48 Fun Facts About American Graffiti

Which real-life disc jockey plays himself in American Graffiti, his show on every car radio?

Wolfman Jack. Lucas gave the DJ a share of the film's profits, and its runaway success provided him with an income for the rest of his life.

American Graffiti is set over one night in which California city?

Modesto, Lucas's home town, whose cruising scene of his teens the film recreates; yet it was shot in towns around San Francisco Bay instead.

American Graffiti takes place during which president's term?

Kennedy. Lucas set the film on a late-summer night in 1962, the year he himself left high school, and its posters asked "Where were you in '62?"

Which burger joint is the friends' meeting place at the start of American Graffiti?

Mel's Drive-In. The real San Francisco restaurant was already out of business and was demolished before the film even opened, vanishing just as it became famous.

Who plays Curt Henderson, the American Graffiti graduate having second thoughts about leaving for college?

Richard Dreyfuss: Lucas liked his audition so much he let him choose between Curt and Terry, and Dreyfuss picked Curt.

Which American Graffiti friend does Ron Howard play?

Class president Steve Bolander. He is due to fly east to college in the morning, then decides at dawn to stay home with his girlfriend.

What is the nickname of Terry Fields, Charles Martin Smith's character in American Graffiti?

The Toad is the nickname Terry is stuck with; trying to impress Debbie, he tells her that people call him "Terry the Tiger" instead.

In American Graffiti, the blonde who mouths "I love you" to Curt is driving what car?

A white Ford Thunderbird, a 1956 model; Curt spends the whole night chasing the mystery blonde at its wheel and never catches up with her.

In American Graffiti, which greaser gang makes Curt hook a cable to a police car?

The Pharaohs grab Curt after he sits on their car and make him prove himself with the police-car prank before letting him go.

In American Graffiti, which vehicle does Terry actually own, as he finally admits to Debbie?

A Vespa scooter: Terry's opening arrival, bumping it into a wall as he pulls up, was a real mishap by Charles Martin Smith that Lucas kept in the film.

Which actress, just 12 during filming, plays Carol, the girl who attaches herself to John Milner in American Graffiti?

Mackenzie Phillips. She was so young that California law required one of the producers to become her legal guardian for the length of the shoot.

What did Harrison Ford insist on before playing Bob Falfa in American Graffiti?

Not cutting his hair: Falfa was meant to be close-cropped, but Ford, then earning his living as a carpenter, held out, and the compromise was the cowboy hat Falfa wears on screen.

Where does the climactic drag race between Milner and Falfa take place in American Graffiti?

Paradise Road, the open strip outside town where Milner and Falfa race at dawn; Falfa's car leaves the road and burns while Milner's coupe survives.

In American Graffiti, where does Curt drive late at night, hoping to reach the mystery blonde?

The radio station: the man at the desk tells Curt the disc jockey's shows are all on tape, then turns out to be the disc jockey himself.

According to American Graffiti's epilogue, what became of Curt Henderson?

A writer living in Canada: of the four friends, only Curt, the one who spent the night doubting whether to go, actually gets on the plane the next morning.

In American Graffiti, John Milner says rock and roll has been going downhill ever since which singer died?

Buddy Holly. Milner says it as he snaps off a Beach Boys surf song on the car radio, the older hot-rodder already nostalgic for the music of a few years before.

Which producer challenged George Lucas to make something "warm and funny", the spark for American Graffiti?

Francis Ford Coppola. He then lent the project his name as producer, which let Universal sell a little-known director's film as coming from the man who made The Godfather.

Which Italian director's I Vitelloni helped inspire American Graffiti?

Federico Fellini. His 1953 film follows a group of friends drifting through small-town life until one of them finally leaves, the same shape Lucas gave his own story.

Which Indiana Jones film did American Graffiti's co-writers, Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, later script?

Temple of Doom. Lucas went back to the married couple who had helped him write American Graffiti and told them he wanted a much darker tale this time.

United Artists paid for American Graffiti's script, then turned it down along with which other George Lucas idea?

Star Wars. United Artists funded a first script after meeting Lucas at Cannes in 1971, then passed on both films, which Universal and 20th Century Fox went on to make.

In American Graffiti, Steve and Laurie lead the spotlight dance at the hop to which Platters ballad?

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Steve and Laurie are in the middle of a quarrel about his leaving when the spotlight finds them, and they have to dance on as the perfect couple.

Which future television star plays the mystery blonde Curt chases all night in American Graffiti?

Suzanne Somers. Her whole part is three words mouthed silently from behind a car window, a few years before the sitcom Three's Company made her a star.

Most of American Graffiti was shot in which small town north of San Rafael?

Petaluma. It took the crew in when San Rafael withdrew its permit after two nights, and the switch cost the production not a single day of shooting.

Which future Laverne & Shirley star plays Laurie, Steve's girlfriend, in American Graffiti?

Cindy Williams. After a fight with Steve, Laurie rides along in a rival racer's car and barely escapes when it crashes and burns, the scare that makes him stay.

Which company did George Lucas set up with his earnings from American Graffiti?

Industrial Light & Magic. The film cost under a million dollars and made Lucas a millionaire, money he poured into his own company and its new effects division.

George Lucas said he wanted American Graffiti to look like what?

A jukebox. Haskell Wexler, a leading cinematographer and a friend, travelled up from Los Angeles each day to help light the night streets in those glowing colours.

Verna Fields, the editor Universal added to American Graffiti, later won an Oscar for cutting which Steven Spielberg film?

Jaws. On American Graffiti she helped George and Marcia Lucas assemble the first long cut before moving on, and both women were Oscar-nominated for the edit.

Which Beach Boys song plays over the closing credits of American Graffiti?

All Summer Long. The song dates from 1964, two years after the night the film is set, so the credits roll to music its characters could not yet have heard.

Which sound designer built American Graffiti's radio soundtrack by re-recording its songs through speakers in real spaces?

Walter Murch. He called the trick worldizing: it made every song seem to drift from passing car radios, and he used it again on Apocalypse Now.

Which major star is absent from American Graffiti's soundtrack because his label refused Universal's flat-fee deal?

Elvis Presley: his label, RCA, refused the flat per-song fee that most other rights holders accepted, so none of his hits appear; the cleared oldies serve as the film's entire score.

Which Bill Haley record plays over the opening credits of American Graffiti?

Rock Around the Clock. It had opened Blackboard Jungle back in 1955, and in 1974, amid the fifties nostalgia the film fed, the old record was back on the American charts.

Doubtful Universal executives considered releasing American Graffiti in what form?

As a television film: Universal doubted it belonged in cinemas at all, yet it went on to become one of the most profitable films ever made.

When Universal wanted to re-edit American Graffiti, what did its producer offer to do?

Buy the film from the studio: its producer offered to write Universal a cheque on the spot after the preview rather than let it be recut.

In a scene cut from American Graffiti and restored in 1978, Harrison Ford's Bob Falfa serenades Laurie with which show tune?

Some Enchanted Evening. Universal trimmed the moment along with two others before the 1973 release, so audiences only saw Ford croon it when the film was reissued five years later.

In American Graffiti's most famous prank, what does Curt's cable tear from the police car as it speeds off?

Its rear axle. Curt hooks the cable on as his initiation, and when the patrol car gives chase its back wheels stay behind while the front noses into the road.

Bob Falfa's '55 Chevy in American Graffiti had already appeared in which 1971 road movie?

Two-Lane Blacktop. The Chevy had been built for that film's cross-country race, so Falfa's challenger arrived on the set as a ready-made movie hot rod.

Which actress earned American Graffiti's only acting Oscar nomination, as Terry's date Debbie?

Candy Clark. After a night in which almost everything goes wrong for Terry, Debbie cheerfully tells him she had a pretty good time and asks him to call.

Why did the 1978 reissue of American Graffiti move John Milner's death in the epilogue from June to December 1964?

To fit the sequel's story: More American Graffiti, then on its way, shows Milner still racing on New Year's Eve 1964, so he could not already be dead.

Which famous critic attacked American Graffiti's epilogue for telling only the men's fates?

Pauline Kael. She objected that the closing captions ignore every woman in the story; Lucas had argued that a second title card would only drag the ending out.

In American Graffiti, Terry wins Debbie's attention by telling her she looks just like which star?

Connie Stevens. Terry swears he once met her at a Dick Clark road show, and a flattered Debbie replies that she always thought she looked like Sandra Dee.

American Graffiti's success persuaded ABC to pick up which shelved sitcom pilot set in the 1950s?

Happy Days. Its pilot, with Ron Howard, had aired in 1972 without selling; the film's success revived ABC's interest, and the series was on the air within months.

American Graffiti's casting director, Fred Roos, earlier cast which TV series?

The Andy Griffith Show. Roos had cut his teeth casting it before The Godfather, and suggested its former child star, Ron Howard, for American Graffiti.

In American Graffiti, what does the stranger buying Terry's whiskey do in the store?

Robs the place: the obliging stranger races out with the owner firing after him, tossing Terry a brown bag on the way past.

Who plays Joe, leader of the greaser gang that adopts Curt for the night in American Graffiti?

Bo Hopkins. His gang leader starts by accusing Curt of damaging a friend's car and ends the night offering him a place in the gang.

In American Graffiti, what happens to Terry's borrowed car while he is busy with Debbie?

It is stolen. Terry later spots it and takes a beating trying to steal it back, until John Milner arrives and sees the thieves off.

What was George Lucas's credit on the 1979 sequel More American Graffiti?

Executive producer. Lucas handed the writing and directing to Bill L. Norton, and the sequel, which follows the friends through the later 1960s, proved far less successful than the original.

Milner's THX 138 licence plate in American Graffiti nods to what?

Lucas's first feature, THX 1138, a dystopian science-fiction story whose failure had pushed him to make something warmer; the plate drops one digit of its title.

American Graffiti won the 1974 Golden Globe for best film in which category?

Musical or Comedy. The film also won Paul Le Mat the Globe for most promising new actor, but at the Oscars that spring it went home with nothing.