American Graffiti (1973)
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A group of teenagers navigate a single summer night of cruising and rock and roll culture in 1962 California.
The story
On the last day of summer vacation in 1962, high school graduates Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander meet their friends at Mel's Drive-In in Modesto, California. As Steve prepares to leave for college, Curt finds himself conflicted about moving on. The film follows the group of friends as they navigate a single summer night, exploring the local cruising culture and the burgeoning rock and roll scene. Amidst the neon lights and chrome of the local strip, the characters engage in various adventures, from seeking out mysterious figures in vintage cars to navigating the complexities of their burgeoning relationships and personal ambitions before the end of the season.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
On the final day of summer in 1962, friends Curt, Steve, John, and Terry gather at Mel's Drive-In. Curt is torn between staying in Modesto or following Steve to college. The narrative follows their separate paths through the night: Curt pursues a mysterious woman in a white Thunderbird; Terry tries to impress a girl named Debbie while riding a scooter; John, a drag-racing expert, ends up babysitting a precocious girl named Carol; and Steve deals with the complexities of his relationship with Curt's sister, Laurie. The night culminates in a high-stakes drag race where John's rival, Bob Falfa, crashes his car. Curt eventually makes contact with the legendary 'Wolfman Jack' on the radio. The film concludes with an epilogue detailing the fates of the four men in the years following 1962: John was killed in 1964, Terry went missing in Vietnam in 1965, while Steve and Curt moved on to careers as an insurance agent and a writer, respectively.
- First release year
- 1973
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- George Lucas
- Writers
- George Lucas · writer; Gloria Katz · writer; Willard Huyck · writer
- Cast and characters
- Richard Dreyfuss · Curt Henderson; Ron Howard · Steve Bolander; Paul Le Mat · John Milner; Charles Martin Smith · Terry "The Toad" Fields; Candy Clark · Debbie; Mackenzie Phillips · Carol; Cindy Williams · Laurie; Wolfman Jack · Wolfman Jack; Harrison Ford · Bob Falfa
- Genres
- comedy-drama
- Themes
- coming of age; end of an era; man's relationship with machines; obsession with radio
- Tone and mood
- nostalgic; bittersweet
- Premise and plot tags
- 1960s nostalgia; hot rods; rock and roll
- Reception
- The film received widespread critical acclaim and is widely credited with launching a wave of 1950s and early 1960s nostalgia in American pop culture.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 97 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Picture · Nomination
- Production trivia
- It was the first film to be produced by Lucas's Lucasfilm production banner.; The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1995.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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