“It doesn’t make sense to leave home to look for home, to give up a life to find a new life, to say goodbye to friends you love just to make new friends,” says Curt in the still splendid classic “American Graffiti” (1973) co-written and directed by George Lucas. There’s a specificity to this film – the summer of 1962 in Modesto California and its cruisin’ and rock ‘n roll culture – that we might as well be in a galaxy far, far away, but the emotions and pangs of restlessness, excitement and fear of being at the cusp of adulthood and wanting that time to go on indefinitely is rendered with such keen observation and cinematic skill that we immediately feel so connected to it. It feels as if it were experiencing our own vivid memory of our last day of summer before college. This deeply influential work is as fresh, poignant and funny as ever – even after it has launched so many imitations. It cemented Lucas’ reputation as a filmmaker – and the young cast of mostly unknowns at the time blossomed into great success – including Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Suzanne Sommers, Mackenzie Phillips, Kathleen Quinlan, and Cindy Williams.
High school graduates and old friends Curt Henderson (Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Howard) meet two other friends, John Milner (Paul Le Mat), the drag-racing king of the town, and Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charles Martin Smith) in the parking lot of the local Mel’s Drive-In. The story will splinter – following each of them separately for the rest of the evening into dawn through their cruisin’ adventures on the strip. Curt and Steve are leaving to go to college on the East Coast the following morning. Curt’s having second thoughts about this. Steve loans his car to Terry – who endearingly pretends he’s got it together yet he’s nerdy and awkward. Steve has been going steady with Curt’s sister Laurie (Williams) – and she’s bummed out about his departure. He suggests they should see other people. Terry unsuccessfully tries to pick up attractive women to ride with him – and convinces quirky blond Debbie (Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress Candy Clark) who is looking for alcohol and thrills – to join him. “It only took me one night to realize if brains were dynamite you couldn’t blow your nose,” she declares. In the meantime, John accidentally picks up a precocious 12-year-old named Carol (Phillips) who finagles herself into riding with him. “Everybody hates me,” she admits.They encounter Bob Falfa (Ford) – an arrogant drag racer who has been looking forward to challenging John to a race. Curt will see a vision throughout the night – a blond (Sommers) riding in a 56 white Thunderbird. “She spoke to me,” he exclaims, “she spoke to me right through the window. I think she said I love you…That means nothing to you people?” The famous DJ Wolfman-Jack will be omnipresent – his voice coming out of each car radio as he plays a soundtrack of rock n roll tunes that will purposely set the mood for each scene. “The whole strip is shrinking. Ah, you know, I remember about five years ago, take you a couple of hours and a tank full of gas just to make one circuit. It was really somethin’,” says John.
Lucas asked famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler to be a visual consultant for the film. The lighting feels as the scenes were illuminated by the colors of a jukebox. There’s a spontaneity being captured on film – as if the camera were just tagging along with these young adults – and it has a handsome widescreen feel. I love the fact that the evening is fractured into different narratives. It feels as though each strain of the story is a different aspect of one person growing up. By editing them all together – we are able to synthesize the disparate experiences as a whole. It takes place in one condensed period of time – journeying from evening to dawn – from darkness to enlightenment. There’s the introduction of the enigmatic Blonde in the Thunderbid – a white angel – that recalls Guido’s visions of an ideal woman in Fellini’s ‘8 1/2.’ The choice of songs is woven into the script. The music they’re listening to from the radios becomes their soundtrack. There are sobering moments when there are no songs used – like a walk through a car junkyard and the whistling of the wind is the sound of silence.
The summer of 1962 is a significant point in our history. It was right before we became involved in the Vietnam War and the JFK assassination.
Curt: “I don’t think I’m gonna be going tomorrow.”
Steve: “You chicken fink… After all we went through to get accepted? We’re finally getting out of this turkey town and now you want to crawl back into your cell – right? You wanna end up like John? You just can’t stay seventeen forever.”
Love,
Roger
Available to stream on Hulu, HBO Max, HBO GO, HBO NOW, Amazon Prime and DIRECTV. Available to rent on YouTube, Vudu, iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Redbox and AMC Theatres on Demand.
Written by George Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck
Directed by George Lucas
Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ronny Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charlie Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams and Wolfman Jack
110 min
Bringing “American Graffiti” to the Screen
Co-producer Gary Kurtz, who joined the project from its conception in March, 1971, remembers, “Almost every studio in town turned down the first draft screenplay after United Artists, which developed it, decided to pass.”…They couldn’t visualize the movie from the script and no one had faith in us.” Only when Francis Ford Coppola, producer of director George Lucas’ first film THX 1138 and fresh from the success of The Godfather, agreed to serve as producer did Universal decide to finance the film. “Without Francis,” Kurtz said, “the movie would not have been made. Universal vp Ned Tanen was the driving force at the studio, which was flexible and cooperative throughout.” Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, who wrote the original treatment with Lucas, completely rewrote the screenplay. If critics and audiences find it an unusually entertaining film, they also relish its dramatic complexity and detached wisdom. But, according to Kurtz, “We wanted to make a nice, simple piece of good Hollywood entertainment.” (hollywoodreporter.com)
The Making of “American Graffiti”
The film’s lack of pretensions may be a reflection of its disciplined craftsmanship. Given the 28-day shooting schedule and $780,000 budget, its visual richness and production scope are remarkable feats. Nearly 10 percent of that budget was used to secure rights to the some 42 rock-and-roll songs for the soundtrack, a feat that led Tom Pollock, attorney for the film, to locate the Big Bopper’s mother in Tennessee for permission to use “Chantilly Lace.” Since Lucas Films is a San Francisco-based company, its Bay Area contracts held despite the protest of Hollywood unions. While Universal was working out such union problems, Lucas, with casting directors Fred Roos and Mike Fenton, interviewed between 100 and 150 actors a day to find the cast critics have acclaimed throughout the country. “We knew that with the script and the cast we had won more than half the battle.” The production itself was shot almost entirely at night, except for the dawn drag race and the final scene in which Rick Dreyfuss flies off to college. “There were considerable logistical problems with the cars, cold weather, arguments, all aggravated by the lack of sleep.” But a spirit of generosity may have mitigated against the loss of efficiency. Merchants in Petaluma, where much of the cruising was shot, kept their store lights on at their own expense.
The 300 teenagers in the sock hop were not paid. Assistant to the producer Beverly Walker, who coordinated the scene, raffled off stereos and radios and kept them in a parking lot for four hours of rehearsal with Hollywood choreographer Tony Basil, who taught them the Fifties dances many had never even seen. “We got into some trouble,” Kurtz recalls, “because Ron Eveslage and Jan D’Alquen, the two San Francisco cinematographers, had never shot a feature, although they were excellent documentary photographers. We were shooting wide-open, in Techniscope, using mostly available light. Focus and composition were critical.” Haskell Wexler agreed to become visual consultant during the second week of production, supervising the lighting and running the crew. He commuted to Los Angeles to fulfill his commercial obligations during the day, slept only three nights a week, accepted deferred payment because of the slim budget and followed Lucas’ shooting concept although he liked neither Techniscope nor the non-theatrical lighting style. Kurtz said the crew sometimes was ready “to kill each other,” but the film was completed on schedule and on budget. Film editors Verna Fields (a former teacher of Lucas at USC) and Marcia (Mrs.) Lucas had an assembly completed in three weeks. The mix is one of the movie’s chief delights, and it was created at American Zoetrope studios in three weeks by Walter Murch, Lucas and Kurtz. Each song was recorded five different ways to simulate, for example, the inside of a car and cars passing each other in the night. A sound engineer was consulted only when the equipment temporarily broke down.” (hollywoodreporter.com)
About Writer and Director George Lucas
George Lucas was born in Modesto, California. The son of a stationery store owner, he was raised on a walnut ranch, and attended Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school. As a student at USC, Lucas made several short films, including “Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138:4EB,” which took first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival. In 1967, Warner Brothers awarded him a scholarship to observe the filming of “Finian’s Rainbow,” directed by UCLA grad Francis Ford Coppola. The following year, Lucas worked as Coppola’s assistant on “The Rain People” and made a short film entitled “Film Maker” about the directing of the movie. Lucas and Coppola shared a common vision of starting an independent film production company where a community of writers, producers, and directors could share ideas. In 1969, the two filmmakers moved to Northern California, where they founded American Zoetrope. The company’s first project was Lucas’s full-length version of “THX:1138.” In 1971, Coppola went into production for “The Godfather,” and Lucas formed his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd. In 1973, Lucas co-wrote and directed “American Graffiti.” The film won the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics’ and National Society of Film Critics’ awards, and garnered five Academy Award nominations. Four years later, Lucas wrote and directed “Star Wars” — a film which broke all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. This intergalactic tale of good versus evil combined cutting-edge technology with good old-fashioned storytelling, and movies haven’t been the same since. Lucas went on to write the stories for “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” which he also executive-produced. In 1980, he was the executive producer of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” directed by Steven Spielberg, which won five Academy Awards. He was also the co-executive producer and creator of the story for “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
In the mid-1980s, Lucas concentrated on constructing Skywalker Ranch, a facility custom-designed by Lucas to accommodate the creative, technical, and administrative needs of his companies. Assembled, parcel by parcel, since 1978, the 4,700-acre Skywalker Ranch, located on the secluded Lucas Valley Road near Nicasio, California, cost George Lucas $100 million. Skywalker Ranch includes a 150,000-square-foot post-production and music recording facility as well as offices used for the research and development of new technologies in editing, audio, and multimedia. The Ranch, named after the Star Wars character Luke Skywalker, was completed in 1985. In 1986, Lucas executive-produced Disneyland’s 3-D musical space adventure “Captain Eo,” which was directed by Francis Coppola and starred Michael Jackson. “Captain Eo” was shown in a theater uniquely designed by Lucas, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), and Disney for the 17-minute spectacular. He was also the creator of Star Tours, combining the technology of a flight simulator with ILM special effects — making it the most popular attraction at Disneyland. His next project was the adventure-fantasy film “Willow.” Based on an original story by Lucas, the film was directed by Ron Howard and executive-produced by Lucas. “Willow” was released in 1988. Also in 1988, Lucas executive-produced “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” directed by Francis Coppola. The following year, Lucas served as executive producer for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” The company established by George Lucas in 1971 has today evolved into three entities. Lucas Digital Ltd. encompasses Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, the award-winning visual effects, television commercial production, and audio post-production businesses. ILM has played a key role in over half of the top 15 box office hits of all time, and was honored in 1994 with an Academy Award for its achievements in “Forrest Gump,” which marked a technological breakthrough for the film industry.
LucasArts Entertainment Company is a leading international developer and publisher of entertainment software, having won critical acclaim with more than 100 industry awards for excellence, consistently charting in top ten lists of bestselling software. Lucasfilm Ltd. includes all of Lucas’s feature film and television production, and the business activities of Licensing and the THX Group. The THX division was created to define and maintain the highest quality standards in motion picture theaters and home theater systems. Additionally, George Lucas serves as Chairman of the Board of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, a tax-exempt charitable organization devoted to realizing the vision of a technology-enriched educational system of the future. In 1992, after numerous awards, George Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. After a series of premiere screenings that raised $5.6 million for charity, the long-awaited first chapter in the “Star Wars” saga, “The Phantom Menace” opened in 1999, to record-breaking business across North America. It demolished the opening weekend box office records in 28 countries and ended the year with worldwide ticket sales of $922 million, making it the second-highest grossing film ever released. Subsequent chapters in the “Star Wars” saga, “Attack of the Clones,” and “Revenge of the Sith,” premiered in 2002 and 2005. “Revenge of the Sith” surpassed all previous box office records for a single day, for opening day, and for first weekend, taking in an estimated $303.2 million worldwide in its first four days. Since the 1980s, Lucasfilm has supported an array of innovative educational initiatives. In 2006, the Lucasfilm Foundation announced a $75 million donation to his alma mater, the University of Southern California, to construct state-of-the-art education buildings for the School of Cinematic Arts. In addition, Lucasfilm has recently given the film school an additional $100 million to establish an endowment. It is the largest single donation in USC history. The following year, he founded the nonprofit Edutopia to drive innovation in education. In 2012, he sold Lucasfilm, Ltd. to the Walt Disney Company for a reported price of $4.05 billion. He has subscribed to The Giving Pledge, alongside Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, promising to give half his fortune to charity. More recently, George Lucas is in the planning stages to develop the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art at Exposition Park in Los Angeles. The Lucas Museum — designed by Ma Yansong, a Chinese architect known for free-flowing sculptural drama — will enable Lucas to share his extensive collection of art and film memorabilia with the public, including materials related to the production of his own films. (achievement.org)