American Graffiti [Special Edition]

Director: George Lucas

Overview

It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad" (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), Curt chases a mystery blonde, Terry tries to act cool, and Paul prepares for a race against Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), but nothing can stop the next day from coming, and with it the vastly different future ushered in by the 1960s. Fresh off The Godfather (1972), producer Francis Ford Coppola had the clout to get his friend George Lucas's project made, but only for $750,000 on a 28-day shooting schedule. Despite technical obstacles, and having to shoot at night, cinematographer Haskell Wexler gave the film the neon-lit aura that Lucas wanted, evoking the authentic look of a suburban strip to go with the authentic sound of rock-n-roll. Universal, which wanted to call the film Another Slow Night in Modesto, thought it was unreleasable. But Lucas' period detail, co-writers Willard Huyck's and Gloria Katz's realistic dialogue, and the film's nostalgia for the pre-Vietnam years apparently appealed to a 1973 audience embroiled in cultural chaos: American Graffiti became the third most popular movie of 1973 (after The Exorcist and The Sting), establishing the reputations of Lucas (whose next film would be Star Wars) and his young cast, and furthering the onset of soundtrack-driven, youth-oriented movies. Although the film helped spark 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, nothing else would capture the flavor of the era with the same humorous candor and latent sense of foreboding.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/31/2011
UPC:	0025195051026
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Universal Studios
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	1,089

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Director George Lucas; ; The Making of American Graffiti: An Original feature-length Documentary featuring Interviews with Director George Lucas, Producer Francis Ford Coppola and members of the cast including Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Harrison Ford and Suzanne Somers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Richard Dreyfuss	Curt
Ron Howard	Steve
Paul Le Mat	John
Cindy Williams	Laurie
Harrison Ford	Falfa
Suzanne Somers	Blonde in T-Bird
Charles Martin Smith	Terry
Candy Clark	Debbie
Mackenzie Phillips	Carol
Wolfman Jack	XERB Disc Jockey
Bo Hopkins	Joe Young
Manuel Padilla Jr.	Carlos
Beau Gentry	Ants
Kay Lenz	Jane
Kathleen Quinlan	Peg
Tim Crowley	Eddie
Terence McGovern	Mr. Wolfe
Jan Wilson	Girl
Caprice Schmidt	Announcer
Jana Bellan	Budda
Joe Spano	Vic
Christopher Pray	Al
Susan Richardson	Judy
Donna Wehr	2nd Carhop
Jim Bohan	Policeman Holstein
Ron Vincent	Jeff Pazzuto
Fred Ross	Ferber
Jody Carlson	Girl in Studebaker
Cam Whitman	Balloon Girl
John Bracci	Gas Station Attendant
Debbie Celiz	Wendy
Lynne Stewart	Bobbie
Ed Greenberg	Kip Pullman
Gordon Analla	Bozo
Lisa Herman	Girl in Dodge
Debralee Scott	Falfa's Girl,Falfa's Girl
Chuck Dorsett	Man at Accident,Man at Accident
Stephen Knox	Kid at Accident
Bob Pasaak	Dale
Joseph Miksak	Man
George Meyer	Bum
William M. Niven	Clerk
James Cranna	Thief
Del Close	Manin Alley
Charlie Murphy	Old Man,Old Man
Jan Dunn	Old Woman
Johnny Weissmuller Jr.	Badass I
Scott Beach	Mr. Gordon
Albert Nalbandian	Hank
John Brent	Car Salesman
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids	Rock Band
Al Nalbandian	Hank
Manuel Padilla	Carlos
Herby and the Heartbeats	Rock Band
Terry McGovern	Mr. Wolfe

Technical Credits

George Lucas

Gloria Katz

Willard Huyck

George Lucas	Screenwriter
Gloria Katz	Screenwriter
Willard Huyck	Screenwriter
Gary Kurtz	Producer
Francis Ford Coppola	Producer
Art Rochester	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Walter Murch	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- American Graffiti
1. Main Titles [1:59]
2. You Can't Stay 17 Forever [1:36]
3. Mel's Drive-In [1:33]
4. Dating Other People? [1:58]
5. The Superfine Machine [3:01]
6. Cruisin' [1:36]
7. A Goddess In A T-Bird [1:32]
8. Judy's Sister [2:49]
9. Toad On The Road [1:59]
10. At The Hop [1:43]
11. Talking In The Toilet [1:08]
12. Joe College Strikes Out [1:25]
13. Strollin' [1:35]
14. Not The Competitive Type [2:10]
15. Drivin' Is A Serious Business [3:41]
16. Looking For Milner [:55]
17. Just Like Connie Stevens [2:13]
18. The Last Dance [5:12]
19. Waiting For A Double Chubby-Chuck [2:02]
20. Who's That Blonde? [2:38]
21. Back On The Street [1:30]
22. Baby-Sitting [2:06]
23. The Liquor Store [4:15]
24. The Graveyard [1:45]
25. Take A Ride With The Pharoahs [3:37]
26. Listenin' To Wolfman [2:06]
27. The Special Prize [1:47]
28. A Perfect Night [2:56]
29. The Right Boy [3:03]
30. The End of a Perfect Night [3:11]
31. The Goat Killer? [3:19]
32. The Big Challenge [3:13]
33. A Chance To Be A Pharaoh [4:19]
34. It's Never Too Late [2:44]
35. Gotta Find That Blonde [1:52]
36. Falfa's New Girlfriend [1:10]
37. Like A Ring, Or Something [1:28]
38. Early In The Morning [1:33]
39. Sicker Than A Dog [:45]
40. Just Like The Lone Ranger [1:11]
41. Where's Laurie? [1:37]
42. A Pretty Good Time [1:02]
43. The Wolfman [2:17]
44. Paradise Road [4:44]
45. The Big Race [1:55]
46. Number One [2:16]
47. Good Night, Sweetheart [1:18]
48. It's Time To Go [1:26]
49. Epilogue, End Titles [2:07]

Menu

Disc #1 -- American Graffiti
Play
Scenes
Bonus
The Making Of American Graffiti
Play All
The Making Of American Graffiti - Genesis Of The Product
A Personal Story
Casting
Production Begins
Production Stories
Post Production
Final Words
Theatrical Trailer
Feature Commentary With Director George Lucas: On/Off
Setup
Spoken Language
English 2.0
Français 2.0 Mono
Feature Commentary With Director George Lucas
Subtitles
English SDH*
Español
Français
Subtitles: Off

Editorial Reviews

Nostalgic but unsentimental, American Graffiti is a seminal coming-of-age film that speaks to anyone who has ever been a teenager. George Lucas's second feature film, it recalled a simpler time while reminding audiences that things weren't really that simple. An elegy for childhood freedom, it captured yearning conflict without exploiting it and refused to exchange its tough-love treatment of its subjects for a more breezy, simplistic rendering. The film was a surprise success (much like Lucas' next film, Star Wars) that set the tone for subsequent youth-oriented movies. It also sparked a craze for nostalgia films set in the pre-Vietnam era, an interesting detail given that, while certainly nostalgic, American Graffiti avoided the sort of sappy, one-dimensional pitfalls encountered by its numerous imitators. A classic by any standards, its message remains unforced and universal, making the film identifiable with but not defined by one particular era.