Stubs - American Graffiti

American Graffiti (1973) Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ronny Howard, Paul Le Mat,  Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark. Directed by George Lucas. Screenplay by George Lucas, Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck. Produced by  Francis Ford Coppola. Run time: 110 minutes. Color Comedy, Drama

Unlike most famous directors, the oeuvre of George Lucas is a very short list: THX 1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977), Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of The Clones (2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Not that he hasn’t had an oversized impact on film and culture, but while it would take several semesters of study to watch all of, say, Alfred Hitchcock’s films, Lucas' films could be watched in a weekend of binge watching.

We recently had a chance to complete the Lucas output for my sons recently when TCM showed the film.

Lucas’s first feature film, THX 1138, a fuller version of his student film at USC, was not a financial or critical success. But it was during that production that Coppola challenged him to write something with mainstream appeal.

Feeling that cruising, which had been an integral part of his upbringing, was dead, Lucas decided to make a film celebrating that bygone past time. He, supposedly, based the four main characters on different parts of his own life. A nerd his freshman year in high school, Lucas had become a teenaged street racer.

Lucas hired a friend from school to write the script, but ended up rewriting it in three weeks. For every scene, he had a particular song in mind. It was the high cost of the musical license fees that scared off United Artists, which had given Lucas development money. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures all turned down the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the film.

At Universal, Lucas not only found financing, but he was given total artistic control and the right of final cut privilege on the condition that he make American Graffiti on a strict low budget of $600,000. When Coppola came onboard, Universal added another $175,000. Production proceeded with virtually no input or interference from the studio.

Filming began on June 26, 1972 on location in San Rafael. However, the San Rafael City Council became concerned about the disruption the filming caused for local businesses, so it was moved to Petaluma, 20 miles away, two days later. Other locations included Mel's Drive-In in San Francisco, Sonoma, Richmond, Novato, and the Buchanan Field Airport in Concord.

After some test screenings, Universal wanted Lucas to re-edit the film. Coppola sided with Lucas and offered to buy the film from the studio. However, after Coppola won his Academy Awards for The Godfather, the studio relented and agreed to cut only three scenes (amounting to a few minutes) from Lucas' cut. These include an encounter between Toad and a fast-talking car salesman, an argument between Steve and his former teacher Mr. Kroot at the sock hop, and an effort by Bob Falfa to serenade Laurie with "Some Enchanted Evening". [These scenes would be re-instated when the film was re-released in 1978 and were in the version watched for this review.]

Despite the positive response at the test screenings, Universal thought of the film as a TV Movie, but word of mouth changed their minds and the film was released on August 11, 1973. For its investment, of $1.27 million to produce and market, the film made more than $55 million. It would earn an additional $63 million when re-released in 1978.

Friends John Milner (Paul Le Mat), Laurie (Cindy Williams), and Steve Bolander (Ron Howard) meet up at Mel's Drive-In.

Two high school graduates, Steve Bolander (Ron Howard) and Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfus), are supposed to be heading back East the next morning to start college. Their friends, John Milner (Paul Le Mat), a mechanic and drag racer, and the unpopular and nerdy Terry “the Toad” Fields (Charlie Martin Smith) are staying behind. They all meet up at Mel’s Drive-In for their last night. Curt is having second thoughts about leaving town.

Soon, Laurie (Cindy Williams), Steve’s girlfriend and Curt’s sister arrives, in her own car. Unlike Steve, Laurie still has a year to go. Steve tries to convince her that while they’re apart, they should be able to see other people. Laurie goes along with it, but she’s not really happy about the idea.

Cruising the circuit.

Steve, Laurie, and Curt decide to head over to the high school sock hop, while John decides to drive the circuit, which he bemoans is getting smaller. Terry, meanwhile, has been given Steve’s car to take care of while he’s away and is anxious to drive it around.

A beautiful blonde (Suzanne Somers) driving a white Ford Thunderbird gets Curt's attention.

En route to the sock hop, Curt sees a beautiful blonde (Suzanne Somers) driving a white Ford Thunderbird. Even though he can’t hear her, she flirts with him and Curt is hooked. He leaves the sock hop, hoping to run into her, but gives up and sets to watching the TV in a department store window while sitting on the hood of a car parked on the street.

Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfus) (r) is about to find out the penalty for sitting on a car.

While this would be considered rude, it is worse as the car belongs to a gang, the Pharaohs, led by Joe (Bo Hopkins). Curt is contrite, but Joe isn’t willing to let hm off so easily. They force him into some petty crimes like stealing coins from arcade machines. When the owners get suspicious, Curt, who has won a scholarship given by a local service club, runs interference for them.

  Joe (Bo Hopkins) coaches Curt on his final test to be a Pharaoh.

But the actions get more outlandish and Curt is given one last test. He must sneak up behind a parked patrol car and hook a chain to the car’s rear axle. Then the Pharaoh’s drive by and taunt the police, but when they take chase, the rear axle gets pulled off the car.

Debbie (Candy Clark) cruises with Terry “the Toad” Fields (Charlie Martin Smith).

Meanwhile, Terry cruises around the strip. His reputation proceeds him until he picks up rebellious Debbie (Candy Clark), who attends another high school. Seeing an opening, Terry calls himself "Terry The Tiger", as he tries to impress her. He tells her that the car is his and even tried to purchase alcohol even though he’s underage. He gets lucky when a robber offers to help and throws him a bottle before the owner comes out with his gun a-blazing.

Looking for a romantic spot, they drive Steve's car to a secluded spot leaving the radio on for music, but when Terry no longer hears the radio, they discover that the car has been stolen. Later, after the alcohol has made Terry violently sick, he sees Steve's car and attempts to steal it back. The car thieves appear and beat him up until John, who is driving by, intervenes.

Terry eventually admits to Debbie that he's been lying about the car all along and he drives a scooter; she suggests it is "almost a motorcycle" and says she had fun with him, agreeing to meet up with him again.

While he’s out cruising, John attempts to get company for the evening, but the only taker is Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), a precocious 12-year-old who manipulates him into driving her around all night. Lying to suspicious friends that she's a cousin and he's stuck with babysitting duty, they have a series of petty arguments until another car's occupants verbally harass her as she attempts to walk home alone. John then decides to protect her. She won’t tell him where she lives until he pretends to get frisky with her. Suddenly, she’s willing to guide him back to her house.

Out-of-town racer Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) is driving around looking for John.

Meanwhile, an out-of-town racer, Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), is driving around looking for John. He wants to challenge him to a race for John's drag-racing crown. With him is his girl (Debralee Scott).

During the night, the argument Laurie and Steve have been avoiding boils over and she leaves him at Mel’s. Bob, suddenly without his girl, swoops in and Laurie ends up in his car.

After getting away from the Pharaohs, Curt heads out to the radio station hoping to get DJ Wolfman Jack to play a dedication for the girl in the T-Bird. At the radio station, the Disc Jockey claims that he’s not Wolfman and that the DJ doesn’t work there. The shows, he claims, are pre-taped, but he takes pity on Curt and tells him that he’ll try to get his dedication on the air. Curt leaves, but realizes that he has indeed been talking to Wolfman, who does indeed ask the blonde to call Curt at the payphone outside of Mel’s.

The big race between Bob and John is about to get underway.

After taking Carol home, John is driving around with Terry when they come across Bob and they arrange for a race along Paradise Road outside the city. They meet just as the sun is rising. There are spectators there as well. Terry starts the drag race and John takes the lead, but Bob's tire blows out, swerving into a ditch and rolling over before bursting into flames. Steve, aware that Laurie was Bob's passenger, rushes to the wreck as she and Bob crawl out and stagger away before the car explodes. While John helps his rival to safety, Laurie begs Steve not to leave her. He assures her that he will stay with her in Modesto.

Curt falls asleep in his car next to the payphone and is awakened by its ringing. He finally speaks to the woman, but she won’t reveal her identity and hints that she’ll be around the next night. Curt, though, tells her that he’s leaving town the next day.

The next day, he’s at the airport saying goodbye to his parents and his friends. Steve promises that he’ll join him at school the next year. Curt makes it to the plane just in time. Only after it’s in the air does he look down and sees the Thunderbird driving along the road below.

There is a postscript with updates on the four friends. John was killed in 1964 by a drunk driver. Terry was reported as missing in action in Vietnam in 1965. Steve is now an insurance agent in Modesto, while Curt has become a writer and is living in Canada.

The film was a critical success, garnering five Academy Awards nominations including Best Picture (Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz), Best Director (George Lucas), Best Supporting Actress (Candy Clark), Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published (George Lucas, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck) and Best Film Editing (Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas).

It's success at the box-office would naturally lead to a sequel, the rather forgettable More American Graffiti (1979), with all the major players back, save Richard Dreyfus. Made on a larger budget, $2.5 to 3 million, it did not make a splash at the box-office, making only between $8-15 million, depending on the source. Unlike American Graffiti, More American Graffiti received negative reviews from critics.

American Graffiti also launched a wave of nostalgia for the early 1960’s and influenced other films such as The Lords of Flatbush (1974) and Cooley High (1975) and the TV series Happy Days (starring Ron Howard) and its spinoff Laverne and Shirley (co-starring Cindy Williams).

Not having really been around for this era of American history, I don’t find the film all that nostalgic, however, it is very entertaining with good performances from pretty much everyone in the cast. The film is somewhat notable for putting Harrison Ford on the map. He had been in and out of films since 1966’s Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, but had gone pretty much unnoticed until American Graffiti, and his working with Coppola and Lucas would lead to his next film, The Conversation (1976), and his career-making role as Han Solo in Star Wars (1977).

Ron Howard, who had played Opie Taylor on the long-running The Andy Griffith Show and then Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, would eventually move into directing, making his breakthrough with Night Shift (1982), then Splash! (1984) and Cocoon (1985). But all of that was many years in the future. Maybe it’s because he played Opie for so many years that he seems right to play a teenager in the early 1960s. However, his character here is not as innocent as say Opie or even Richie is, though he does come around when needed.

Cindy Williams would also go on to make her mark on television, playing Shirley in the long running Laverne & Shirley. Here, she’s playing a character, Laurie, who is much more innocent than Shirley; a good girl with a bit of rebel streak when pushed. She’s likable in the role.

Richard Dreyfus seems like a bit of an odd choice, since he was about 26 at the time, but he’s good in the role of Curt Henderson. Dreyfus was on the verge of a string of well-known films, including Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the same year he would win his Academy Award as Best Actor in The Good-bye Girl. At that point, he was the youngest actor to win that award at 30. As Dreyfus might seem a little out of place as a teenager, it should be noted that the car he drives in the film is also out of place and time; 1967 Citroën 2CV.

Paul LeMat was even older than Dreyfus in the film, but, somehow, he carries off the character of John Milner, who, despite not appearing to have the same goals as Curt or Steve, comes across as more mature. Of all the “young” actors in the film, he was the one chosen for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor, which was well-deserved. He would also get more critical attention with Melvin and Howard (1980).

Charles Martin Smith as Terry Fields is more the everyman than either of his friends. For most people, high school is something you want to put behind yourself and to break free from. Terry tries that, pretending to be a cooler version of who he was in school as “the Toad” presents himself now as “the Tiger.”

The film was a breakthrough for Candy Clark, who plays Debbie Dunham. In only her second film, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. You get the impression that Debbie is also pretending to be someone different than she was in high school. She puts Terry through the paces, but ends up liking him for who he is.

George Lucas would go on to be one of the most successful filmmakers of all time, even though he has a rather small output. Before he sparked the Star Wars fandom into existence, he helped to light the fire of early 60’s nostalgia, highlighting some great songs and a bygone time in America. This would be his first time to capture lightning in a bottle.

An enjoyable time at the movies with a great soundtrack. There’s a lot to like with American Graffiti and if you haven’t seen it, the film is worth at least one viewing.