She also noted with disdain that the epilogue did not bother to mention the fates of any of the women characters. We're pitting two of the most iconic movie/tv hot rods of all time against one another. The '55 Chevy was driven in American Graffiti by Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) and featured in the final dawn drag race with the yellow Deuce Coupe. [9] Mackenzie Phillips, who portrays Carol, was only 12, and under California law, producer Gary Kurtz had to become her legal guardian for the duration of filming. Well, get bent, turkey! John Milner The young director's previous film and first feature . : Behind the scenes Hey, listen, Professor, if he can't find me, then he ain't worth racin', right? [John turns off the radio] Why is it every girl that comes around here is ugly? The yellow Deuce and the white T-bird went unsold, despite being priced as low as $3,000. In fact, your car's so neat, we're gonna give you our special prize. : Hey, man, are you all right? Girl in Cadillac [hands her the ticket Holstein just issued him]. The setting is two months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, and before the outbreak of the Vietnam War and the John F. Kennedy assassination[9] and before the peak years of the counterculture movement. : Charles Martin Smith, who, in his first year as a professional actor, had already appeared in two feature films, including 20th Century Fox's The Culpepper Cattle Co. and four TV episodes, was eventually cast in the role. Hey, is this what they call "copping a feel"? Date of death December 31, 1964 Physical description Gender Male Height 5'12" (1,82 m) Eye color blue Behind the scenes Actor Paul Le Mat Our community needs more information on this page! Is American Graffiti based on a true story? On October 14, 2011 By Sam Weisberg In Interviews Paul Le Mat is still most known for the role of John Milner in "American Graffiti," George Lucas' 1973 coming-of-age classic about a group of 1960s California high school graduates, and it's certainly not an unflattering way to be remembered. Yeah, she's goin' with me. : [29] Fields worked on the first rough cut of the film before she left to resume work on What's Up, Doc?. [14] Lucas, Huyck and Katz rewrote the second draft together, which, in addition to Modesto, was also set in Mill Valley and Los Angeles. John Milner I'm going to tell him you tried to rape me. : Terry meets the high-spirited bombshell Debbie (Candy Clark). Carol They cruise the Modesto strip while listening to their favorite rock and roll songs, contemplating what lies ahead of them in their adulthood. . [36] Based on the success of the 1978 reissue, Universal began production for the sequel More American Graffiti (1979). 1956 Thunderbird [9] The 1962 setting represents nearing an end of an era in American society and pop culture. [18] Bob Balaban turned down Terry out of fear of becoming typecast, a decision he later regretted. : Similarly, it makes perfect sense that the gorgeous blonde (Suzanne Somers) who Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) becomes obsessed with is driving around in a 1956 Ford Thunderbird; a car as beautiful as it is unattainable for a guy like Curt, who is stuck in the backseat of his sisters crummy Edsel. It was a rag, in the vernacular of the . Filmphest argues "they do provide a contrast of the carefree past with the more troubling future, but they also kill some of the mystique around the picture and unnecessarily close events that could have been left more open-ended." While looking out the window of his plane, Curt sees the white Thunderbird driving below. John Milner (Paul Le Mat) drag race scene/movie clip - chute fails to openMore American Graffiti (1979)American Graffiti (1973)More American Graffiti is a 19. John then suddenly notices that Laurie is with Falfa]. Paul Le Mat. Ok, so here's the deal. You're talking to the woman I love. : John Milner Huyck and Katz found the ending depressing and were incredulous that Lucas planned to include only the male characters. I'm sorta' embarrassed to be this close to ya! : He began writing a script, completing his first draft in just three weeks. The title card at the end of "American Graffitti"does a great job of addressing the turbulent changes that were to come while still preserving the film's innocence. We know John Milner (Paul Le Mat) was killed by a drunken driver in 1964, so the movie has to roll back in time to visit him. Janet Maslin of The New York Times panned "More American Graffiti" as "grotesquely misconceived, so much so that it nearly eradicates fond memories of the original." Laurie Henderson Hey you're s'posed to be the fastest thing in the Valley man, but that can't be your car, it must be your mama's car! The genesis of American Graffiti took place in Modesto in the early 1960s, during Lucas's teenage years. [14] They pushed hard to get Lucas to adopt any of the titles, but he was displeased with all the alternatives and persuaded Tanen to keep American Graffiti. "American Graffiti"purposefully takes place in 1962,exactly one year before John F. Kennedy's assassination changed everything. : John Milner "[52] Jay Cocks of Time magazine wrote that American Graffiti "reveals a new and welcome depth of feeling. Aliases Probably a couple of weeks past their bedtime. So I made a film where, essentially, we can get rid of some of those frustrations, the feeling that everything seems futile. When the movie was reedited in 1978, the date of his death was changed to December of 1964, most likely in anticipation of the release of its sequel, More American Graffiti. Drawing upon his large collection of vintage records, Lucas wrote each scene with a particular song in mind as its musical backdrop. Or has a boyfriend? Why did you do that? "The Wolfman was an ethereal presence in the lives of young people," said producer Gary Kurtz, "and it was that quality we wanted and obtained in the picture. Hey, Laurie, what in hell are you doin' in there? That just makes us more depressed than we were before. John is still a drag racer, and he falls. Directed by George Lucas, this 1973 classic is filled with cruising-for-a-bruising teens, young love, and all of the feels of the last summer before college. Filming was initially set to take place in San Rafael, California, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day. The film features characters intended to be Curt and Laurie Henderson's parents, Roger and Penny Henderson. Ha-ha! Technical Specs. Guess what he looks like now! A soundtrack album for the film, 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti, was issued by MCA Records. The anniversary of Milner's death is . This was acceptable to most of the companies representing Lucas's first choices, but not to RCAwith the consequence that Elvis Presley is conspicuously absent from the soundtrack. : Curt has second thoughts about leaving his home with Steve to attend an East Coast college. You take care of yourself, man. The pickin's are really gettin' slim. Curt Henderson I thought some of my friends might be here. John Milner As Terry starts the drag race, John takes the lead but Bob's tire blows out, swerving into a ditch and rolling over before bursting into flames. Date of death [11], After paying Walter, Lucas had exhausted his development fund from United Artists. He played John Milner - a role that would earn him his first Golden Globe Award. "The telephone calls [heard on the broadcasts] in the motion picture and on the soundtrack were actual calls with real people. American Graffiti premiered on August 2, 1973, at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, and was released on August 11, 1973, in the United States. : : You're a regular J.D. : [10] Universal presidents Sidney Sheinberg and Lew Wasserman heard about the praise the film had been garnering in LA and New York, and the marketing department amped up its promotion strategy for it,[10] investing an additional $500,000 (equivalent to $3.1million in 2021)[33] in marketing and promotion. [28] Murch suggested making Wolfman Jack's radio show the "backbone" of the film. "[17], Although American Graffiti is set in 1962 Modesto, Lucas believed the city had changed too much in ten years and initially chose San Rafael as the primary shooting location. Gender What was the T Bird in American Graffiti? Producer Coppola encouraged Lucas to cast Wolfman Jack as himself in a cameo appearance. What's your name? After Fields's departure, Lucas struggled with editing the film's story structure. : [22], The financial success of Graffiti also gave Lucas opportunities to establish more elaborate development for Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, and Industrial Light & Magic. Have a good trip! : Teamed Up W/ Conor's Proper No. Another night, Le Mat threw Richard Dreyfuss into a swimming pool, gashing Dreyfuss's forehead on the day before he was due to have his close-ups filmed. He encounters an employee who tells him the Wolfman does not work there and that the shows are pre-taped for replay, claiming the Wolfman "is everywhere" but promises to have the Wolfman air the request. [14] The studio, therefore, submitted a long list of over 60 alternative titles, with their favorite being Another Slow Night in Modesto[17] and Coppola's Rock Around the Block. Oh ho, funny! Good, a cop. : : Steve, aware that Laurie was Bob's passenger, rushes to the wreck as she and Bob crawl out and stagger away before the car explodes. Terry Fields : Yeah, I'll die soon, then it'll all be over, John. A nostalgic slice of Americana pie filmed in a warm, naturalistic style, "American Graffiti" is the simple, wistful story of a group of California teenagers spending one last night togetherafter their high school graduation in 1962. : It's an empathetic look at the distances in which our sorrows can migrate.". A field car runs through the fields, droppin' cow shit all over the place to make the lettuce grow. [puts the ticket in the glove compartment which is full of similar tickets]. Was John Milner in American Graffiti a real person? Few films have shown quite so well the eagerness, the sadness, the ambitions and small defeats of a generation of young Americans. [33][41], Universal Studios first released the film on DVD in September 1998,[42] and once more as a double feature with More American Graffiti (1979) in January 2004. Huyck and Katz also found the characters' futures depressing, but this only adds more pathos to the film. Chicken shit - that's what it is. More American Graffiti is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton, . 5 Who is the blonde in American Graffiti? Biographical information He gave an amount of the film's profits to Haskell Wexler for his visual consulting help during filming, and to Wolfman Jack for "inspiration". Yeah, I think so. Debbie Dunham : Wow, you're just like the Lone Ranger. Two cameras were used simultaneously in scenes involving conversations between actors in different cars, which resulted in significant production time savings. Let's get nostalgic for nostalgia and look in-depth at the making of American Graffiti . All of this contributes to fans feeling connected with each character. John Milner is the tritagonist of the film American Graffiti. Click here to add more. : Lucas's net worth was now $4million, and he set aside a $300,000 independent fund for his long-cherished space opera project, which would eventually become the basis for Star Wars (1977). You go on over there and you remember all the good times you won't be having. How old are you? : American Graffiti evokes mankind's relationship with machines, notably the elaborate number of hot rodshaving been called a "classic-car flick", representative of the motor car's importance to American culture at the time it was made. Lucas' ending sees Curt and Steve's roles reversed: Steve promises to stay with Laurie after witnessing John and Bob's explosive drag race, and Curt bids goodbye to his parents and friends. : Mind your own business, John! Richard Dreyfuss was the only principal cast member from the original film not to appear in the sequel. Kennedy's death turned America into a counterculturebattleground, and George Lucastelegraphs a breezy time period for America's youth that would soon disappear. Zack MethvinBANNEDfrom Longview Texas. But he's caught by the car thieves who beat him up until John intervenes. After leaving the hop, he is coerced into joining a group of greasers called "The Pharaohs", who force him into several tasks including stealing coins from arcade machines and hooking a chain to a police car, ripping out its back axle. Carol Yeah, sure. Physical description [34], Universal reissued Graffiti on May 26, 1978, with Dolby sound[37][38] and earned an additional $63million (equivalent to $262million in 2021),[33] which brought the total revenue for the two releases to $118million (equivalent to $490million in 2021). What happened to John Milner in American Graffiti? So was Pauline Kael, who accused Lucas of misogyny in her New Yorker review (via S-UISH): "Using women (and not only women) as plot functions may be a clue to the shallowness of many movies, even of much better moviesAmerican Graffiti, for example. Curt, Steve and Laurie attend the high-school sock hop. While a bit player in the first movie he came into his own as a character in the second one. "[31], The choice of music was crucial to the mood of each scene; it is diegetic music that the characters themselves can hear and therefore becomes an integral part of the action. John Milner is the tritagonist of the film American Graffiti. John Milner If you ever get tired of going steady with somebody that ain't around, I'm up for grabs. File that under uh, C.S. Curt Henderson Bye, Curt. As a result, production was moved to Petaluma. : [12] During this time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures all turned down the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the film. He believed that Techniscope, an inexpensive way of shooting on 35 mm film and using only half of the film's frame, would give a perfect widescreen format resembling 16 mm. There is a beautiful melancholia lurking beneath the comedic surface. However, Universal did object to the film's title, not knowing what "American Graffiti" meant;[17] Lucas was dismayed when some executives assumed he was making an Italian movie about feet. Though not openly upset, it affects her interactions with him through the night. Paul LeMat Discusses his Role as John Milner in American Graffiti. [11], Lucas planned to spend another five weeks in Europe and hoped that Huyck and Katz would agree to finish the screenplay by the time he returned, but they were about to start on their own film, Messiah of Evil,[9] so Lucas hired Richard Walter, a colleague from the USC School of Cinematic Arts for the job. But, don't take all day drinking it - please. [36] In 1995, American Graffiti was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. American Graffitimay be one of the best coming-of-age films of all time. Yeah, I know. No, get up, N-O. You've been number one as long as I can remember. Very funny. : The yellow airspeeder that Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi use to pursue bounty hunter Zam Wesell is based on John Milner's yellow deuce coupe,[73] while Dex's Diner is reminiscent of Mel's Drive-In. I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's bitchin', [John and Falfa arrive at Paradise Road for their drag race. [16] For Bob Falfa, Roos cast Harrison Ford, who was then concentrating on a carpentry career. [16] Roos, a former casting director on The Andy Griffith Show, suggested Ron Howard for Steve Bolander; Howard accepted the role to break out of the mold of his career as a child actor. Indeed, LeMat--aka, John Milner--and the coupe share paralleled popularity among American Graffiti fans, until you can hardly differentiate one without the other. Later at the airfield, he says goodbye to his parents and friends before boarding the plane. I don't like that surfin' shit. The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: It was really somethin.'. Ah, you know, I remember about five years ago, take you a couple of hours and a tank full of gas just to make one circuit. I'm stayin' right here. Hey! He also used goofs for the final cut, notably Charles Martin Smith's arriving on his scooter to meet Steve outside Mel's Drive-In. Boy, are you up a creek. : Yearbook-style photos of the four male leads appear in a shot of the sky next towriting that reveals their adult fates. Despite unanimous praise at a January 1973 test screening attended by Universal executive Ned Tanen, the studio told Lucas they wanted to re-edit his original cut of American Graffiti. : I hope she sees me. American Graffiti (1973) Harrison Ford: Bob Falfa Showing all 11 items Jump to: Photos (6) Quotes (5) Photos Quotes Bob Falfa : Hey man, I'm sorry if I scared ya! Before the mammoth success of "Star Wars," George Lucasdirected and co-wrote (along with Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck) the 1973 coming-of-age film "American Graffiti." While John helps his rival to safety, Laurie begs Steve not to leave her, he assures her that he will stay with her in Modesto. John Milner Eye color [47] Roger Ebert gave the film a full four stars and praised it for being "not only a great movie, but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant". However, before Milner died he defeated Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) in a challenge and performed well in a local competition in Modesto. The images aren't as visually striking as they would be if only there were a mind behind them; the movie has no resonance except from the jukebox sound and the eerie, nocturnal jukebox look." While the impact the late 1960s had on the characters is certainly worth expanding on, the beauty of "American Graffiti" lies in its nostalgicpreservation of an optimistic time in America. [4], Director David Fincher credited American Graffiti as a visual influence for Fight Club (1999). I'm too old for you. [8], After Warner Bros. abandoned Lucas's early version of Apocalypse Now (during the post-production of THX 1138), the filmmaker decided to continue developing Another Quiet Night in Modesto, eventually changing its title to American Graffiti. but you're still a punk. Let's catch 'em at the light. John Milner Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss? He never got over it and he still kicks himself. You can't be that old. [6] Among the actors was Mark Hamill, the future Luke Skywalker in Lucas's Star Wars trilogy. After eventually taking Carol home, John is found by Bob Falfa, successfully goading him into the definitive race along Paradise Road outside the city, the event gaining attention and causing numerous cars to tag along to watch. As a result, Lucas commissioned help from friend Haskell Wexler, who was credited as the "visual consultant". Early 1960s, during Lucas 's Star Wars trilogy also noted with disdain that the epilogue not... 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