While Star Wars was the film that took over the world back in 1977, four years before George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and a cast that would soon take over the acting world turned $777,000 into $140m and created one of the biggest hits of the 70’s, the 13th highest grossing film of all time by the time A New Hope rolled around. Here, Lucasfilm celebrate American Graffiti; while THX-1138 showed us a cold, bold vision, Graffiti displayed all the heart in the world, two styles that would soon blend in a galaxy far, far away.
Collaborating on the screenplay with his friends Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, Lucas envisioned American Graffiti as a coming-of-age story that took place on a single evening in the late summer of 1962 (the year Lucas graduated from high school). Two friends, Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) have each been accepted to college back east, and are set to leave the next morning. One of them however, is hesitant about leaving their small town, while the other is anxious to go. Over the course of the evening, both characters are challenged to decide just what they are going to do.
Interwoven with the narratives about Steve and Curt are a number of humorous misadventures involving characters like Steve’s strong-willed girlfriend, Laurie (Cindy Williams), radio DJ Wolfman Jack (playing himself), the eager young Terry the Toad (Charles Martin Smith) and his new friend Debbie (Candy Clark), as well as the popular hot rodder John Milner (Paul Le Mat) and a teen who is wise beyond her years named Carol (Mackenzie Phillips). An antagonist in the form of a rival hot rodder named Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) cruises the streets in search of Milner.
