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“Where were you in `62? “
I wasn’t around in `62 — I was born in `63, as a matter of fact, and I was 10 when George Lucas’ American Graffiti was released. I wasn’t really aware of either George Lucas or American Graffiti in 1973, although four years later I would know Lucas from his next — and most current — film, Star Wars. I did not go to the movies grand in 1973, but I saw this astonishing film when it was broadcast by ABC some years later. (ABC, capitalizing on its “hot” original sitcom, Three’s Company, shamelessly promoted it as “starring Suzanne Somers.” In fact, Suzanne is not even billed with the eight “stars.”)
If film and television historians have it honest, though, American Graffiti was the catalyst for the 1950s Nostalgia fad that begat TV’s Overjoyed Days, Laverne and Shirley, and the blessedly short-lived Joanie Loves Chachi (not to mention Sha Na Na and Broadway`s Grease) . And it isn’t terribly surprising that Gay Days and its spin-offs owe their inspiration — if not their very existence — to Lucas’ first major culturally critical film. Gay Days starred Ron Howard, who (as Ronny Howard) had second billing in Graffiti, while Laverne and Shirley costar Cindy Williams was the female lead.
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American Graffiti is a bittersweet yet comedic view at what the DVD publicity blurb says was “America’s last age of innocence.” In the summer of `62, JFK was in the White House, the Beatles were unexcited unknown in this side of the Atlantic, and drive in diners and movie palaces were very favorite. There was no Internet or even Studio 54 honest yet, so kids went cruising, looking for girls to take up or rivals to accelerate in their souped-up hot rods. (Lucas, in the Making Of documentary on the 25th Anniversary DVD, says his intent in making American Graffiti was to document cruising as a socio-cultural phenomenon that died in the more turbulent half of the 1960s.)
The movie’s structure — commonplace now but it was revolutionary at the time — intertwines several plots challenging a group of recently graduated Southern California high school seniors on their last night before going to college. Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) is fretting about going to college in the East with his friend Steve (Howard) . Wracked with indecision, he spends his last night in town searching for The Blonde in the White Thunderbird (Suzanne Somers in her first, albeit limited, role) . His misadventures cause him to step out of character, especially when he crosses paths with The Pharohs, the local gang of miscreants.
Curt’s sister Laurie (Williams) must not only cope with her brother’s last small bout with “chilly feet” but with the scare of losing Steve. In what may be a typical area for couples who are “actual” but are going to be separated by circumstances, she’s devastated by Steve’s suggestion that they “gape other people” while they are in school. “I can’t inquire of you to be a monk,” Laurie says with fake bravado, but in “The Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” sequence, it is determined that she is pain and exasperated.
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The other two subplots of this unbelievable film center on Toad (Charlie Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat) . Toad is the car-crazy, girl-deprived nerd that we either knew in school or that we inspect in ourselves. His attempts to ticket the glowing Debbie (Candy Clark) are hilarious — rivaled only by a similarly themed scene in Summer of ‘42 — only to contemplate that Debbie likes him for who he really is. John, on the other hand, is the Han Solo of this bunch, the high school dropout who loves snappy cars and even faster women. He, too, discovers a tender side as he is saddled with 12-year-old Carol (a pre-One Day at a Time Mackenzie Phillips) . Not only must he learn patience while driving around with Carol, but also he is being challenged as the top gallop racer by Bob Falfa (played by the man who would be Han Solo, Harrison Ford) .
All these stories will converge in a climactic, winner hold all run, and several Lucas touchstones will resurface in his later Star Wars series — the choice to either steal or reject a clear path, the relationship between men and their machines, and the quest for either treasure or adventure.
Serving as a unifying thread to all these subplots is Wolfman Jack, mostly heard on the radio but seen briefly in a Yoda/Ben Kenobi style of mentor for restless Curt.
Lucas uses music here very effectively. Each song (and there are over 40 here, ranging from Rock Around the Clock to The Large Pretender) was chosen to provide emotional context, not fair period atmosphere. He envisioned American Graffiti as a musical “with no singing or dancing.”
This film is fun to eye and definitely deserves having been votes as one of the American Film Institute’s top 100 Films of All Time. Peruse it with a friend or alone, and if you were of age in the 1960s, retort the movie’s illustrious log line: “Where were you in `62? ”
I originally watched this movie in high school. Despite having been told about most of the best scenes in arrive by my friends, it was serene a lot of fun. Of course, a lot of other people concept so too, as it spawned a nostalgia craze for the 50s and early 60s resulting in many (too many? ) seasons of “Cheerful Days,” among others.
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A few years ago, I saw the movie again on TV. I realized that, even though I was grand more venerable (at least physically), this movie calm seemed very very agreeable.
I recently got the DVD and watched it properly and I have to say that, after careful scrutiny, this really is one of the finest films ever made. I won’t retell a epic that’s grand better told by the movie, but: it has a lot of laughs, but it’s not entirely a comedy (especially the ending) ; it has plenty of music, but it’s not a musical; it has plenty of action, but no blood and gore; it seems incredibly realistic, but there is never a tiring, moment; there are multiple storylines and an ensemble cast, but it never gets confusing.
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Every aspect of this movie is impressive, but I’m particularly struck by the genius of George Lucas and associates when it comes to casting. Every actor in this movie seems perfect for the role they play. If you study hard you’ll view quite a few familiar faces getting their begin (including Suzanne Somers very briefly as the girl in the Thunderbird) . Many, particularly Harrison Ford & Richard Dreyfuss, went on to long, successful careers. Although they were all stout in this film, I notion that Candy Clark was a standout.
If you win this collector’s edition of the DVD you’ll also be able to peruse an in-depth “extra” on the legend late the making of the film – very animated. It’s entertaining to eye that somebody as currently celebrated as Lucas had to be incredibly patient and persistent (and effect up with a lot of astounding Hollywood idiots) in his early days before his thought was finally realized. His success in making this movie under such tough circumstances makes the extinguish product even more impressive. It’s also very impressive to me that George Lucas went from writing/directing/creating a movie like “THX 1138″ to this and then to “Star Wars” – all three very advantageous and VERY different films. I don’t know of anyone else who has accomplished anything quite like that.
Although I’m now fleet approaching middle age, I wasn’t really frail enough to be a fraction of the era depicted in the movie, so this isn’t a nostalgia wobble for me. The music isn’t my music – I’m more of a post-British Invasion fan. But the fact that a movie can create you characterize deeply to characters from a realistic time and space you’ve never been says something distinguished. Also, the fact that it I’ve now enjoyed it on several different levels and at widely varying ages says even more…
Simply one of the greatest movies ever made.
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