American Graffiti is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, and Wolfman Jack. Set in Modesto, California, in 1962, the film is a study of the cruising and early rock 'n' roll cultures popular among Lucas's age group at that time. Through a series of vignettes, it tells the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of a night.
While Lucas was working on his first film, THX 1138, Coppola asked him to write a coming-of-age film. The genesis of American Graffiti took place in Modesto in the early 1960s, during Lucas's teenage years. He was unsuccessful in pitching the concept to financiers and distributors, but found favor at Universal Pictures after every other major film studio turned him down. Filming began in San Rafael, California, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day. As a result, production was moved to Petaluma. The film is the first movie to be produced by George Lucas's Lucasfilm.
American Graffiti premiered on August 2, 1973, at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, and was released on August 11, 1973, in the United States. The film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Produced on a $777,000 budget (equivalent to approximately $ in dollars), it has become one of the most profitable films ever. Since its initial release, American Graffiti has earned an estimated return well over $200 million in box-office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Plot
On their last evening of summer vacation in 1962, high school graduates Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander meet two other friends, confident drag-racing king John Milner and unpopular but well-meaning Terry "The Toad" Fields in the parking lot of Mel's Drive-In in Modesto, California. Steve and Curt are to travel "Back East" in the morning and start college but the latter has second thoughts about leaving. Laurie, Steve's girlfriend and Curt's sister, arrives moments later, Steve suggesting to her that they see other people while he is away at college to "strengthen" their relationship. Though not openly upset, it affects her interactions with him through the night.
Curt, Steve and Laurie attend the high-school sock hop. En route, Curt sees a beautiful blonde woman driving a white Ford Thunderbird next to them, who mouths "I love you" before turning a right. The interaction causes Curt to desperately search for her throughout the night. After leaving the hop, he is coerced into joining a group of greasers called "The Pharaohs", who force him into several tasks including stealing coins from arcade machines and hooking a chain to a police car, ripping out its back axle. During a tense ride, the Pharaoh leader tells Curt that "The Blonde" is a prostitute, which he does not believe.
With Steve allowing Terry to take care of his car while he's studying at college, Terry cruises around the strip and picks up rebellious Debbie. Now calling himself "Terry The Tiger", he attempts all night to impress her by lying about the car being his and purchasing alcohol with no ID. While he and Debbie leave Steve's car in a rural spot in order to share a romantic interlude, thieves steal the car. Later, after the alcohol has made Terry violently sick, he sees Steve's car and attempts to steal it back. The car thieves appear and beat him up until John intervenes. Terry eventually admits to Debbie that he's been lying about the car all along and he actually drives a scooter; she suggests it is "almost a motorcycle" and says she had fun with him, agreeing to meet up with him again.
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. Lying to suspicious friends that she's a cousin and he's stuck with babysitting duty, they have a series of petty arguments until another car's occupants verbally harass her as she attempts to walk home alone, John then deciding to protect her. Meanwhile, skilled racer Bob Falfa is searching out John to challenge him to the defining race for John's drag-racing crown. During his night of goading anyone he comes across for a challenge, he picks up an emotional Laurie after the argument with Steve that was brewing all night.