Where Were You in ‘73?: Remembering “American Graffiti” on its 50th Anniversary

Sunday, 31 December 2023 12:05

Where Were You in ‘73?: Remembering “American Graffiti” on its 50th Anniversary

by Michael Coate

American Graffiti (1973)

CHAPTER 15: THE SEQUEL

Peter Krämer: I actually think that More American Graffiti is, formally and thematically, a very interesting film. It does deserve more attention (although I have to admit that I did not have space in my book to discuss the sequel). What I find so remarkable is that not only was it a commercial flop but one also gets the impression that Lucas actively sought to undermine the commercial viability of this potential “franchise.”

John Cork: I think it suffered greatly from the television success of Happy Days, which milked American Graffiti’s success (and cast) for all it was worth. [That said,] More American Graffiti is terribly underrated. It isn’t perfect by any stretch, and it suffers greatly from the absence of Richard Dreyfuss as the older brother Curt, who is replaced by Will Seltzer as Andy. I can only imagine that with Dreyfuss’s character, the storyline involving him and his sister Laurie would have had a powerful conclusion with him avoiding the draft or jail by escaping to Canada where he would have to live in exile. I love the style changes from each segment (which annoyed many critics at the time), and the performances are generally top-notch. Is it a great movie? No, but it is more than worthwhile to see, and it stays true to the heart and soul of the original.

Ray Morton: I think More American Graffiti is conceptually quite brilliant. The idea of setting the four different storylines on the same night in four consecutive years (as opposed to on the same night as in the original) was a clever way to cover all of the 60s in a single movie. The notion to shoot each story in a different cinematic style—one appropriate to the year each story is set in—is another amazingly innovative concept that demonstrates what a creative, out-of-the-box thinker Lucas has always been.

Craig Miller (Lucasfilm Director of Fan Relations, 1977-1980; author, Star Wars Memories): My understanding was that George wasn't originally very interested in doing More American Graffiti but Universal suggested that he still owed them a picture on his original deal with them and, since they owned American Graffiti, they could and would make a sequel with or without him. He decided if it was going to get made, he'd rather he was involved so that the film that happened was true to his original.

Ray Morton: I don’t think the film ultimately works, however. One big reason is the absence of Richard Dreyfuss—Curt was the main character in American Graffiti’s ensemble cast and he was the one who ended up in Canada, so he was the character through whose eyes the social and campus upheaval of the 60s needed to be witnessed. Without him, the film has a huge hole in its center. The other reason the film doesn’t work is that, except for John Milner, all of the main characters are really unlikeable. Steve and Laurie spend the whole movie sniping at one another, Terry the Toad comes across like an arrogant asshole, and Debbie seems like a dingbat. So it’s not much fun spending time with them and it’s almost impossible to care about any of them…. John Milner is the best character in the movie. The ending of American Graffiti lets us know that Milner gets killed in a car crash. So we go into the sequel knowing his terrible fate. To offset this, More American Graffiti allows Milner to have his best day ever. Brian Finn once again: “He wins the biggest race of his life, he gets the girl, and he rides off into the sunset.” And Paul Le Mat gives the film’s most likeable performance—this Milner is a bit older, a bit less cocky than the fellow in Graffiti. One gets the sense that—having become aware that his era is passing in American Graffiti—he has come to accept this fact, accept himself, and his place in the world…. There’s also some great filmmaking in the movie. It’s no secret that Lucas directed second unit on some of the Vietnam helicopter material and that he cut it together making two helicopters seem like an entire fleet. The 16mm TV news footage look of the material is great and the editing is virtuoso stuff. It gives us a look at how a George Lucas-directed Apocalypse Now might have looked and felt had he been able to carry that project through to completion…. As good as the helicopter stuff is, the best shot in the movie is the last one and for my money it’s one of the best final shots in movie history. Shot by the great Caleb Deschanel, that final twilight image of Milner’s deuce coupe disappearing over a hill as the lights of the car that will soon kill him appear in the distance is stunning beautiful, visually poetic, and movingly elegiac.

Joseph McBride: I liked Lucasfilm’s More American Graffiti (written and directed by Bill L. Norton, based on the original script’s characters, 1979) at the time but haven’t seen it since. I found it an intriguing experimental multipart film that didn’t deserve the attacks on it. When you make a sequel that is substantially different from the original and is sort of a downer, people jump on you, unfortunately. I particularly liked the 16mm Vietnam segment, which resembles Lucas’s earlier plans to film John Milius’s script Apocalypse Now in 16mm as a semi-documentary kind of story film on actual locations in Vietnam during the fighting (!). I wish they had done that, though Francis Ford Coppola’s film is mostly brilliant, even if parts are misjudged…. World War II veteran Sam Fuller told me he found it implausible that Martin Sheen would take a boat down the river so natives could shoot arrows at him rather than taking a helicopter (the boat was a leftover from the original source, Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella Heart of Darkness; when I said Sheen needed a boat to get into Kurtz’s compound, Sam said they could have strapped one below the chopper). Sam also wondered why the U.S. Army didn’t give Kurtz a medal rather than having him assassinated for killing all those Vietcong. The original script by Milius, which I read before Coppola rewrote it and made the film, made more sense, since Kurtz had formed his own army and was killing both Vietcong and American troops…. I liked the plot turn at the end of American Graffiti of having the local clown, Charlie Martin Smith, winding up going to Vietnam and becoming missing in action. Audiences in 1973 were expecting realistically downbeat endings, unlike later escapist audiences. The fate of Terry the Toad captured the period. In the sequel, it turns out he deserted and went to Europe. The sequel’s far more sophisticated social awareness gives it more weight but turned off the more frivolous 1979 audience. The original has social awareness too, but it’s more oblique.

American Graffiti (1973)

CHAPTER 16: THE UNINITIATED

John Cork: I would simply say that American Graffiti is the best coming of age film ever made.

Ray Morton: American Graffiti is a warm, funny coming-of-age movie set in the Kennedy era—a relatively optimistic and hopeful time nestled in between the post-war 1950s and the socially turbulent 1960s—celebrating classic American car culture, universal teenage rites of passage, and the last days of cruising.

CHAPTER 17: THE LEGACY

John Cork: Do you love Grease? Animal House? Porky’s? Cooley High? I Wanna Hold Your Hand? None of those films exist without American Graffiti. Neither does The Hollywood Knights, Diner, The Pom Pom Girls, Ode to Billie Joe, Citizen Band (aka Handle With Care), Losin’ It, and many, many more. One can even make a solid argument that both The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off owe a lot to American Graffiti with their coming-of-age storylines that take place in less than a single day.

Gary Leva: American Graffiti is one of those films—Diner is another—where a filmmaker brings his youth to the screen with such a sense of sweetness and genuine nostalgia, that his or her personal recollections somehow become universal for the audience. Even if you didn’t grow up like that, the feeling of being that age, of facing the first meaningful crossroads in your life, is something we can all relate to. And George brought it to the screen with such a light touch and so much humor.

Ray Morton: It has inspired many filmmakers to create their own coming of age movies based on their own youths. Without Graffiti, it’s unlikely we would have had such classic films as Diner and Breaking Away. And, of course, we never would have had Happy Days [laughter].

Peter Krämer: I do think that it is Lucas’s best film—but, no doubt, Star Wars is his most influential work.

Beverly Gray: Regarding Happy Days, I don’t know much about the contracts involved, but the sitcom was being built around Ron Howard well before American Graffiti was made. So, when it finally became a series, I don’t think he was likely to have rejected his starring role. What he didn’t anticipate was the unexpected rise of Henry Winkler, who was at first supposed to be a one-episode character. There was some quiet friction until Howard and Winkler (nice guys both) acknowledged that the series needed both of them—at least for many years.

John Cork: On television, Happy Days was developed as a direct response to the success of American Graffiti, with Henry Winkler playing the alternate reality version of Paul Le Mat’s bad boy character. The movie cast basically became the shopping ground for hit sitcoms of the 70s, with Laverne & Shirley, One Day at a Time, and Three’s Company all featuring American Graffiti alumni. And, of course, without the success of American Graffiti, there is no Star Wars, and no Indiana Jones. Further, American Graffiti laid out a roadmap for Hollywood to embrace a new, younger generation of filmmakers who reshaped the industry in so many remarkable ways.

Joseph McBride: I wish its legacy would be to make filmmakers today go back and watch it and realize that audiences want to go to see good films that deal with real human problems, not just spectacle. We are back in what film historian Tom Gunning has called “the cinema of attractions,” the emphasis on spectacle and sensation that dominated early cinema before filmmakers discovered narrative. It would be good if Hollywood would go back to characters and stories, but I’m not holding my breath. American Graffiti now seems like the end of something rather than the beginning, and like the film’s storyline, that historical fact gives it a further undertone of sadness.

---END---

American Graffiti (1973)

IMAGES

Selected images copyright/courtesy Los Angeles Times, Lucasfilm Ltd/Coppola Company, The Modesto Bee, National Screen Service, The New York Times, Universal Studios, Universal Studios Home Entertainment

SOURCES/REFERENCES

The primary references for this project were the motion picture American Graffiti (Universal, 1973), regional newspaper coverage, trade reports published in Boxoffice, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety, and interviews conducted by the author. All figures and data pertain to North America (i.e. United States and Canada) except where stated otherwise.

SPECIAL THANKS

Jerry Alexander, B. Baker, Jim Barg, Don Beelik, Larry Blake, Jon Burlingame, Ray Caple, John Cork, Nick DiMaggio, Mike Durrett, Bill Gabel, Beverly Gray, Sheldon Hall, John Hazelton, Paul Hirsch ACE, Rob Hummel, Bill Hunt, William Kallay, Bruce Kimmel, Peter Krämer, Bill Kretzel, Steve Lee, Stephen Leigh, Mark Lensenmayer, Gary Leva, Stan Malone, Joseph McBride, Craig Miller, W.R. Miller, Ray Morton, Gabriel Neeb, Tim O’Neill, Jim Perry, Richard Ravalli, John Rotan, Cliff Stephenson, John Stewart, Roy H. Wagner ASC, Vince Young, and a very special thank-you to the librarians, genealogists and private researchers who assisted with this project, in particular Nicole Adams (Oshawa Public Libraries), Rachael C. Altman (Carnegie History Center), Amy (Halifax Public Libraries), Amy (Olean Library), Ann Marie (Anne Marie (Boise Public Library), Ashley (New Bedford Free Public Library), Laura Baas (State Library and Archives of Florida), Zach Baker (Leavenworth Public Library), Ben (Bristol Public Library), Katie Biehl (Bozeman Public Library), Deb Bier (Peoria Public Library), Barry Bradford (Tangipahoa Parish Library), Linda Bridges and Cheri Lewis (Live Oak Public Libraries), Kelly Bucci (Hamilton Public Library), Diane Buckley (Virginia Beach Public Library), Cedric E. and Lisa (Virginia Beach Public Library), Michelle Burkhart (Michigan City Public Library), Olivia Bushey (Washington Memorial Library), Judy C. and Renee Schmutz-Sowards (Boyd County Public Library), Laurie Carroll (Duluth Public Library), Morgan Chance (Texarkana Public Library), Chris (Fredericton Pubic Library), Nan Cinnater (Provincetown Public Library), Colette, Jodie, Kaylie and Monique (Greater Sudbury Public Library), Caitlyn Cook and reference staff (New Jersey State Library), Mark Cousins (Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records), CailÍn Cullun (Aurora Public Library), Lauren Cunningham (Quincy Public Library), Shane Curtin and Michael Lara (San Jose Pubic Library), David (Indiana State Library), Ron Davidson (Sandusky Library), Carol Davis and Greta Galindo (Woodland Public Library), Ruth Davis Konigsberg (Vineyard Haven Public Library), Tabitha Davis (Pueblo-City-County Library), Elisabeth Demmon (Kitsap Regional Library), Melissa Dennis (University of Mississippi Libraries), Erin Edwards (Boulder Public Library), Eric and Marnie (Wood County District Public Library), Emily (Jefferson-Madison Regional Library), Evan (Okanagan Regional Library), Laura Fazekas and reference staff (Chapin Memorial Library), Karen Feeney (Forsyth County Public Library), Fiona (Public Libraries of Saginaw), Gavin Furman (El Dorado County Library), Kevin Geisert and David Dennie (Norfolk Public Library), Karla Gerdes and Ann Panthen (Champaign County Historical Archives), Aron Glover (Mississippi State University Libraries), Doris J. Gonzalez (Joe A. Guerra Laredo Public Library), Dori Gottschalk-Fielding (Seymour Library), Jana Gowan (Tulsa City-County Library), Levi Groenewold (Monroe County Public Library), Cathy Hackett (Clark County Public Library), Jamie Hale (Norman Public Library), Carl Hallberg (Wyoming State Archives), Carl Hamlin and Jake Thomas (Cabell County Public Library), Brian Hargett and Shannon Hendrix (Lee County Library), Dinah Harris (Jackson-Madison County Library), Vanessa Harris (Waukegan Public Library), Heather (St. Catharines Public Library), Brianna Hemmah (Laconia Public Library), David S. Hess (Gary Public Library and Cultural Center), Darcy Hiltz (Guelph Public Library), Teresa J. Hobe (Stark Library), Caroline Huguet (Alachua County Library District), Isaac (Buffalo & Erie County Public Library), Susan Jackson (Torrington Library), Jillian Jakubowski (Sarnia Library), Debra James (Jonesboro Public Library), Jason (Birmingham Public Library), Jim (Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library), Endya Johnson (Waterloo Public Library), John Johnson (Keene Public Library), Marci Julson (Minot Public Library), Justin Kau (Athens-Clarke County Library), Kayla (Fall River Public Library), Katie Keckeisen (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library), Matt Kendall (Yakima Valley Libraries), Kent and Tim (Jackson District Library), Perian P. Kerr (Starkville Public Library), Kim (Monterey Public Library), Tammy Kiter (Jacksonville Public Library), Nayt Knapp (Ohio County Public Library), Deborah Kitko (Wayne County Public Library), Dyron Knick and Edwina Parks (Roanoke Valley Libraries), LaDonna (Murray State University), Brittani LaJuett (Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library), Renée LaPerriére (Joe A. Guerra Laredo Public Library), Philippe Legault (Bibliothéque et Archives nationales du Québec), Brian Lind (Rochester Public Library), Sandy Linn (Calloway County Public Library), Carol Lockhart (Prendergast Library), Lois (Cortland Free Library), Lynette (Dauphin County Library System), Ethan Marek (University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg), Eric Mathis (South Georgia Regional Library), Max (Curtis Memorial Library), Genevieve Maxwell (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), Denise M. McLain (Cabarrus County Public Library), Meg (Falmouth Public Library), Mekayla (Portsmouth Public Library), Alex Merrill (Kalamazoo Public Library), Michael Miller (Sherman Public Library), Sana Moulder (Cumberland County Public Library), Katherine Muto (Osterhout Free Library), Lisa O’Donnell (Stillwater Public Library), Mark O’English (Washington State University), Jody Osicki (Saint John Free Public Library), Carrie Ottow (Corvallis-Benton County Public Library), Katherine Parker-Wright (Rochester Public Library), Robby Peters (Grand Rapids Public Library), Ann Poulos (Providence Public Library), Roxanne Puder (Onslow County Public Library), Alison Purgiel (Muskegon Area District Library), Suzette Raney (Chattanooga Public Library), Lynda Redden (Killeen Public Library), Reference Staff (Albany County Public Library), Reference Staff (Bay County Library), Reference Staff (Brownsville Public Library), Reference Staff (California State Library), Reference Staff (Cambria County Library), Reference Staff (Cape May County Library), Reference Staff (Carlsbad City Library), Reference Staff (Denver Public Library), Reference Staff (Durango Public Library), Reference Staff (Erie County Public Library), Reference Staff (Eugene Public Library), Reference Staff (Hall County Library), Reference Staff (Jones Memorial Library), Reference Staff (Moorhead Public Library), Reference Staff (Niagara Falls Public Library), Reference Staff (Portland Public Library), Reference Staff (Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library), Reference Staff (Thompson-Nicola Regional Library), Reference Staff (Thunder Bay Public Library), Reference Staff (Tulare County Library), Renée (London Public Library), Brandi Resendez (Gwinnett County Public Library), Melinda Ridgway (Logan County Libraries), Lauren Rogers (The University of Mississippi), Jonathan M. Roscoe (Maine State Library), Cathy Roy (Niagara Falls Public Library), Emily Rundle (Jervis Public Library), Stephanie Salvaterra (Mississippi University for Women), Daniel Sample (Fort Bend County Libraries), Sara (Moncton Public Library/Bibliothéque publique de Moncton), Emily Schaub (Peru Public Library), Renee Schmutz-Sowards (Boyd County Public Library), Melissa Searle (Coeur d’Alene Public Library), Jeannie Sherman (Connecticut State Library), Lauren Simon (Kitchener Public Library), Joyce Sonnier (Calcasieu Parish Public Library), Sonya (Toronto Metropolitan University), Stephanie (Peter White Public Library), Holly Stiegel (Columbus Public Library), Leann Stine and Taylor (Anderson), VanTryon (Danville Public Library), Susan (Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries), Salena Sullivan (Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library), Sean Sutcliffe (Waco McLennan County Library), Matt Swearngin (Daniel Boone Regional Library), Beth Swenson (Idaho Falls Public Library), Catrina Thomas (Dothan Houston County Library System), Lincoln Thurber (Nantucket Atheneum), Jace Turner (Santa Barbara Public Library), Rebecca Waite (Taunton Public Library), Kaitlyn Watson (Sault Ste. Marie Public Library), Galen Webb (Fort Smith Public Library), Christine Weislo (Anderson County Library), Darla Welshons (Ann Arbor District Library), Danielle Willett (Grace A. Dow Memorial Library), Abigail Williams (Utica Public Library), Diane Wilson (Belleville Public Library), Beth Wood (Fort Vancouver Regional Library), Carol Zoladz (Kankakee Public Library).

American Graffiti (1973)