Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ronny Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Philips, Cindy Willaims, Wolfman Jack
Release Date: Aug. 11, 1973
Running Time: 110 min
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Commentary American Graffiti is a wonderful portrait of American teenage life in the early '60s. The movie follows the wanderings of several teenagers one summer night in Northern California. Various rock and roll oldies from the '50s and early '60s are played throughout the movie as music radio background, introduced by the famous disk jockey Wolfman Jack.
Plot Summary American Graffiti begins at Mel's Drive In, a '50s diner in Northern California. Several teenage boys gather there one night, including the following:
Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss)
Steve Bolander (Ronny Howard)
John Milner (Paul Le Mat)
Terry 'The Toad' Fields (Charles Martin Smith)
The movie follows each of these boys that night.
Despite Curt having received a lodge scholarship, he is not sure whether he wants to go to college the next morning. He spends most of the night in other people's cars chasing "a vision", a beautiful girl in a white T-Bird.
His friend Steve is debating what to do about his steady girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams).
John wants to pick up girls, but he ends up spending most of the night "babysitting" a 14-year old girl played by Mackenzie Phillips. He ends up challenging another hoodlum to a drag race at the end of the movie.
Terry borrows Steve's car to pick up a girl on the street.
By the end of the movie, only Curt ends up going to college.
Cultural Significance More than anything else, I think American Graffiti set the tone for the '50s revival which began in the early '70s. It was followed up shortly thereafter with the hugely-popular TV sitcom "Happy Days", which also starred Ronny Howard and Cindy Williams. American Graffiti was also the first movie I know of to feature an epilogue at the end, telling what happened to each of the characters years later. This device has been used in several movies since then, usually for humor.
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Title: American Graffiti 
