American Graffiti (1973)

Director:

George Lucas

Writers:

George Lucas (written by) and
Gloria Katz (written by) ...

Release Date:

11 August 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

...is back! [1978 Re-release]

Plot:

A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

Plot Keywords:

Night | College | Cruising | Car | High School

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss	...	Curt Henderson
Ron Howard	...	Steve Bolander (as Ronny Howard)
Paul Le Mat	...	John Milner
Charles Martin Smith	...	Terry 'The Toad' Fields (as Charlie Martin Smith)
Cindy Williams	...	Laurie Henderson
Candy Clark	...	Debbie Dunham
Mackenzie Phillips	...	Carol
Wolfman Jack	...	XERB Disc Jockey
Bo Hopkins	...	Joe Young
Manuel Padilla Jr.	...	Carlos
Beau Gentry	...	Ants
Harrison Ford	...	Bob Falfa
Jim Bohan	...	Officer Holstein
Jana Bellan	...	Budda
Deby Celiz	...	Wendy

Also Known As:

Locura de verano (Uruguay) (Venezuela) [es]
American Graffiti (Spain) [es]
American Graffiti (France) [fr]
Amerykanskie graffiti (Poland) [pl]
Locura americana (Venezuela) [es]
Loucuras de Verão (Brazil) [pt]
Neanika synthimata (Greece) [el]
Nova Geração (Portugal) [pt]
Sidste nat med kliken (Denmark) [da]
Sista natten med gänget (Sweden) [sv]
Svängänget '62 (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Svengijengi -62 (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

110 min | 112 min (re-release) (1978)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (original relase) | Dolby (re-release) (1975)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | South Korea:15 | USA:PG (certificate #23582) | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Denmark:15 (video rating) | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:L | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:AA (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

The entire sock hop sequence was filmed in one day.

Goofs:

Continuity: For the original release, John Milner was shown to have died in June 1964, for the re-release John was shown to have died in December 1964. This was done for continuity's sake prior to the release of "More American Grafitti".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Terry Fields: Hey, what do you say, Curt? Last night in town - you guys gonna have a little bash before you leave?
Steve Bolander: The Moose have been looking for you all day.
[hands check to Curt]
Steve Bolander: They got worried - thought you were trying to avoid them or something.
Terry Fields: What is it? What do ya got?
Curt Henderson: Oh, great.
Terry Fields: That's $2000 man! $2000!
Steve Bolander: Mr. Jennings gave it to me to give to you. He says he's sorry it's so late, but it's the first scholarship the Moose Lodge has given out. And he, uh, says they're all very proud of you back at the lodge.
Curt Henderson: Cute. Why don't you hold it for me for awhile?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Soundtrack:

Johnny B. Goode

The single-greatest teen-age cruising film ever made

American Graffiti, voted in 1998 to the American Film Institute's list of 100 superlative films, is as good today as it was upon its release in 1973. Countless films (such as Linklater's excellent Dazed and Confused) have borrowed heavily from Lucas' blueprint of multiple characters and storylines punctuated by wall to wall rock music. If possible, you should try to see the 1998 documentary that accompanies the DVD release, as it provides a wealth of information directly from Lucas, Coppola, LeMat, Ford, Clark, Dreyfuss, Howard, and many others about the creation of the film from concept to box-office phenomenon.