MOVIE OF THE WEEK Coachella Edition American Graffiti (1973) The film from Lucas (an ex-USC film student and intern at Warner Bros.) was almost not made when every studio in Hollywood refused it, except for Universal. With its great financial success, 28 year-old Lucas joined the ranks of a new breed of directors, including Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola. It was his second feature film, following THX 1138 (1971). The film was Lucas homage to the memories of his own teenage years in Modesto, California, remembered with vintage cars and dragsters, drive-ins (Mels), an almost non-stop rock soundtrack, teenage activities (hot rod crusin and makin out), and characteristic hair and clothing styles. Creating a demand for other popular teen-oriented films, a less successful sequel was also produced - director Bill W. L. Nortons More American Graffiti (1979) that covered the years 1964-67. The plot of the unorthodox, unsophisticated coming of age film, orchestrated in a series of anecdotal vignettes from dusk to the morning of the following day, tracks multiple storylines, but mostly concentrates on four characters (with recognizable prototypes): the rebel - Curt the nerd - Terry the solid citizen - Steve the king of the road - John All of the major characters in the ensemble cast are recent or soon-to-be Dewey High School graduates aged seventeen to twenty, during one momentous, hot, late summer/early fall night in 1962. While cruisin and hanging out at the local watering hole (Mels Drive-In), the four weave in and out of each others lives as they are on the brink of major decisions (about attending college or finding a job) and suffering from various traumas. Two of the high-school grads, Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) were about to head off the college. The film is seamlessly laced with a classic rock-n-roll soundtrack composed of over forty hits (often emanating from cruising car radios, or the school dances record player). They frequently function as background music to define the emotions, dreams and frustrations of the group, ranging over almost a decade (from 1955-1962). Many of the songs are served up by legendary outlaw disk jockey Wolfman Jack who appears on the radio and as himself. Other later youth-oriented films imitated this films use of a pop soundtrack. Most people remember the film as the one with early acting appearances for unknown but up-and-coming actors, such as Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Ron Howard (best known as child actor Opie on TVs The Andy Griffith Show, and currently a film director), Harrison Ford, Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, Charles Martin Smith, Mackenzie Phillips, Kathleen Quinlan, Suzanne Somers, Debralee Scott, Joe Spano, and Bo Hopkins. Many of these stars went on to further film and television careers, appearing in hit TV sitcoms such as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, One Day at a Time, Threes Company, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and Hill Street Blues, or films such as The Lords of Flatbush (1974), The Conversation (1974), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), The Goodbye Girl (1977), Star Wars (1977), Melvin and Howard (1980), and Apollo 13 (1995).
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 15:06:54 +0000
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