American Graffiti

American Graffiti (1973)

Timing: 1:50 (110 min)

7.028/10
1371

7.224/10
8944

7.4/10
105000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 40

Actors and characters

Release date

1973-08-11

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, The Coppola Company, Lucasfilm Ltd., American Zoetrope

Genre

Comedy, Drama

Budget

$777 000

Revenue

$115 000 000

Website

Director

George Lucas

Actors

Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr.
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

George Lucas, Willard Huyck

Producer

Francis Ford Coppola

Operator

Jan D'Alquen

Composer

Artist

Audition

Fred Roos, Mike Fenton

Editing

Marcia Lucas, Verna Fields
All team (39)

• Filming period: June 26 – August 1972.
• Following the incredible success of "Easy Rider" (1969) by Dennis Hopper, "Universal Studios" allowed five more young directors to make "semi-independent" films with budgets just under a million dollars, hoping for a large return. It was decided not to interfere with their work and allow them to edit the films themselves. Besides Lucas, Peter Fonda ("The Hired Hand", 1971), Dennis Hopper again ("The Last Movie", 1971), Miloš Forman ("Taking Off", 1971) and Douglas Trumbull ("Silent Running", 1972) were lucky.
• John Milner's car number is TNX-138. George Lucas's previous film was titled "THX 1138".
• Harrison Ford was offered to have his hair cut for the role of the reckless racer Bob Falfa. Ford refused, arguing that the role was too small for such sacrifices. Instead, he suggested hiding Bob's hair under a cowboy hat.
• Terry Fields' crash was not planned in the script. Charles Martin Smith, who played Terry, simply lost control of the moped during filming and didn't stop it in time, while Lucas managed to capture the episode on camera.
• Cindy Williams wanted to play Carol and even ordered braces – that’s how she envisioned the character. However, Williams got the role of Laurie Henderson, and Carol was played by Mackenzie Phillips.
• Around 300 cars manufactured no later than 1962 were needed for filming the movie. The filmmakers placed an ad in the newspaper, and thousands of various rare cars were brought to the set.
• It took 29 days to film the movie. Practically the entire film was shot in the evenings.
• Kathleen Quinlan's debut film role. She appears in one scene with Ron Howard; later, when he became a director, he cast Quinlan in his film "Apollo 13" (1995).
• Lucas wanted to secure 80 rock 'n' roll hits from the 1950s-60s for the film. Unfortunately, the budget only allowed for the rights to 45 songs – and even that was thanks to Francis Ford Coppola agreeing to become a producer.
• Coppola disliked the title Lucas had come up with, "American Graffiti." He tried to persuade him to change it to "Another Long Night in Modesto" or "Rock Around the Block." He was unsuccessful.
• Popular DJ Wolfman Jack played essentially himself. Lucas invited him to the role himself, as he was captivated by his radio shows when he was still in school.
• Following the incredible success of “Easy Rider” (1969), Universal Studios allowed five more young directors to make “semi-independent” films with budgets just under a million dollars, hoping for a large return. It was decided not to interfere with their work and to allow them to edit the films themselves. In addition to Lucas, Peter Fonda (“The Hired Hand,” 1971), Dennis Hopper again (“The Last Movie,” 1971), Miloš Forman (“Taking Off,” 1971), and Douglas Trumbull (“Silent Running,” 1972) were fortunate.
• John Milner’s car number is TNX-138. George Lucas’s previous film was titled “THX 1138”.
• Cindy Williams wanted to play Carol and even ordered braces—that’s how she envisioned the character. However, Williams received the role of Laurie Henderson, and Carol was played by Mackenzie Phillips.
• Lucas wanted to obtain 80 rock and roll hits from the 1950s-60s for the film. Unfortunately, the budget only allowed for the rights to 45 songs—and even that was thanks to Francis Ford Coppola agreeing to become a producer.
• Coppola disliked the title Lucas came up with for "American Graffiti." He tried to persuade him to change it to "Another Long Night in Modesto" or "Rock the Whole Block." He failed to convince him.