a. surprise hit , refers to a film, book, single, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition...
reception. American Graffiti, which cost $1.27 million to produce/market, yielded a worldwide
box officeA box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
gross that topped $55 million. Outside America, however, the film had only modest success, but acquired
cult filmA cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
recognition in France.
Universal
reissueA reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
d Graffiti in 1978 and earned an additional $63 million, totalling $118 million for the two releases. The reissue included
stereophonic soundThe term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
, and the additional four minutes that the studio had removed from Lucas's original cut. All
home videoHome video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
releases also included these scenes. At the end of its theatrical run, American Graffiti had one of the lowest cost-to-profit ratios of a motion picture ever. Producer Francis Ford Coppola regretted having not financed the film himself. Lucas recalled, "He would have made $30 million on the deal. He never got over it and he still kicks himself." It was the thirteenth-highest grossing film of all time in 1977, and, adjusted for inflation, is currently the forty-third highest. By the 1990s, American Graffiti had earned more than $200 million in box office gross and home video sales. In December 1997
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported that the film had earned an additional $55.13 million in rental revenue.
Universal Studios Home EntertainmentUniversal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
first released the film on DVD in September 1998, and once more as a
double featureThe double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
with
More American GraffitiMore American Graffiti is the 1979 sequel film to George Lucas's hit film American Graffiti. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college, this film shows us where the characters from the first film end up a few years later.Most of the...
(1979) in January 2004.
Aside from the four minutes originally deleted from Lucas' original cut retained, the only major change in the DVD version is the main title sequence, particularly the sky background to Mel's Drive-In, which was redone by
ILMIndustrial Light & Magic is an Academy Award-winning motion picture visual effects company that was founded in May 1975 by George Lucas and is owned by Lucasfilm. Lucas created the company when he discovered that the special effects department at 20th Century Fox was shut down after he was given...
.
Universal released the film on Blu-ray on May 31, 2011.
Critical analysis
American Graffiti went on to receive universal critical acclaim. Based on 33 reviews collected by
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 97% of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of 8.3/10. The consensus reads: "One of the most influential of all
teen filmTeen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
s, American Graffiti is a funny,
nostalgicThe term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
, and bittersweet look at a group of recent high school grads' last days of innocence."
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
praised the film for being "not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant."
Jay CocksJay Cocks is a film critic and motion picture screenwriter.He is a graduate of Kenyon College. He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before moving into film writing....
of
Time magazineTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
wrote that American Graffiti "reveals a new and welcome depth of feeling. Few films have shown quite so well the eagerness, the sadness, the ambitions and small defeats of a generation of young Americans." A.D. Murphy from
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
felt American Graffiti was a vivid "recall of teenage attitudes and morals, told with outstanding empathy and compassion through an exceptionally talented cast of unknown actors."
Dave KehrDave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
, writing in the Chicago Reader, called the film a brilliant work of popular art that redefined nostalgia as a marketable commodity, while establishing a new narrative style.
Themes
American Graffiti depicts multiple characters going through a
coming of ageComing of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
, such as the decisions to attend college or reside in a small town. The 1962 setting represents nearing an end of an era in American society and pop culture. The musical backdrop also links between the early years of
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in the mid-late 1950s (i.e.
Bill Haley & His CometsBill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
,
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and
Buddy HollyCharles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
) and the early 1960s
British InvasionThe British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, which
Don McLeanDonald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
's "American Pie" and the 1972 revival of 1950s acts and oldies paralleled during the conception and filming. The setting is also before the outbreaks of the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and the
John F. Kennedy assassinationJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
and before the peak years of the
counterculture movementThe counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
. American Graffiti evokes mankind's relationship with machines, notably the elaborate number of
hot rodHot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
s, and teenagers' obsession with radio, especially with the inclusion of
Wolfman JackRobert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
and his mysterious and mythological faceless (to most) voice.
Awards
American Graffiti was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
but lost to
The StingThe Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936 that involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters to con a mob boss . The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who previously directed Newman and Redford in the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.Created by...
(1973). Further nominations at the
46th Academy AwardsThe 46th Academy Awards were presented April 2, 1974 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by John Huston, Diana Ross, Burt Reynolds, David Niven....
included Best Director (George Lucas), Best Original Screenplay (Lucas, Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz),
Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Candy Clark) and Best Film Editing (Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas). The film won
Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) at the
31st Golden Globe AwardsThe 31st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1973, were held on January 26, 1974.-Best Actor - Drama: Al Pacino - Serpico*Robert Blake - Electra Glide in Blue*Jack Lemmon - Save the Tiger...
, while Paul Le Mat won
Most Promising NewcomerThe Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor originated in 1948. Between 1954 and 1965, multiple winners were announced. The category was discontinued following the 1983 ceremonies.-Winners:*1948: Richard Widmark*1950: Richard Todd, Gene Nelson...
. Lucas was nominated for
Best DirectorThis page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
and Richard Dreyfuss was nominated for
Best Actor in a Comedy or MusicalThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
. More nominations included Cindy Williams by the
British Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
for
Best Actress in a Supporting RoleBest Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
, Lucas for the
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding DirectingDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures is one of the annual awards given by Directors Guild of America.-1940s:* 1948: Joseph L...
, and Lucas, Huyck and Katz by the
Writers Guild of AmericaThe Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
for
Best Original ComedyThe Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award....
.
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies - #77
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs - #43
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - #62
Legacy
Internet reviewer MaryAnn Johanson acknowledged that American Graffiti rekindled public and entertainment interest in the 1950s and 1960s and influenced other films such as
The Lords of FlatbushThe Lords of Flatbush is a 1974 American drama film about a street gang in leather jackets from the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York....
(1974) and
Cooley HighCooley High is a 1975 American film based upon the real high school located on the near north side of Chicago produced and released by American International Pictures and written by Eric Monte...
(1975) and the TV series
Happy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
. Alongside other films from the
New HollywoodNew Hollywood or post-classical Hollywood, sometimes referred to as the "American New Wave", refers to the time from roughly the late-1960s to the early 1980s when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in America, influencing the types of films produced, their production and...
era, American Graffiti is often cited for helping give birth to the
summer blockbusterBlockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
. The film's box office success made George Lucas an instant millionaire. He gave an amount of the film's profits to
Haskell WexlerHaskell Wexler, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.-Early life and education:Wexler was born to a Jewish...
for his visual consulting help during filming, and to
Wolfman JackRobert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
for "inspiration". Lucas's net worth was now $4 million, and he set aside a $300,000 independent fund for his long cherished
space operaSpace opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
project, which would eventually become the basis for
Star WarsStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
(1977).
The financial success of Graffiti also gave Lucas opportunities to establish more elaborate development for
LucasfilmLucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
,
Skywalker SoundSkywalker Sound is the sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of George Lucas' Lucas Digital motion picture group. Its main facilities are located in Lucas Valley, near Nicasio, California...
, and Industrial Light & Magic. Based on the success of the 1977
reissueA reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
, Universal began production for the sequel
More American GraffitiMore American Graffiti is the 1979 sequel film to George Lucas's hit film American Graffiti. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college, this film shows us where the characters from the first film end up a few years later.Most of the...
(1979). Lucas and writers
Willard HuyckWillard Huyck is an American screenwriter, director and producer, best known for his association with George Lucas. They met as students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and along with others, they became members of a renowned group of amateur filmmakers called The Dirty Dozen...
and
Gloria KatzGloria Katz is an American screenwriter and film producer, best known for her association with George Lucas. Along with her husband Willard Huyck, Katz has created the screenplays of films including American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the notorious Howard the Duck.-...
later collaborated on
Radioland MurdersRadioland Murders is a 1994 black comedy mystery film directed by Mel Smith and co-written/produced by George Lucas. Radioland Murders is set in the 1939 atmosphere of old-time radio and pays homage to the screwball comedy films of the 1930s...
(1994), also released by
Universal Pictures-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, for which Lucas acted as executive producer. The film features characters intended to be Curt and Laurie Henderson's parents, Roger and Penny Henderson. In 1995 American Graffiti was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the United States
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and selected for preservation in the
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
. In 1997 the city of
Modesto, CaliforniaModesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
honored Lucas with a statue dedication of American Graffiti at George Lucas Plaza.
In 1998 the
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
(AFI) ranked it as the seventy-seventh greatest film ever in the
100 Years... 100 MoviesThe first of the AFI 100 Years… series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies...
list. When the 10th Anniversary Edition came in June 2007, AFI moved American Graffiti to the sixty-second greatest film. The movie was also listed as the
forty-third funniestPart of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 funniest movies in American cinema. A wide variety of comedies were nominated for the distinction that included slapstick comedy, screwball comedy, romantic comedy, satire, black comedy, musical comedy, comedy of...
. The song
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for their 1933 operetta Roberta. It was originally recorded by Gertrude Niesen, on 13 October 1933 on the Victor label 24454. It was performed by Irene Dunne for the 1935 film adaptation,...
was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs. Director
David FincherDavid Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
credited American Graffiti as a visual influence for
Fight ClubFight Club is a 1999 American film based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an "everyman" who is discontented with his white-collar job...
(1999). Lucas's
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the ClonesStar Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
(2002) features references to the film. The yellow airspeeder that Anakin Skywalker and
Obi-Wan KenobiObi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...
use to pursue the bounty hunter Zam Wesell is based on John Milner's yellow deuce coupe, while Dex's Diner is reminiscent of
Mel's Drive-InMel's Drive-In is an American restaurant chain founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California....
.
Adam SavageAdam Whitney Savage is an American industrial design and special effects designer/fabricator, actor, educator, and co-host of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters. His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and The Matrix...
and
Jamie HynemanJames Franklin "Jamie" Hyneman is an American special effects expert, best known for being the co-host of the television series MythBusters. He is also the owner of M5 Industries, the special effects workshop where MythBusters is filmed...
of
MythBustersMythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
conducted the "rear axle" experiment on the January 11, 2004 episode.
Given the popularity of the film's cars with
customizerA custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been modified in either of the following two ways. First, a custom car may be altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission. Second, a custom car may be a personal "styling" statement, making the car look...
s and
hot rodHot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
ders in the years since its release, their fate immediately after the film is ironic. All were offered for sale in San Francisco newspaper ads; only the '58 Impala (driven by Ron Howard) attracted a buyer, selling for only a few hundred dollars. The yellow Deuce and the white
T-birdThe Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
went unsold, despite being priced as low as US$3,000. The registration plate on Milner's yellow deuce coupe is THX 138 on a yellow California license plate, slightly altered, reflecting Lucas's earlier science fiction film.
The name of the film is now the name of a vintage clothes retailer in Manchester, United Kingdom. However, due to copyright issues, the store spells their name American Graffitti.
External links