American Graffiti Movie Review 1973

Atmospheric, episodic look at growing up in the innocence of America before the Kennedy assassination and the Vietnam War. It all takes place on one hectic but typical night in the life of a group of recent California high school grads unsure of what the next big step in life is. So they spend their time cruising, listening to Wolfman Jack, and meeting at the drive-in. Slice of '60s life boasts a prudent script, great set design, authentic soundtrack, and consistently fine performances by the young cast. Catapulted Dreyfuss, Ford, and Somers to stardom, branded Lucas a hot directorial commodity with enough leverage to launch "Star Wars," and steered Howard and Williams towards continued age-of-innocence nirvana on "Happy Days."

Distribution

Facets Multimedia, Inc., 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: (773)281-9075, Toll-free: 800-331-6197, Fax: (773)929-5437, Email: sales@facets.org, URL: http://www.facets.org

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 112 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Comedy Drama, Checkered Flag, Period Piece: 1960s, Coming of Age, Teen Angst, Motor Vehicle Dept., Top Grossing Films of 1973, This Is Your Life, Up All Night, Dream Girls, Producers: Coppola/American Zoetrope, A Day in the Life. . ., Radio

Screenplay

George Lucas, Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, MacKenzie Phillips, Paul LeMat, Charles Martin Smith, Suzanne Somers, Candy Clark, Harrison Ford, Bo Hopkins, Joe Spano, Kathleen Quinlan, Wolfman Jack

Cinematography

Jan D'Alquen, Ron Everslage

Director

George Lucas

Producer

Mark Huffam, Francis Ford Coppola

Awards

AFI 1998: Top 100; Golden Globes 1974: Film--Mus./Comedy, Natl. Film Reg. 1995;; N.Y. Film Critics 1973: Screenplay; Natl. Soc. Film Critics 1973: Screenplay.