American Graffiti

American Graffiti

Where were you in '62?

Starring:
Richard Dreyfuss
Ronny Howard
Paul Le Mat
Charlie Martin Smith
Candy Clark
Mackenzie Phillips
Cindy Williams
and
Wolfman Jack

Written and Directed by George Lucas
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola

A Universal Picture

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American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas. Set in 1962 Modesto, California, American Graffiti is a study of the cruising and rock and roll cultures popular among the post–World War II baby boom generation. The film is a nostalgic portrait of teenage life in the early 1960s, featuring the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures within one night.

The story of American Graffiti was in Lucas's own teenage years in early 1960s Modesto. He was unsuccessful in pitching the concept to financiers and distributors, but finally found favor at Universal Pictures after United Artists, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Paramount Pictures turned him down.

American Graffiti was released to universal critical acclaim and financial success, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie was produced on a budget of only $775,000, and since its initial release, it has made over $200 million in box office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. In 1995, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film culturally significant and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.