The first cut of American Graffiti was three and a half hours long, and to whittle the film down to a more manageable two hours, many scenes had to be cut, shortened, or combined. John Milner Yeah, don't say anything. [6] The filmmaker was also inspired by Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953). 12 Partner. Why did you do that? John Milner : What the hell's goin' on here, Toad? He never got over it and he still kicks himself. A field car runs through the fields, droppin' cow shit all over the place to make the lettuce grow. [5] In December 1997, Variety reported that the film had earned an additional $55.13million in rental revenue (equivalent to $93million in 2021). Been a long time, ain't it? In fact, your car's so neat, we're gonna give you our special prize. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Download the TMZ App on the Apple App Store, Download the TMZ App on the Google Play Store. It was really somethin.'. "American Graffiti"purposefully takes place in 1962,exactly one year before John F. Kennedy's assassination changed everything. You gonna go after him? The studio initially thought that the film was only fit for release as a television movie. There's the bestfriends Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), the drag-racing John Milner(Paul Le Mat) and the nerdy Terry "The Toad" Fields (Charles Martin Smith). We'll take 'em all. American Graffiti (1973) Harrison Ford: Bob Falfa Showing all 11 items Jump to: Photos (6) Quotes (5) Photos Quotes Bob Falfa : Hey man, I'm sorry if I scared ya! Carol Carol John Milner killed by drunk driverMore American Graffiti (1979)American Graffiti (1973)More American Graffiti is a 1979 comedy-drama film written and directe. [21], Petaluma, a similarly small town about 20 miles (32km) north of San Rafael, was more cooperative, and American Graffiti moved there without the loss of a single day of shooting. But the absolute star of the show was a bright yellow 1932 Ford Standard Coupe, the car now known as Milner's Coupe. Huyck and Katz found the ending depressing and were incredulous that Lucas planned to include only the male characters. Picker decided to give Lucas $10,000 to develop Graffiti as a screenplay. Lucas held firmhis was a story about West Coast teenagers in the early 1960s. I'm too old for you. [29] Fields worked on the first rough cut of the film before she left to resume work on What's Up, Doc?. "I used the absence of music, and sound effects, to create the drama," Lucas later explained.[30]. John Milner (played by Paul Le Mat) doesn't approve of The Beach Boys nor "surfin' shit", which had. Here it is. [9] Mackenzie Phillips, who portrays Carol, was only 12, and under California law, producer Gary Kurtz had to become her legal guardian for the duration of filming. [14] The studio, therefore, submitted a long list of over 60 alternative titles, with their favorite being Another Slow Night in Modesto[17] and Coppola's Rock Around the Block. 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti, Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen, AFI's 100 Years100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, "American Graffiti (1973) Financial Information", "The Sting Wins Best Picture: 1974 Oscars", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "Cindy Williams on working with George Lucas on "American Graffiti" - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG-YouTube", American Graffiti Filming Locations (June August 1972), "Richards, Mark. John Milner The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: : Man, I can't keep track of all you punks runnin' 'round here backwards. [14] Lucas, Huyck and Katz rewrote the second draft together, which, in addition to Modesto, was also set in Mill Valley and Los Angeles. Given the popularity of the film's cars with customizers and hot rodders in the years since its release, their fate immediately after the film is surprising. Exhausted, Curt is awakened by the pay phone. Lucas recalled, "He would have made $30million (equivalent to $183million in 2021)[33] on the deal. John Milner Well at least I don't have to pull over to the side just to let a funeral go by, man. Lucas' ending sees Curt and Steve's roles reversed: Steve promises to stay with Laurie after witnessing John and Bob's explosive drag race, and Curt bids goodbye to his parents and friends. Debbie Dunham 2 What did Suzanne Somers Drive in American Graffiti? Well, get bent, turkey! Paradise Road. : [11][12] During this time, Lucas conceived the idea for a space opera (as yet untitled) which later became the basis for his Star Wars franchise. Carol Very funny. C.S.? You big weenie! Curt replies that he is leaving town. On October 14, 2011 By Sam Weisberg In Interviews Paul Le Mat is still most known for the role of John Milner in "American Graffiti," George Lucas' 1973 coming-of-age classic about a group of 1960s California high school graduates, and it's certainly not an unflattering way to be remembered. In the movie, it was "the fastest thing in the valley.". So long! : You're gonna hafta do one hell of a lot more than that to scare me! Terry Fields : I ain't having no accidents just because of you! John Milner is the tritagonist of the film American Graffiti. "You can't stay 17 forever. Carol Lucas, Katz, and Huyck worked on the third draft together, specifically on the scenes featuring Steve and Laurie. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Walter was paid the $10,000, and he began to expand the Lucas/Huyck/Katz treatment into a screenplay. Or has a boyfriend? [9] Lucas and his colleague Gary Kurtz began pitching the American Graffiti treatment to various Hollywood studios and production companies in an attempt to secure the financing needed to expand it into a screenplay,[4] but they were unsuccessful. [21] Lucas mimicked the filmmaking style of B-movie producer Sam Katzman (Rock Around the Clock, Your Cheatin' Heart, and the aforementioned Hot Rods to Hell) in attempting to save money and authenticated low-budget filming methods. So if you can track him down, he might know. John Milner John Milner John Milner is the tritagonist of the film American Graffiti. [hands her the ticket Holstein just issued him]. Steve, on the other hand, looks forward to this change and tries to convince his devoted girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) to break up so they can date other people. : [12] This forced Lucas to drop the opening scene in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist. Bob Falfa Bob Falfa The American Graffiti 1956 Thunderbird The 56 Thunderbird convertible was purchased by Clay Daily and his wife in 1964 on a used Ford car lot in San Bernardino, CA. I feel the details of the characters' destinies, some more somber than others, adds to the poignancy of Lucas' tender nostalgia; he depicts a blissful time in the teenagers' lives that will never happen again, and knowing how they end up makes their final night together even more bittersweet. Ha-ha! What happened, man? [11], Lucas planned to spend another five weeks in Europe and hoped that Huyck and Katz would agree to finish the screenplay by the time he returned, but they were about to start on their own film, Messiah of Evil,[9] so Lucas hired Richard Walter, a colleague from the USC School of Cinematic Arts for the job. What the hell's goin' on here, Toad? 1956 Thunderbird We're pitting two of the most iconic movie/tv hot rods of all time against one another. This would allow the studio to advertise American Graffiti as "from the man who gave you The Godfather". They cruise the Modesto strip while listening to their favorite rock and roll songs, contemplating what lies ahead of them in their adulthood. Reviews; . : [4], Director David Fincher credited American Graffiti as a visual influence for Fight Club (1999). In an attempt to get cruising company for the evening, John inadvertently picks up Carol, a precocious 12-year-old who manipulates him into driving her around all night. What a chop! After Fields's departure, Lucas struggled with editing the film's story structure. : [5] To co-write a 15-page film treatment, Lucas hired Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who also added semiautobiographical material to the story. GEORGE LUCAS MADE THE MOVIE PARTIALLY OUT OF SPITE. American Graffiti evokes mankind's relationship with machines, notably the elaborate number of hot rodshaving been called a "classic-car flick", representative of the motor car's importance to American culture at the time it was made. An epilogue prior to the end credits reveals that John was killed by a drunk driver in 1964, Terry was reported missing in action near An Lc in 1965, Steve is an insurance agent in Modesto and Curt is a writer living in Canada. [25] Principal photography ended August 4, 1972. Because of this, Pauline Kael later accused Lucas of chauvinism. A nostalgic slice of Americana pie filmed in a warm, naturalistic style, "American Graffiti" is the simple, wistful story of a group of California teenagers spending one last night togetherafter their high school graduation in 1962. Oh, rats. [14] They pushed hard to get Lucas to adopt any of the titles, but he was displeased with all the alternatives and persuaded Tanen to keep American Graffiti. [10] Universal presidents Sidney Sheinberg and Lew Wasserman heard about the praise the film had been garnering in LA and New York, and the marketing department amped up its promotion strategy for it,[10] investing an additional $500,000 (equivalent to $3.1million in 2021)[33] in marketing and promotion. Girl in Cadillac Gender Norton sets each sequence apart using different formal techniques meant to capture the chaos and fragmentation of thecounterculture era. : "[49], Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "American Graffiti is such a funny, accurate movie, so controlled and efficient in its narrative, that it stands to be overpraised to the point where seeing it will be an anticlimax. Sort of a cross between piss yella' and puke green, ain't it? Carol More American Graffiti (1979) Paul Le Mat: John Milner Showing all 5 items Jump to: Photos (1) Quotes (4) Photos Quotes John Milner : Hey, look, I want you to keep this, take that with you [Hands Toad a twisted bolt] John Milner : That's from when my flywheel broke remember? We see Terry in Vietnam, so desperate to escape that he actually fakes his own death and hides in Europe, hence he's only stated as "missing in action." : [16] For Bob Falfa, Roos cast Harrison Ford, who was then concentrating on a carpentry career. : [40] By the 1990s, American Graffiti had earned more than $200million (equivalent to $415million in 2021)[33] in box-office gross and home video sales. Why is it every girl that comes around here is ugly? Terry represents Lucas's nerd years as a freshman in high school, specifically his "bad luck" with dating. Milner's Coupe may be famous today, but when Lucas cast the '32 five-window for his movie, it was no high-dollar hot rod. John Milner Based on 53 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of 8.5/10. Dreyfuss also complained over the wardrobe that Lucas had chosen for the character. Yeah, well I'm not surprised, drivin' a field car! Danny & the Juniors At the end of its theatrical run, American Graffiti had one of the greatest profit-to-cost ratios of a motion picture ever. : Norton doesn't achieve a true dramatic convergence of parallel stories; and his historical vision is confined to cheerleading reaffirmations of all the old counterculture cliches about war, cops, Women's Liberation, you name it. . Carol John Milner [after being hit with a water balloon] Brian Wagner's 1932 Ford 5-window coupe just might be the world's fastest tribute to John Milner's 1932 Ford 5-window coupe seen in the juvenile delinquent cult classic movie American Graffiti . Yeah, she's goin' with me. [16] Roos, a former casting director on The Andy Griffith Show, suggested Ron Howard for Steve Bolander; Howard accepted the role to break out of the mold of his career as a child actor. : : : Laurie Henderson John Milner Bob Falfa Laurie gets embroiled in Vietnam War protests with her draft-dodging brother, Andy. Girl in Cadillac "[52] Jay Cocks of Time magazine wrote that American Graffiti "reveals a new and welcome depth of feeling. [76] The registration plate on Milner's yellow deuce coupe is THX138 on a yellow, California license plate, slightly altered, reflecting Lucas's earlier science-fiction film (THX 1138). More American Graffiti is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton. Harrison Ford makes an appearance as BobFalfa, John's drag race rival. [21] After CinemaScope proved to be too expensive,[16] Lucas decided American Graffiti should have a documentary-like feel, so he shot the film using Techniscope cameras. Filming was initially set to take place in San Rafael, California, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day. Struggled with editing the film American Graffiti is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and by... 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