American Graffiti - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of American Graffiti or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to American Graffiti

[scarlett]

Universal thought so little of the film (not knowing how to market it, and certain that as it had no stars it would flop), that it sat on the shelf for six months before the studio finally decided to release it. To their great surprise, it became enormously successful at the box office.

[sylvia]

George Lucas considered covering duties as the sole cinematographer, but dropped the idea. Instead, he elected to shoot American Graffiti using two cinematographers (as he had done in THX 1138 (1971)) and no formal director of photography.

[christina]

The '55 Chevy Bob Falfa drives is the same '55 Chevy used in the movie Two-Lane Blacktop (1971).

[bernice]

Richard Dreyfuss recalls that he was often called onto the set early during camera setups because the plaid shirt he wears for much of the film made for an effective test pattern.

[steve]

Production proceeded with virtually no input or interference from Universal.

[tammy]

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 ironic. All were offered for sale in San Francisco newspaper ads; only the '58 Impala (driven by Ron Howard) attracted a buyer, selling for only a few hundred dollars. The yellow Deuce and the white T-bird went unsold, despite being priced as low as US$3,000.[56] The registration plate on Milner's yellow, deuce coupe is THX 138 on a yellow, California license plate, slightly altered, reflecting George Lucas's earlier science fiction film THX 1138 (1971).

[sophie]

This movie was shot almost exclusively at night.

[veronica]

The cars in the film are metaphors for their drivers. The snooty girls are riding in a parent's Cadillac, John's car is wild but quickly becoming an antique, and Steve's car is fairly powerful but completely stock and conservative. Laurie's car is an Edsel, which was intended to be forward-thinking and futuristic, but not in sync with the larger world beyond. Curt's car is the strangest of all - a Citroen - a French car that is as quirky and odd as the members of the Moose lodge, and which, like Curt, simply doesn't belong. The most telling car of all is Toad's, which, like his life, is non-existent and represented by fantasy versions of himself - a respected car like Steve's and a rugged, manly Jeep..

[riley]

George Lucas: [THX 1138] License plate on John Milner's car is "THX-138". THX 1138 (1971) is a film also directed by George Lucas. This number plate is on display inside 'The Main House' of LucasFilm's Head Office at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County.

[chad]

George Lucas was inspired by I Vitelloni (1953).

[wesley]

This was one of the first major features to do away with a musical score altogether and just use popular songs. The technique has been used by Martin Scorsese for GoodFellas and Quentin Tarantino for the majority of his movies.

[jessie]

Fred Roos, a former casting director on The Andy Griffith Show (1960), suggested Ron Howard for Steve Bolander. Howard accepted the role to break out of the mold of his career as a child actor.

[manuel]

There is no real liquor named Old Harper. The closest is I.W. Harper Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, which is now owned by Diageo.

[dustin]

Cindy Williams originally wanted to play Carol, and was even willing to have braces put on her teeth for better effect.

[bessie]

The Pharaohs talk about the mysterious D.J., the Wolfman, speculating that he was either broadcasting from an airplane or from a pirate radio station in Mexico. In fact, Wolfman Jack worked as a disc jockey from 1964 to 1966 for XERF (1570 AM) in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. At the time it was a 250,000 watt radio station that was powerful enough to reach much of the United States. It was known for interesting choices in music and disc jockeys with a lot of attitude. It was considered a "pirate" radio station as it did not have to pay any FCC licensing fees and because it could get away without paying royalties. Its outlaw nature led to its being the focus of a popular song by ZZ Top, "I Heard It On The X".

[jesus]

After CinemaScope proved to be too expensive, George Lucas decided that the film should have a documentary-like feel, and shot the film using Techniscope cameras. He believed that Techniscope, an inexpensive way of shooting in 35 mm film and utilizing only half of the film's frame, would give a perfect widescreen format resembling 16 mm.

[ronnie]

American Graffiti (1973) is considered one of the best movies ever made; More American Graffiti is considered one of the worst sequels ever made.

[ray]

The original version's end title for John Milner indicated that he was killed in June of 1964. Versions of the film released from 1979 on indicate that Milner died in December of 1964. This is presumably a revisionist move to bring the film in line with the sequel, More American Graffiti (1979), where the filmmakers chose to follow four separate character story lines which each take place in December of a different year (Milner in '64, Toad in '65, Debbie in '66, Steve & Laurie in '67).

[marc]

MGM, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures all turned down the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the film.