It's the proverbial end of the summer 1962 in a small southern California town. It's the evening before best friends and recent high school graduates, Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander, are scheduled to leave town to head to college back east. Curt, who received a lucrative local scholarship, is seen as the promise that their class holds. But Curt is having second thoughts about leaving what Steve basically sees as their dead end town. Curt's beliefs are strengthened when he spots an unknown beautiful blonde in a T-bird who mouths the words "I love you" to him. As Curt tries to find that blonde while trying to get away from a local gang who have him somewhat hostage, Curt may come to a decision about his immediate future. Outgoing class president Steve, on the other hand, wants to leave, despite meaning that he will leave girlfriend, head cheerleader and Curt's sister, Laurie Henderson, behind. Steve and Laurie spend the evening "negotiating" the state of their relationship. Meanwhile...
Written by
Huggo
Plot Synopsis:
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It's the last night of summer in 1962, and a number of friends are meeting at Burger City for one last hurrah. They include:

-Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), The recently-graduated Class President.

-Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss), another recent graduate and Steve's best friend, who was awarded the local Moose Lodge's first scholarship.

-Laurie Henderson (Cindy Williams), who is heading into her Senior Year in high school, and was the head cheerleader, as well as Steve Bolander's girlfriend. She is also Curt's younger sister.

-Terry "The Toad" Fields (Charles Martin Smith), a rather nerdish and socially awkward kid with glasses and a mutual friend of Steve and Curt.

-John Milner (Paul Le Mat), a young man and high school graduate in his early 20s who spends most of his days fixing cars for a living and racing a yellow deuce coupe, said by some to be the fastest car in the Valley.

At Burger City, Curt confides to Steve that he is considering not heading East for college the next day. Steve is upset by this, but Curt feels that maybe he needs to get his feelings in order. After their discussion, Steve tells Terry that he is going to give him his 1958 Chevrolet Impala until he comes back from college. As Terry only has a little Vespa scooter, the opportunity to have a hot set of wheels makes him ecstatic.

After the formalities, Steve gets into Laurie's car, and tells her that he thinks they should see other people while he is away. Laurie tries to hide the fact that this upsets her, but becomes very quiet considering the ramifications.

Meanwhile, Curt and John talk about how it seems every girl that comes by is ugly or has a boyfriend. "Where is the dazzling beauty I've been waiting for all my life?" bemoans Curt. John's conversation turns to how the strip that they cruise on keeps shrinking, remembering when a tank full of gas was needed to complete a full circuit.

It is then that the group decides to split up. John heads off cruising in his yellow deuce coupe, while Terry heads out in Steve's car. Curt decides to accompany Steve and Laurie to the "Freshman Hop," a sock-hop in the school gymnasium.

As Milner heads off to cruise around, he encounters a couple of his buddies also cruising down the streets, who tell him of a "very wicked '55 Chevy looking for him," as well as alerting him to cops watching for speeders.

Steve, Laurie and Curt have pulled up to a stop light, with a white '56 T-Bird next to them. As Curt looks, a blonde driving the vehicle smiles at him, and seems to mouth the words "I love you," before taking off. Curt is taken by the vision of this 'goddess,' and pleads with his friend and sister to follow the Thunderbird. However, his words fall on deaf ears.

Milner soon after encounters a Studebaker, full of girls. When he asks if any of them wants to ride with him, one of the girl's sisters volunteers. However, it is only after she gets into his car does he realize what he's gotten himself into. The girl, named Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), is easily a very young girl, and John is determined to not have her along with him for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile, Steve, Laurie and Curt have made it to the sock-hop. Laurie's friend Peg (Kathleen Quinlan) confides that Laurie will be fine without Steve, but Laurie is still upset and confused about Steve's wish to see other people. Steve meanwhile, has explained his plans to some of his own friends, who laugh that he will use the opportunity to "screw around." Curt meanwhile, roams the halls of the school and comes across his old locker. He tries the combination, only to find that it has been changed.

After Steve and Laurie meet up after talking to their friends, Steve wishes to dance, but Laurie refuses, her anger over his decision boiling to the surface. Curt meanwhile, meets one of his teachers who is chaperoning the dance. Mr. Wolfe (Terence McGovern) and Curt then discuss the teacher's past, how he went to a college in Middlebury, Vermont, and only stayed one semester. Wolfe contends that he wasn't the adventuresome type, and Curt explains how he might not be as well. The teacher encourages Curt to not stay, but to go out and explore life.

Back in the yellow deuce coupe, John and Carol continue to be at odds with each other. Carol explains how she and her friends used shaving cream to coverup someone's windshield as a gag, and shows John that she still has a can with her at that moment. They then fight over the music on the radio, with John being irritated by the Beach Boys song "Surfin' Safari" on the radio. John's night is further complicated when Officer Holstein (Jim Bohan) pulls him over. Holstein gives Milner a ticket, claiming one of his taillights is out, and claims that he received reports of John speeding, but is going to let him go this time, promising that one day soon, he's going to catch him in the act. After Holstein leaves, John gives Carol the ticket to put in a pouch on the driver's side door, which already contains plenty of tickets from "the law."

Terry meanwhile, has pulled up to a light, next to a black '55 Chevy. The driver is Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), who shouts over to Terry that he's looking for John Milner, and to let John know that he's looking to race him. After the encounter with Falfa, Terry notices a blonde walking the streets. After saying that she resembles Connie Stevens, the girl stops to talk to Terry. Terry claims he's known as "Terry the Tiger," and offers to let her feel the tuck-and-roll upholstery of the Impala. The girl, named Debbie (Candy Clark), gets in, and the two drive off.

Back at the sock-hop, Steve and Laurie are chosen to lead a spotlight snowball dance, and put on smiling faces for the rest of the students. As they dance together, Laurie continues to argue quietly, before beginning to cry, and telling Steve to "go to hell," as the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" fills the gymnasium.

Curt meanwhile, has run into his ex-girlfriend, Wendy (Deby Celiz). With nothing else to do at the school, he asks if he can tag along with her and her friend Bobbie (Lynne Marie Stewart). Wendy agrees, much to the ire of her friend.

Back in the gymnasium, as the music picks back up, Steve and Laurie are now dancing intimately, when a teacher named Mr Kroot (Mark Anger) tells them to "break it up." Steve gets smart and tells Kroot to 'kiss a duck,' as well as calls him a 'marble-head.' Kroot tells Steve that he is suspended, but Steve smilingly tells Kroot that he graduated last semester, and by all accounts, Kroot can't do anything to him. As Kroot storms off, Steve and Laurie laugh at the moment. After the incident, they decide to go to The Canal to be alone, their relationship appearing to have been patched up.

Terry meanwhile, has taken Debbie to Burger City to get food. As they wait, a former 'flame' of Debbie's leans into the car to talk to her. Debbie ignores all his advances, before flicking a lit match at him after making an obscene gesture at her. Debbie confides that the guy is just 'horny,' and that she likes Terry because he's different. As Terry's face develops a smile, Debbie tells Terry that she figures he's smart enough to get them some liquor. Seeing a new way to impress Debbie, Terry heads off to a liquor store, leaving behind the order they placed.

Curt has now come to occupy the back seat of Bobbie's VW Bug, and Wendy in the passenger seat. Seeing the white T-Bird, Curt demands they follow it, much to Bobbie's irritation. When Wendy asks Curt who this girl in the T-Bird is, Curt says he has no idea. Bobbie meanwhile, claims that she's the wife of a guy who owns a jewelry store. Curt doesn't believe it, since the girl in the T-Bird is young and beautiful.

Wendy confides to Bobbie about Curt's dream to be a Presidential Aide, and to one day shake hands with President Kennedy. Curt and Wendy then playfully bicker about telling of his future ambitions, and Curt invites her into the backseat to cuddle. Wendy then confides that she thinks Curt's decision to stay in town is a good idea, saying that maybe they can attend the local college together. Just then, Kip Pullman (Ed Greenberg) pulls up next to their car. Bobbie tells Curt to 'say anything' to Kip, whom she has a crush on and would like to meet. Curt then takes her request a bit too far, and yells over to Kips that Bobbie is madly in love with him, and trembles at the sight of his rippling biceps. This causes Bobbie to pull over immediately, demanding Curt to leave her car. Curt does so, and then sees the T-Bird off a ways. He chases after it, but it soon disappears, and he is unsure where to go or what to do next.

John meanwhile, has given in to Carol's request for a drink, and takes her to Burger City for a Coke. While there, John meets one of his hot rod buddies, and explains that he's babysitting Carol. Carol gets upset and throws her drink at him, before storming out of the car. John lets her go for a bit, but then feels a sense of responsibility and catches up to Carol, who gets back into his coupe.

Terry meanwhile, has gotten to the liquor store, but is unsure how to get a bottle of Old Harper for Debbie. As he ponders outside the store, a wino comes up, and Terry asks him to help. The wino takes Terry's money, but instead buys wine and exits out the back door of the store. Terry goes in, and runs off a list of things for the storekeeper to give him along with the bottle of Old Harper. However, the storekeeper still asks Terry for his ID. Terry returns to the car, now without the money, and asks Debbie for more. She is at first upset, but agrees. As Terry approaches the store again, he sees another man approaching. Terry explains his situation, and the man claims he will help Terry. However, seconds later, the man rushes out, and tosses Terry the bottle of Old Harper. The man appears to have robbed the store, and the store owner soon after emerges, firing on the man with a gun! Terry hightails it back to the Impala, and quickly gets out of there with Debbie.

Meanwhile, John has taken Carol to an old junkyard, and gives her a run down of the various vehicles that he's known about, usually belonging to guys he's known who have long since died in crashes or accidents. Carol claims that John told her he's never been in an accident, but he confides that he's come close a couple of times, and that so far, none has been able to beat him.

Curt meanwhile, has taken to sitting on the hood of a car, watching an episode of "Ozzie and Harriet" through the window of an appliance store. As he notices, several guys who are part of a gang called "The Pharoahs" accost him, claiming he's sitting on a car that belongs to a friend of theirs. When Curt gets off, one of the members tells Curt that he appears to have left a scratch in the hood. The guys then take Curt along with them in their car, deciding on a 'fitting punishment'. As Curt feels he is going to die, the white T-Bird passes by. Shortly thereafter. Falfa's '55 Chevy passes, and the leader of the Pharoahs claims that this guy aims to beat Milner, claiming John's days are numbered.

Meanwhile, John and Carol encounter a white Cadillac, full of girls. The girls claim that John's car deserves their special prize. When John is eager to accept it, the girls hurl a water balloon at him, which misses and hits Carol. John bursts into laughter, but Carol wants revenge, and John seems eager to have a little mischief. As both cars come to the next red light, John proceeds to flatten the other car's tires, and Carol sprays shaving cream all over the other car's windows, before the two jump back into John's car and drive off.

Terry and Debbie have made it to the Canal, where Terry mixes up the Old Harper with some soda. Terry and Debbie attempt to get intimate, but there appear to be too many people walking around. Terry leaves the car door open and the music on, and he and Debbie go looking for a quiet place to be alone.

Curt and the Pharoahs pull into a miniature golf establishment, where the Pharoahs attempt to pry open the pinball machines in the main building for gas money. They are soon caught by Mr. Gordon (Scott Beach), who is a member of the Moose Lodge in town. Curt claims that the guys he is with are his friends, and Gordon takes Curt into the back to meet with another Moose Lodge member named Hank (Al Nalbandian). They both congratulate Curt on winning the Lodge's first scholarship, before he takes leave along with the Pharoahs, who have finished cleaning out the change in the pinball machines. The leader of the Pharoahs is impressed with how Curt handled the situation, and decides that he and his friends will consider making Curt one of them.

Back at the Canal, Terry stops necking with Debbie, when he realizes the music from the car has stopped. He and Debbie then return to where the car was, only to find that it has been stolen!

Meanwhile, in another part of the Canal, Steve and Laurie are getting intimate in her car. The conversation shifts a little towards Steve's decision of wanting to go, and how Curt does not. The talk again upsets Laurie, and she stops giving in to Steve's advances. When he claims he wants something to remember her by, she goes limp, infuriating him more that she is just going to let him do whatever but she isn't going to take any pleasure out of it. When Steve makes an off hand comment about Laurie watching her brother 'doing something,' Laurie yells at Steve "You're disgusting!" and kicks him out of the car, before driving off.

Terry and Debbie are walking near the canal, with Debbie explaining about reports of a person in the area dubbed "The Goat Killer," who kills and dismembers his victims. Terry is getting more and more freaked out by her talking, when a noise distracts them. At first thinking it might be the goat killer, Terry is relieved when it turns out to be Steve. When Debbie explains that their car was stolen, Terry attempts to divert the subject (not wanting Steve to know that "his" car was stolen).

Back with John and Carol, John attempts to trick Carol into telling where she lives, to try and take her home, but Carol is stubborn, claiming she isn't going home until she "gets some action." It is then that Bob Falfa's car pulls alongside John, and the two trade barbs, with Bob insisting on racing John. They do a small race through several lights before John stops at a red light and Bob continues on through. Carol notes that Bob is fast, but John says that while he is fast, he also seems stupid.

Meanwhile, Steve separates from Terry and Debbie, and goes back to Burger City, while Terry and Debbie go off to report the car stolen.

Curt and the Pharoahs have meanwhile located a police car watching for speeders. The leader of the Pharoahs charges Curt with hooking a tow cable to the rear axle of the car. Curt is unsure about this, but is told that he has to do this, or the Pharoahs will still plan to make him suffer for the vehicle he scratched. Curt has some close calls, but eventually gets the cable hooked. As he rushes back to the Pharoahs, they then speed by the officers, with Curt yelling at the top of his lungs, "Stand by for justice!" The cops then take off, but the cable catches, tearing the rear axle off their car. Prepared for shock and awe, the two cops turn around, speechlessly looking at the torn off rear axle of their car. Nearby, Terry and Debbie are witnesses to the incident as well.

Carol soon finds herself confused when John takes her along a dark stretch of road, and John seems intent on having his way with her. Carol's spitfire demeanor wavers and she insists that much of her toughness was pretend. John explains that if he knew where she lived, he could take her home, and Carol immediately tells him her address. Of course, John was hoping that his 'trick' would work, and they head off for Carol's place.

At Burger City, Steve meets up with a waitress named Budda (Jana Bellan). Budda takes a moment to talk with Steve, who explains about how he and Laurie broke up. Budda takes this opportunity to tell Steve how she secretly likes him, and offers to have him come over to her place after her shift is over. As they talk, both are unaware that Laurie has returned to Burger City as well and is outside, having stopped at seeing Budda and Steve talking in a booth. Laurie assumes the worst, and quickly leaves before they see her. Back inside the restaurant, Steve declines Budda's offer, and watches her get back to work.

Outside, The Pharaohs pull up with Curt, and eagerly applaud what he has done. The Pharaohs are eager to induct Curt the next evening into their group, but Curt does not tell them that he'll be gone. Curt then gets into his car, and sees the white T-Bird pass by. He tries to start up his car, but it won't turn over, and he watches once again as the mysterious blonde slips from his grasp once more.

Laurie is cruising around the strip when she encounters Bob Falfa. She parks her car and gets in with him, and they begin to cruise. Falfa attempts to talk with her, but Laurie explains she does not want to talk.

John finally gets Carol to her place, and they have an awkward goodbye, until John gives her the cover to his gearshift as a memento. Carol happily takes it and goes to her house, as John drives off, a strange look on his face.

Back at Burger City, Curt has run into Steve, and is shocked when Steve explains that he is now considering not going to college out East. Curt attempts to calm Steve, but also ends up fixing his car, and takes off, leaving Steve unsure of what to do now.

Meanwhile, Terry has had an adverse reaction to the alcohol, and has thrown up most of it. After Terry recovers, he and Debbie walk a ways off, and find Steve's Impala parked in a lot! Terry finds the car unlocked and the keys gone. He attempts to hot-wire the car when the guys who stole it confront him, and attempt to beat him up. Debbie attempts to stop them, but they are both saved when John rolls by, comes over and scares away the two men.

Back at Burger City, another classmate of Steve's tells him that Laurie was seen riding around with Bob Falfa. Just as Terry and Debbie pull up outside Burger City with his car, Steve rushes out and shoos Terry and Debbie out of his car, and drives off. Debbie is shocked that Steve just took Terry's car, and Terry tells her the truth about how the car wasn't really his, and how he just has a Vespa Scooter for transportation. Even so, Debbie smiles and tells Terry that she had a good time, and as she takes leave, tells him that she'll probably see him around.

Curt meanwhile, has made his way to a radio station on the outskirts of town. Rumor is that Wolfman Jack, whose voice has played across the airwaves all evening, is located here. As Curt enters the station, he encounters a bearded man sitting in the control booth. Curt hands the man a piece of paper featuring a dedication and a request to the girl in the white T-Bird. The man explains that he can have the dedication sent into the Wolfman's main station and broadcast the next day. But Curt explains that he needs the request put out tonight, as he is unsure if he is going to be leaving town or not.

The man in the control booth then explains to Curt that he really should not sell himself short, and to go out and experience life. Curt takes the words to heart, and is excited when the man tells him if he can, he'll try to get the message relayed right away. As Curt is about to exit the studio, he hears a familiar voice. He turns, and sees the man in the control booth speaking into his microphone, in the voice of Wolfman Jack. Curt smiles at having met one of his heroes, and exits the building.

John is still at Burger City when Falfa comes up in his Chevy. John tells Falfa to meet him out at Paradise Road for their race. Terry pleads to go along, and John concedes.

The word spreads throughout the strip, and soon reaches Steve's ears, who heads out there when word comes that Laurie is riding with Falfa.

Meanwhile, Curt has returned to Burger City, and over to a nearby phone booth. On his car radio, he hears Wolfman Jack relay his dedication to the blonde in the T-Bird, and smiles as Wolfman calls Curt a good friend. Wolfman dedicates the next song to the blonde, and gives her the number of the phone booth at Burger City, encouraging the girl to call Curt.

Meanwhile, John, Falfa, and a number of other kids have rolled out to Paradise Road. Once out there, John finally realizes that Laurie is riding with Falfa, and asks what she is doing in there. Laurie gives a nonchalant "Mind your own business, John" and stays in Falfa's car, but Terry gets out to shine his flashlight for the race. As the vehicles take off, the race stays tight, until Falfa loses control of his car, skids off the road, rolls, and crashes, whilst John continues straight down the road.

Steve arrives just in time to see the aftermath, and rushes to the wreck, to see Falfa emerge and Laurie beating and hitting him. Steve pulls her off Falfa just as John pulls Falfa away from the car, just as it bursts into flames.

In a moment of desperation, Laurie cries and pleads for Steve not to leave, to which Steve embraces and tells Laurie that he is not going to leave her.

Terry explains to John how impressed he was with how John beat Falfa, but John confides to Terry that just before Falfa's car swerved off the road, he was beating him. Terry explains that John was just nervous, and that he'll never be beaten. John just backs up Terry's hero worship, and to calm him down, says that they'll take on all comers, as Terry yawns, muttering, "Jesus, what a night."

Meanwhile, back at Burger City, the phone rings, and Curt answers it, ecstatic to be talking to the girl of his dreams. He inquires about her name, but she does not give it. When Curt asks to meet her, she explains that she'll be cruising the strip again that night, but Curt wants to meet her now. She then says goodbye as Curt struggles to speak more, and the line goes dead.

Several hours later, Curt goes to the airport to get on the plane to head East, with his friends and family saying goodbye. Steve does not accompany him, and Curt boards the plane, taking off to a new adventure. As he glances out the window of the plane, he sees a white Thunderbird traveling along a stretch of road.

As the plane banks off, the audience is treated to images of John, Terry, Steve, and Curt, along with where they ended up in life:

-John Milner was killed by a drunk driver in December 1964.

-Terry Fields was reported missing in action near An Loc in December 1965.

-Steve Bolander is an insurance agent in Modesto, California.

-Curt Henderson is a writer living in Canada.

Due to the low budget, George Lucas was unable to pay all of the crew members. He offered to give many of them a screen credit in lieu of payment, and they accepted. Traditionally, only department heads received screen credit. Giving screen credit to so many crew members has now become a tradition, which is why closing credits last so long now.
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Harrison Ford was asked to cut his hair for the film. He refused, stating that his role was too short, and offered to wear a hat instead.
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Universal thought so little of the film (not knowing how to market it, and certain that as it had no stars it would flop), that it sat on the shelf for six months before the studio finally decided to release it. To their great surprise, it became enormously successful at the box office.
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When Wolfman Jack makes an on-air prank call to Pinky's Pizza, the voice on the other end belongs to George Lucas.
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When Charles Martin Smith pulls up on the Vespa in the beginning, his crash into the building wasn't scripted. He genuinely lost control of the bike, and Lucas kept the cameras rolling.
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Ironically, George Lucas missed his high school reunion because he was too busy shooting this film.
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One of the main reasons why so many studios initially turned down the script was because George Lucas wanted at least 40 songs on the soundtrack, which would obviously lead to a large bill over the rights to these songs. Universal finally agreed to fund the picture when Lucas' friend Francis Ford Coppola (fresh from the success of The Godfather (1972) the year before) came on board as producer.
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Wolfman Jack, who played himself in the movie, was specifically chosen by George Lucas to play a role in the movie because Lucas remembered listening to him on the radio when Lucas was in high school.
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When John (Paul Le Mat) and Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) are sitting at the red light, a car full of girls pulls up next to them. One of the girls throws a water balloon through the window and it hits Carol. It was scripted to hit the side window and drench Phillips' face, who was then supposed to act really angry. However, she was accidentally hit square in the face and unable to refrain from laughing. Still, she kept going, ad-libbed through the scene and George Lucas kept it, as he did with many presumably garbled first takes in this movie.
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The three scenes that were added to the 1978 re-release were cut from the original release as a result of the compromise with Universal Studios. George Lucas put them back in after Star Wars (1977) was released.
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The film was shot in sequence, so as filming went on and the actors grew tired from the shooting schedule, the characters they played would also look more and more tired as the night went on.
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Dissatisfied with the name "American Graffiti", producers Francis Ford Coppola and Ned Tanen suggested that George Lucas retitle it "Another Slow Night in Modesto" or "Rock Around the Block".
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Wolfman Jack's line, "Sticky little mothers, ain't they," when shaking Richard Dreyfuss's hand, was improvised.
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The film's budget was approximately $775,000 and it was delivered on time - and on budget. Lucas's previous film THX 1138 was budgeted at $777,777.77.
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Mel's Drive-In was demolished after the movie was completed, but the owner's son, Steve, decided to re-open other Mel's restaurants in 1981 as a small chain. There are two in Hollywood, CA, themed after the movie, and one in San Francisco where George Lucas is known to eat occasionally.
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The owner of the Thunderbird was never more than a few feet away from his prized possession during filming, and was always wiping here and shining there. He also drove Suzanne Somers crazy telling her what to do and what not to do.
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There is a rumor that while George Lucas and a co-worker were editing the film, the co-worker asked Lucas for "reel two, dialogue two", which abbreviated to R2-D2, a name which surfaced in Lucas' later film, Star Wars (1977).
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Filming was beset by a series of misfortunes and disasters. The day before filming was due to start a key member of the crew was arrested for growing marijuana. On the first night of shooting it took so long to get the cameras mounted onto the cars that filming didn't get started until 2 a.m., putting the crew half a night behind schedule before they'd even started. Most of the outdoor footage was to be shot in San Rafael. After the first night of shooting the city revoked the crew's filming permit due to complaints from a bar owner that their blocking off of the main street was costing him business. Filming proceeded in San Rafael for three more nights, then moved to Petaluma, 20 miles away. On the second night of shooting a fire in a nearby restaurant brought fire trucks into the area, their sirens and the resulting traffic jam preventing any filming.
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Screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz wanted an additional title card at the end detailing the fates of the women, but George Lucas refused, arguing it would prolong the ending.
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When Steve and Laurie are introduced at the hop, the MC says "The next dance will be a Snowball, and leading it off are.." A Snowball Dance means the lead off couple (Steve and Laurie in this case) are supposed to dance with each other for only a short period, then split and dance with two others, then they split and dance with four others until everyone is dancing. But Steve and Laurie are so engrossed in their conversation and memories they are oblivious to the others. When you watch the film, notice the other kids in the background looking expectantly for them to split off.
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The '55 Chevy Bob Falfa drives is the same '55 Chevy used in the movie Two-Lane Blacktop (1971).
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Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, and Bo Hopkins were often drunk between takes, and had conducted climbing competitions to the top of the local Holiday Inn sign.
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Fred Roos, a former casting director on The Andy Griffith Show (1960), suggested Ron Howard for Steve Bolander. Howard accepted the role to break out of the mold of his career as a child actor.
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The film was previewed before an audience of young people in Northpoint Theater, San Francisco, on a Sunday morning, with Universal Pictures head Ned Tanen in attendance. In a story that is now legendary in Hollywood, Tanan was not impressed with the film, despite a good audience reaction, and called it "unreleasable". Francis Ford Coppola, enraged at the comment, offered to buy the film from Universal (some stories claim he offered to write the check then and there) while the exhausted, burned-out and ill George Lucas watched in shock. A compromise was finally reached in which Universal could "suggest" modifications to the movie, a resolution Lucas was not happy with, as it took control of the film away from him.
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The street gang The Pharoahs that "kidnaps" Richard Dreyfuss in the film is based on George Lucas' car club cohorts growing up in Modesto called The Faros.
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Richard Dreyfuss recalls that he was often called onto the set early during camera setups because the plaid shirt he wears for much of the film made for an effective test pattern.
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Harrison Ford was arrested one night while in a bar fight and kicked out of his motel room.
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Set designer Roger Christian claims he added the pair of dice hanging in the Millennium Falcon cockpit (briefly seen when Chewbacca bumps his head on them as he first enters) because there were dice hanging in Harrison Ford's car in American Graffiti (1973). However, Ford's character had a skull hanging from his rear-view mirror. Ron Howard had the fluffy dice.
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About 300 pre-1962 cars were needed to create the cruising scenes, and over 1000 classic-car owners who responded to ads in local newspapers were interviewed.
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The playing of "oldies" in the soundtrack became part of a 1970s trend where various recordings by the original artists were used to score a film.
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In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #62 Greatest Movie of All Time.
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After the success of Easy Rider (1969), Universal Pictures hit on the idea of letting young filmmakers make "semi-independent" films on low budgets, in hopes of generating similar profits. The idea was to make five movies for $1 million apiece (or, hopefully, less), not interfere in the filmmaking process and give the directors final cut. The other movies were: The Hired Hand (1971), The Last Movie (1971), Taking Off (1971), and Silent Running (1972).
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This movie was shot almost exclusively at night.
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Charles Martin Smith (18) and Ron Howard (18) were the only two real teenage principal actors of the film. Most of the remaining principal cast members were in their 20s with the exceptions of the 12-year-old Mackenzie Phillips, and Harrison Ford, who turned 30 during filming.
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Shot in 29 days.
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Two cameras were used simultaneously in scenes involving conversations between actors in different cars. This resulted in significant production time savings.
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The cartoon movie poster was drawn by longtime Mad Magazine artist Mort Drucker, who ended up also doing the artwork for "American Confetti", a parody of the film in Mad's April 1974 issue #166.
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Over 100 unknown actors auditioned for Curt Henderson before Richard Dreyfuss was cast. George Lucas was impressed with Dreyfuss's thoughtful analysis of the role, and, as a result, offered the actor his choice of Curt or Terry "The Toad" Fields.
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During the sequence in which John and Carol smeared shaving cream on the 1960 Cadillac and deflated the tires, Paul Le Mat actually jumped onto and over the car during each take, and George Lucas became concerned that Le Mat's boots would put dents in the hood and trunk. The owner was in The car.
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Even though Steve was supposed to be a year older than Laurie, Ron Howard is actually seven years younger than Cindy Williams.
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The soundtrack was originally to consist of some 80 classic rock songs from the 1950s and 1960s, but the budget couldn't stretch far enough to pay for the rights to play the songs. The total was eventually whittled down to 45, with the Elvis Presley songs left out. It was widely known that Elvis's manager, Col. Tom Parker, was extremely demanding when it came to Elvis material prior to 1977. There was a 40th Anniversary Special on NBC in 1976; Parker reportedly demanded $50,000 to release a clip of Elvis on Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle (1948). The clip was not shown at that time.
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Of the six films directed by George Lucas, the only one not to be in the science fiction genre (his other directorial credits are THX-1138 and four Star Wars films).
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Mark Hamill auditioned for a part.
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The scene in which Steve assures Laurie he is staying in town and not going with Curt was shot in one take. Ron Howard and Cindy Williams had already been released from shooting and were in their street clothes when they were told to put their costumes back on so they could shoot that scene.
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George Lucas turned down offers to direct Lady Ice (1973), Tommy (1975) and Hair (1979) in order to make this film.
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The Douglas DC-7 airplane at the end of the movie was previously owned by the rock group Grand Funk Railroad.
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Although the story takes place in Modesto, California, George Lucas decided not to film there, as he felt it had changed too much in ten years.
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First credited screen appearance of Kathleen Quinlan. She plays Peggy, a girl who comforts Laurie, who just broke up with her boyfriend. Laurie's boyfriend is played by Ron Howard, director of Apollo 13 (1995), in which Quinlan starred.
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Budgetary reasons meant that George Lucas to drop the opening scene, in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist.
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In the movie the street where the final drag race took place between Falfa and Milner was called Paradise Road. It is actually a road in Petaluma, CA called Frates Road. A golf course now resides on the north side but the field where Falfa's '55 Chevy crashed is still intact.
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The scene at the liquor store in which Terry asks Debbie for money was shot in one take. Candy Clark wanted to do a second take because she flubbed her "Did you get it?" line, but director George Lucas said that was it, they were printing that first take.
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Some of the main characters represent different stages from George Lucas's younger life. Curt Henderson is modelled after his personality during USC, while John Milner is based on his teenage street racing and junior college years, and hot rod enthusiasts he had known from the Kustom Kulture in Modesto. Terry "The Toad" Fields represents his nerd years as a freshman in high school, specifically his "bad luck" with dating.
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The Ford Coupe driven by Paul Le Mat's character had a 1966 Chevrolet 327 cu.in. engine. The black 1955 Chevy driven by Harrison Ford had a Chevrolet 454 cu.in. engine capable of doing 11-second quarter-mile times.
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The film is set in director George Lucas hometown of Modesto, California.
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Re-released as a double feature with The Sting (1973).
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With its production budget of about $770,000 and its eventual box office gross of over $115 million, this is among the most profitable movies ever made.
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The film was briefly considered to be released as a TV movie as studio executives felt the film's lack of stars (at the time) and unconventional story structure made it unmarketable.
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The entire sock hop sequence was filmed in one day.
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Francis Ford Coppola encouraged George Lucas to cast Wolfman Jack as himself in a cameo appearance.
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After CinemaScope proved to be too expensive, George Lucas decided that the film should have a documentary-like feel, and shot the film using Techniscope cameras. He believed that Techniscope, an inexpensive way of shooting in 35 mm film and utilizing only half of the film's frame, would give a perfect widescreen format resembling 16 mm.
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Cindy Williams originally wanted to play Carol, and was even willing to have braces put on her teeth for better effect.
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For this movie, Francis Ford Coppola served as producer, while George Lucas was the director. In 1988, their roles were reversed for the film Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
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Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz found the ending depressing and were incredulous that George Lucas planned to include only the male characters in the epilogue. Lucas argued that mentioning the girls meant adding another title card, which he felt would prolong the ending. Because of this, Pauline Kael later accused Lucas of chauvinism.
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After Verna Fields's departure, George Lucas struggled with editing the film's story structure. He had originally written the script so that the four storylines were always presented in the same sequence (an "ABCD" plot structure). But the first cut was three-and-a-half hours long, and in order to whittle the film down to a more manageable two hours, so many scenes had to be cut, shortened, or combined that the film's structure became increasingly loose, and no longer adhered to Lucas's original "ABCD" presentation.
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The DC-7 that Richard Dreyfuss boards at the end of the film (Magic Carpet Airlines) had a flat tire on the left side. But it was never shown because there is a van near the stairwell that leads to the hull entrance.
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Universal initially projected a $600,000 budget, but added an additional $175,000 once producer Francis Ford Coppola signed on. This would allow the studio to advertise the film as "from the Man who Gave you The Godfather (1972)".
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Production proceeded with virtually no input or interference from Universal.
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An assistant cameraman was run over after he fell off the back of the camera truck during filming of a road scene.
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Given the popularity of the film's cars with customizers and hot rodders in the years since its release, their fate immediately after the film is ironic. All were offered for sale in San Francisco newspaper ads; only the '58 Impala (driven by Ron Howard) attracted a buyer, selling for only a few hundred dollars. The yellow Deuce and the white T-bird went unsold, despite being priced as low as US$3,000.[56] The registration plate on Milner's yellow, deuce coupe is THX 138 on a yellow, California license plate, slightly altered, reflecting George Lucas's earlier science fiction film THX 1138 (1971).
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Ron Howard and Cindy Williams would go on to future TV series, Howard's being Happy Days (1974) (on which Williams guest-starred) and Williams' being Laverne & Shirley (1976), its spinoff.
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One actor set fire to George Lucas's motel room.
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The Fonzie character was added to Happy Days because Paul Le Mat's John Milner Greaser character was such a hit in American Grafitti; Michael Eisner and Gary Marshall; who created the series; felt they needed a Greaser character as well. So Fonzie was based on and inspired by John Milner in American Graffiti.

Though it's also the case that Henry Winkler appeared (with Sylvester Stallone, among others) in the 50's New York set '"The Lords of Flatbush", where his character is a dress-rehearsal for Happy Days.
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When Curt is riding with the Pharaohs, we hear Wolfman Jack talking to "Floyd" and saying "Floyd, I cannot look on thee. Love took my hand, and smiling did reply: 'Who made the eyes but I?' " This is a quote from the poem "Love Bade Me Welcome" by the Welsh metaphysical poet George Herbert (1593-1633) (the poem says "Ah my dear, I cannot look on thee"). When Curt is riding with the Pharaohs, we hear Wolfman Jack reciting, as if it was a poem, "There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood, where lived a country boy . . . ." The words are from "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry.
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The number "327" appears quite often in George Lucas' movies. Here it is printed on the side of an engine. See also: Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).
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Richard Dreyfuss had his forehead gashed after Paul Le Mat threw him into a swimming pool the day before his closeups were to be filmed.
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It is the only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year not to win any Academy Awards.
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Because the main cast was associated with younger actors, the casting call and notices went through numerous high school drama groups and community theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) wears a T-shirt that says "Surf Boards by Dewey Weber". Weber was a well known surfer in the 1950s and 60s. In 1960 he founded Weber Surfboards in Venice, California and sold thousands of boards until longboards declined in popularity in the 1970s. After his death in 1993, his widow and two sons revived the business, and still use the original logo seen in the film.
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George Lucas was inspired by I vitelloni (1953).
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Walter Murch assisted George Lucas in post-production for audio mixing and sound design purposes. Murch suggested making Wolfman Jack's radio show the "backbone" of the film.
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George Lucas had wanted his wife, Marcia Lucas, to edit the film, but Universal executive Ned Tanen insisted on hiring Verna Fields, who had just finished editing The Sugarland Express (1974). Fields worked on the first rough cut of the film before she left to resume work on What's Up, Doc? (1972).
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MGM, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures all turned down the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the film.
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Richard Dreyfuss complained over the wardrobe that George Lucas had chosen for his character.
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Producer Francis Ford Coppola would later cast both Cindy Williams and Harrison Ford in The Conversation (1974) (produced, written and directed by Coppola) the following year.
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Filming of the climactic drag race was hampered when one of the cars broke an axle, then broke the replacement axle, and then nearly ran over two cameramen lying in the road to film its approach.
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At the hop when Steve and Laurie are introduced to lead a dance the song playing is 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' by The Platters which is the same song Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter dance to in Always (1989).
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Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.
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George Lucas considered covering duties as the sole cinematographer, but dropped the idea. Instead, he elected to shoot American Graffiti using two cinematographers (as he had done in THX 1138 (1971)) and no formal director of photography.
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Features Candy Clark's only Oscar nominated performance.
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Though only credited as "visual consultant," Haskell Wexler acted as the de facto cinematographer for much of the shoot, after original co-cinematographers Jan D'Alquen and Ron Eveslage proved unable to satisfactorily light the scenes filmed at night.
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Paul Le Mat had to be rushed to hospital after suffering a walnut allergy flare-up after eating a waldorf salad.
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Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
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The Fender Stratocaster that the guitar player is using at the sock hop is a 1950's body. However, the neck was replaced with a 1968 or 1969 neck. You can tell by looking at the large headstock. In 1962 the headstock was smaller.
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Terry McGovern, who plays Bill Wolfe, coined the term "Wookie" during filming THX 1138 (1971).
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Ironically, Harrison Ford's character drives a Chevrolet.
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Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
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The only film directed by George Lucas that doesn't begin with a big block of scrolling text (the opening crawl in the Star Wars films and the opening credits of THX 1138 (1971)).
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In late 2018, after witnessing the financial success Universal Studios was enjoying with The Fast & The Furious franchise for nearly two decades, it was announced that Disney was interested in producing a limited series that takes place in the same universe as American Graffiti for their upcoming online streaming service. The story outline indicated the series takes place around 2003 and the cast is mainly comprised of the original characters offspring, leaving the opportunity for many of the cast to return to their respective roles. The new series is meant to invoke a feeling of nostalgia for the '90s and early 2000s tuner automotive era in America. The story outline aims to both reignite interest in the continued story for fans of the original 1973 film, while also attracting a new generation to the franchise. The working title for the story outline was "American Graffiti: Another Slow Night in Modesto"
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This is the first of two films in which both Charles Martin Smith and Ron Howard appear together. They would star in the western The Spikes Gang (1974) opposite Lee Marvin the following year.
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The band playing at the sock-hop, Herby and the Heartbeats, is Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids who also played Johnny Fish and the Fins on Happy Days (s2-e20, 'Fish and the Fins').
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George Lucas: [THX 1138] License plate on John Milner's car is "THX-138". THX 1138 (1971) is a film also directed by George Lucas. This number plate is on display inside 'The Main House' of LucasFilm's Head Office at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County.
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The scene after the drag race in which John admits to Terry that he was losing when Falfa's car lost control and rolled was improvised by Paul Le Mat and Charles Martin Smith. They had not had time to prepare for that scene, as it had been scheduled to be shot at another time.
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The original version's end title for John Milner indicated that he was killed in June of 1964. Versions of the film released from 1979 on indicate that Milner died in December of 1964. This is presumably a revisionist move to bring the film in line with the sequel, More American Graffiti (1979), where the filmmakers chose to follow four separate character story lines which each take place in December of a different year (Milner in '64, Toad in '65, Debbie in '66, Steve & Laurie in '67).
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As the plane takes off in the final scene, a drive-in movie screen can be seen in the distance. This was the original screen at the Solano Drive-in, which operated until the fall of 2004, and has since reopened, showing double-features, as of December 2008.
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The 1955 Chevrolet driven by Bob (Harrison Ford) was actually three different cars: the "hot rod" version that is seen the most--which was also the same car used in the earlier Two-Lane Blacktop (1971))--one for interior camera shots and one for the rollover after the drag race. Both the "hot rod" '55 and the 1932 Ford coupe were bought from the studio by an individual in Overland Park, Kansas, in the mid-1980s who restored them back to their movie appearance.
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John and Steve never speak directly to each other, and the only thing that Steve says to John is "Milner, you son of a bitch!" after the accident in the drag race.
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The movie is set in 1962, but a cinema marquee advertises Dementia 13 (released in 1963). This was done on purpose by George Lucas, because Dementia 13 was Producer Francis Ford Coppola's first movie.
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Television sets in the store window are early-1970s models.
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Curt watches The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on televisions in a store window, sometime close to midnight. Sitcom reruns were not late-night staples in 1962, and "Ozzie & Harriet" was never scheduled later than 9:00 PM in prime time.
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The coin telephone at Mel's is a model that didn't go into general use until the late 1960s.
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In the cruising scene, someone in a 1960 Belair is handing something to someone in a 1956 Chevy with a blue California license plate, but these were not issued until about 1970.
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When Milner has a run-in with Officer Holstein, the Wolfman Jack montage we hear on the radio includes a clip from the song "Grazing In The Grass" by Hugh Masekela, released in the late 1960s.
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While it was plausible for the double yellow road striping to be seen on USA roads in 1962, during a car chase scene there is a road with what seems to have yellow dashed striping in place along with white center lines. Yellow dashed center lines were introduced from the beginning of 1972, and therefore the researchers to the film must have accidentally overlooked a section of road that had just been re striped.
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When Carol and John are walking through the junkyard they go past many 1963, 1962, 1961, and 1960 cars. It would be improbable for these "late model" cars to already be in a junkyard in 1963. There is a 1963 Studebaker Lark, a 1961 Pontiac, and a 1960 Ford for instance.
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Guitar played by lead guitarist of Herby and the Heartbeats at the sock hop plays a post-1966 Fender Stratocaster (with the CBS headstock, and a rosewood fretboard which wasn't made till late '62).
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The pinball machines that the Pharaohs rob are all newer than the 1962 setting of the film. Buckaroo-1965 Base Hit-1967; Royal Guard-1968; Wild Wild West-1969; SkyRocket-1970; Vampire-1971.
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Just before Curt goes to sit down on the car to watch TV he is running through the intersection on foot and behind him there is a 1973 Olds Cutlass.
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When John is stopped by the policeman, he's a few feet from a movie theater. The movie poster is for Cabaret.
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The Citroen 2CV Curt drives, which has three windows on each side, was not in production until 1966.
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In one of the first cruising scenes where Toad is trying out his new wheels, he drives past a 1967 Impala parked on the curbside.
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In the cruising scene, someone in a 1960 Belair is handing something to someone in a 1956 Chevy with a blue California license plate, but the blue plates were not issued until about 1970.
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Wolfman Jack's radio broadcasts throughout the film are ostensibly airing on Mexcian station XERB, as identified by various jingles. However, in 1962 (when the film is set) he was broadcasting for another station, XERF; he would not move to XERB until 1965.
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The Chevrolet 327 engine first appearance was in the 1962 Corvette, and not available in Bob Falfa's '55 Chevy. The 283 engine first appeared in 1957 and prior to that the 265 engine first appeared in 1955.
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At the airport when Curt is ready to leave for college, there is a 1964 van parked nearby.
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When the 4-engine DC7 airplane takes off, the sound heard is a 6-engine B-36 (a very distinctive sound).
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When Curt is sitting in the back seat of a car with his ex-girlfriend Wendy and her friend sitting in the front, right before the cut to Wendy saying "hey did you know that my ex...", you can see her in the far left of the shot and her mouth isn't moving for the first few words of her line.
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During the Curt/Wolfman scene, the boom mic is seen moving in the reflection on the studio window behind Wolfman Jack.
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Near the end of the movie, Steve throws Toad and Debbie out of his '58 Chevy at Mel's Drive-In. As Toad and Debbie are stepping out of the car, there is a reflection of a boom mic moving along the left rear portion of the car's roof.
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Though Debralee Scott is listed as "Falfa's Girl" in the credits, she is only riding with him in earlier scenes. She is mysteriously gone later and replaced by an uncredited blonde actress. Later the blonde also disappears without explanation and Falfa "picks up" Cindy Williams character.
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When Carol runs from the Studebaker to Milner's coupe, she reaches through his passenger window to open the door with the inside latch handle, without trying the exterior handle (which isn't working, as Toad does the same thing); however, Carol would not yet have known that.
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When Terry is trying to buy liquor, the sign on the door of the liquor store, although apparently appropriate to the period ("Winston" ad), says "Push" on the "Pull" side of the door.
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While listening to Wolfman Jack at Mel's, Curt hears the Wolfman say that he'll be going off the air in five minutes at midnight. Curt goes to the studio to make a request, but the clock in the background shows that it's only 7:25 pm.
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In the beginning, Falfa's 55 has chrome wheels. But when he rolls the car, it has painted wheels.
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The license plate on the Studebaker with the girls from Turlock is the same as the plate on Steve's '58 Chevy.
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The popsicle the radio station DJ is eating disappears.
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While talking to Curt at the radio station, Wolfman Jack pulls the tone arm off of a turntable. Seconds later, he does it again.
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Falfa and Milner prepare for the street race (their first meeting). Falfa has a blonde sitting next to him in the '55 Chevy. When the light turns green, they take off. During the next few cuts of the two cars racing down the street, there is no passenger visible in Falfa's car. When the next light turns red, Falfa guns his car to go through the red light, and the blonde passenger has reappeared.
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In some scenes, John Milner's yellow coupe has a windshield wiper on the driver's side; in other scenes it doesn't have it.
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Toad crashes his Vespa and walks away, and in the very next shot it is standing up and nicely parked.
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In the latter half of the film, it's alternately sunrise/still night between shots.
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When Curt boards the plane, a large notation above the door says "Radar Equipped". However, when the plane takes off, the suitably large wording is no longer seen on the aircraft.
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When Carol is on the hood of the car being shaving-creamed, she covers the front windshield with shaving cream and jumps off, but as she runs around the car, there's no shaving cream anywhere on it.
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When Falfa's car rolls over, the trunk lid is open. When it blows up it is closed.
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When Carol and Milner jump out of the car to get the car full of girls, they leave the doors open. When running back in, the doors have been closed.
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After Falfa rolls his Chevy, Milner aids him up the slope to the roadside. Falfa clearly has his white cowboy hat in his hand. Edit scene to the Chevy explosion. Scene cuts back to Milner handing Falfa his white cowboy hat.
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When Terry finds Steve's car after it was stolen earlier, he mentions that the thieves must have taken the keys and he tries to hot-wire it. Later he drives into Mel's with the car and Steve comes and takes the car from Terry without any mention of the keys being found, the keys given back to Terry or Steve by the thieves, or of Steve having another set of keys. And if it was hot-wired back to Mel's, why did Steve not make any mention of the car running without keys?
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Amount of shaving cream on the car when Milner and the young girl began blasting it on there.
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John Milner's hot rod is missing the front license plate in some scenes.
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When Wolfman Jack is talking to Curt, the position of the top-right-hand tape in the rack behind him keeps moving up and down by one slot between shots.
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As Toad pours the Old Harper into a coke bottle, it's twilight. When Toad gets back into the car and hands Debbie her drink, the passenger window reveals total darkness.
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When speaking with Curt outside the hop, Mr. Wolfe's grip on his cigarette changes repeatedly from cut to cut.
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While John and Carol are cruising, the pack of Camels rolled up in John's sleeve switch front showing to back showing through the shirt fabric.
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When Milner gets blasted with the shaving cream, he wipes it away with his hand - all but a small smudge between his eyes. Even though he missed this smudge, it's clearly gone the next time we see his face.
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Terry wears a pair of blue and white suede shoes and eventually near the end while sitting on the curb of Mels Diners he is wearing white suede shoes.
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Leaving Steve's car, Toad and Debbie take a blanket and walk off to the left beside the canal. When they return they are coming up from the right.
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When John & Carol get out of his car at the stop-light to flatten the tires of the white car, a fully-bearded, red-vested George Lucas is reflected in the passenger window as it's being rolled up.
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When John Milner is cruising the strip for the first time he is supposedly alone in his rod, however right after the guy in the black coupe tells John to watch out for the cops, you can see that there's someone in the passenger seat beside him.
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The radio station that we hear in the movie with Wolfman Jack is XERB in Mexico, not California.
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Falfa and Milner race on Paradise just before sunrise. Paradise Road runs west out of Modesto, but the sun was rising over the mountains, which are clearly visible in the near distance. That shot was likely taken from the ocean side of the Pacific Coast Range near Petaluma, somewhere off of Lakeville Highway.
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In the final scene Curt walks toward the airplane's open door to board while the number one engine (left outboard) is starting up. In real life, a pilot would never start an engine on the boarding side with a door still open and passengers behind a running engine.
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The 327 engine did not appear until 1962 - not 1963. Most likely this model had the 283 power pack but many had 348 engine in the Impala series.
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The main drag race takes place on one of the few roads that show the new 1971 MUTCD yellow road marking system. These did not exist in the early 1960s, and the road markings should have been white.
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When Toad first talks to Debbie in Steve's '58 Chevy, he tells her it has a 327 engine in it. The 327 Chevy engine first made it appearance in 1963.
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The Beach Boys song "All Summer Long" - which plays over the end credits - was released in the Summer of 1964 although the movie is set in the Summer of 1962, some two years before the song's release. But the characters do not hear it, only we do; and it is a suitable way of moving into the post-1962 "future".
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Carol's parents won't let her listen to Wolfman Jack partly because he is a "negro." Wolfman Jack in fact is not African American, but because Rythmn and Blues and rock have African American roots, her parents during that era, probably figured that Wolfman was African American.
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When the Wolfman announces Curt's dedication request on the air, he tells the blonde to meet Curt at Burger City - but Curt was waiting at Mel's Drive-In. But if you check the Mel's Drive-In sign at the beginning of the film, you'll see "Burger City" at the very bottom of the sign.
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The Botts Dots (raised reflective lane markers) were perfected by Elbert D. Botts in the 1950s.
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Not only is Milner's yellow hot rod missing an antenna, it doesn't even have a car radio. It never did and still doesn't have one, the car being now owned in original condition by Rick Figari from San Francisco.
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Curt gives his former teacher a cigarette from a pack in his shirt pocket early in the movie. Curt is never seen to smoke during the rest of the movie, even when hanging out with the Pharaohs.
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The 55 Chevy that rolled was not the same car that was being driven. For one thing, the engine is missing.
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When the Pharaohs take Curt to loot pinball machines, Mr Gordon invites Curt into the diner to see Hank. When Curt is conversing with Hank and Mr Gordon, the scene changes perspective, after which all background labeled items and signs read backwards or are "mirror reversed" in the shot. It is most likely an edit correction to keep the orientation of direction correct from where Curt walked in and Joe sticks his head in to let them know they are finished.
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As Falfa rolls his Chevy on Paradise Road a box wrench is clearly visible, lying on the bottom of the car body after the car comes to a halt.
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Nowhere is there to be seen a radio antenna on John Milner's coupe. XERB was an AM station, and Milner wouldn't have been able to pick anything except static.
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At the radio station, the control board is a Gates Stereo Yard, the station is AM while a "yard" would only be used at an FM Stereo station. None of the meters moved. None of the lights on the cart machines ever changed.
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