American Graffiti

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Since there was a bit of an American Graffiti discussion going on here I figured I'd bump my old thread to maybe have more of a discussion going. I did want to make one point though.

Rocket Surgeon said:
Graffiti owes a LOT to the soundtrack...its virtually wall to wall music which carries the film in a few places.

Its also one of the very first(and very few) films to not have a score. Its "soundtrack" is nothing but diegetic use of classic songs of the era. Aside from the credits, none of the songs are actually non-diegetic, which makes it unique(especially for its time).

One wonders what the soundtrack for Star Wars/Indy would've been like had Spielberg not introduced George to John Williams.
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Well, as creator of this thread, I actually had never seen More American Graffiti...until last night.

Truth be told it wasn't very good, certainly not the classic the original is. The non-linear storytelling felt more distracting than it did clever; the changing aspect ratios in particular felt very gimmicky.

But, I still enjoyed it! I guess it shows just how strong these characters are, and how engaging it is spending time in this world. Was fun, though the mid-to-late 1960s certainly aren't as inviting as the 1950s were. ;) The soundtrack was as expected, good(though not as consistent as AG), and Bob Falfa's cameo was the highlight of the movie! :whip:

Since I'm bumping this thread, should point out that recently George Lucas visited Modesto(the inspiration for AG) and served as grand marshall for the annual American Graffiti car show(in time for the film's 40th anniversary). He even had to say this about the fate of Steve and Curt:

NY Times said:
With Mr. Lucas retired, what might Steve and Curt from ?American Graffiti? be doing now?

?They?re actually retired, too,? he said. ?They sort of fulfilled their stories in a way you would expect because some of those people were friends of mine. Some of them got to be kind of successful in business. Some of them are still working in car services and building cars. Some of them are dead. They either got killed in the war or in a car accident. It?s pretty much the way the movie happened.?

BTW, if you live near a Cinemark, they'll be screening American Graffiti on July 28th and July 31st.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
From a 1973 Universal promo book.
George Lucas... At this point he was coming off of a huge hit with American Graffiti and had a few ideas bouncing around. One of them was a crazy space opera, but he hadn't written his first draft of Star Wars yet (which he would take to Universal and it wouldn't go anywhere at that studio). He had another idea for a movie that he was hot on directing called Radioland Murders. He'd eventually produce this film 20 years later for another director, but this image promises a Radioland Murders directed by Lucas, produced by Gary Kurtz and written by his Graffiti team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (who would later pen Temple of Doom). If he had made this film odds are he would have been distracted away from pursuing Star Wars, which would have changed cinema in massive ways that we can't even comprehend at this point. It's a really cool image, too. Makes it seem way more sinister than the movie we eventually got.
uni74page22_big.jpg
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Another superb video from Royal Ocean Society! This time about the seldom talked about sequel "More American Graffiti". It even gets compared to Indy 4 in the video.

 

indy-lucas-50

Active member
the fact that the same man that made Graffiti made SW, Indy and THX, just gets me. beyond genius.
What is the general consensus of it here? I think it's pure brilliant. Not only because it's proof that the man is more than just Star Wars, but it also happens to be one of the most innovative movies of all time. It has multiple story-lines, which was actually completely unheard of in it's time. Now? That's very common story-narrative. Sitcoms such as Seinfeld and Friends would probably never had gotten made without it.

Ending it on an Indy note, the opening to KOTCS was clearly inspired by American Graffiti. A very nice nod to one of Lucas' first films.

Other people's thoughts?

perfect assessment. the film is as innovative as anything Lucas has done. i think cinematically, it's his best film, as it contains things no other filmmaker then or now, had the courage to do. and even if so, it all came after Graffiti... interlocking stories (pre-Tarantino), endless music montages (pre-Scorsese), multi-genre narratives (pre-Zemeckis), etc.

amazing thing about Lucas is how he literally covered every major film genre within his 12-movie cycle. and even the sub-genres within the sequels and such. he's the best. people sadly will fully realize later on just how high-concept and genuis he really was.

THX-1138 (Mystery, Thriller)
American Graffiti (Comedy, Musical)
Star Wars (Fantasy, Sci-Fi)
Indy Jones (Action, Adventure)
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
The yearly “American Graffiti Festival”, hosted in George’s hometown, Modesto, is scheduled to happen next month. Candy Clark is scheduled to appear. https://americangraffitifestival.com/nmk/general-information/

The Dial of Destiny hype is overshadowing that this is the 50th anniversary of American Graffiti. Keeping on the lookout for a special screening or some con appearance by the cast. Unfortunately the recent passings of Bo Hopkins and Cindy Williams probably has tainted any reunion.
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
How was the picture quality in the cinema? I assume it was the new 4K master?
It was. There are people with much more expertise in film preservation than I, so I feel ill-equipped to talk details(maybe Moedred caught a screening?). What I can say is having seen the film a number of times, this is easily the best I’ve seen it look.

They’ll also have some showings on Wednesday if anyone is interested in seeing it themselves.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Unfortunately the recent passings of Bo Hopkins and Cindy Williams probably has tainted any reunion.
Today Suzanne Sommers, who played the small but memorable part of “Blond In A T-Bird” passes away a day before her 77th birthday.

I know 50 years is a long time, and it was impressive most of the cast had been alive this whole time, still it is sad to see the cast starting to pass.
 

British Raider

Well-known member
That is sad. Definitely suffer anemoia with this movie as it came out long before I was born and I’m from England yet…deep nostalgia for it nonetheless.
 
Top