Story of movie More American Graffiti : More American Graffiti is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton. It is the sequel to the 1973 film American Graffiti. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college, this film shows where they end up a few years later.
| More American Graffiti | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster by William Stout | |
| Directed by | Bill L. Norton |
| Produced by | Howard Kazanjian |
| Written by | Bill L. Norton |
| Based on | Characters by George Lucas Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Caleb Deschanel |
| Edited by | Tina Hirsch |
Production company | Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million or $2.5 million |
| Box office | $8–15 million (US) |
Most of the main cast members from the first film returned for the sequel, including Candy Clark, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Bo Hopkins, and Harrison Ford. Richard Dreyfuss was the only principal cast member from the original film not to appear in the sequel. It was the final live-action theatrical film in which Ron Howard would play a credited, named character.
Screenplay
The film, set over the course of four consecutive New Year's Eves from 1964 to 1967, depicts scenes from each of these years, intertwined with one another as though events happen simultaneously. The audience is protected from confusion by the use of a distinct cinematic style for each section. For example, the 1966 sequences echo the movie of Woodstock using split screens and multiple angles of the same event simultaneously on screen, the 1965 sequences (set in Vietnam) shot hand-held on grainy super 16 mm film designed to resemble war reporters' footage. The film attempts to memorialize the 1960s with sequences that recreate the sense and style of those days with references to Haight-Ashbury, the campus peace movement, the beginnings of the modern woman's liberation movement and the accompanying social revolt. One character burns his draft card, showing a younger audience what so many Americans had done on the television news ten years before the movie's release. Other characters are shown frantically disposing of their marijuana before a traffic stop as a police officer pulls them over, and another scene shows the police brutality with billy clubs during an anti-Vietnam protest.
The fates of the main characters listed at the end of American Graffiti are updated at the end of this sequel.
- John Milner is shown driving his trademark yellow deuce coupe toward another vehicle's headlights on New Year's Eve 1964. After disappearing over a small hill, neither his taillights nor the approaching car's headlights are seen again, hinting that this was the crash in which Milner was killed. The anniversary of John's death is mentioned in both the 1965 and 1966 sequences.
- Terry "The Toad" Fields fakes his own death in Vietnam. Disillusioned with the war, he decides to desert, saying he plans to go to Europe. Terry's superiors believe him to be dead in 1965, as do Debbie in 1966 and Steve and Laurie in 1967.
- Joe Young (the leader of "The Pharaohs") is killed by a sniper in Vietnam after promising to make Terry a Pharaoh once they return to civilian life.
- Steve and Laurie's relationship is strained by her insistence that she start her own career. Steve forbids it, saying he wants her to be a mom to their young twins.
- Free-spirited Debbie "Deb" Dunham has switched from Old Harper whisky to marijuana and has given up her platinum blonde persona for a hippie/groupie one in a long, strange trip that ends with her performing with a country-and-western music group.
Wolfman Jack briefly reprised his role, but in voice only. The drag racing scenes were filmed at the Fremont Raceway, later Baylands Raceway Park (now the site of automobile dealerships), in Fremont, California.
- Paul Le Mat as John Milner
- Cindy Williams as Laurie Henderson Bolander
- Candy Clark as Debbie Dunham
- Ron Howard as Steve Bolander
- Mackenzie Phillips as Carol "Rainbow" Morrison
- Charles Martin Smith as Terry "The Toad" Fields
- Scott Glenn as Newt
- Mary Kay Place as Teensa
- Anna Bjorn as Eva
- Wolfman Jack as Himself
- Rosanna Arquette as Girl in Commune
- Jonathan Gries as Ron
- Naomi Judd as Girl on Bus
- Bo Hopkins as Little Joe
- Harrison Ford as Officer Bob Falfa
- Delroy Lindo as Army SSgt.
- James Houghton as Sinclair
- John Lansing as Lance Harris
- Will Seltzer as Andy Henderson
- Monica Tenner as Moonflower
- Carol-Ann Williams as Vikki Townsend
- Tom Baker as a police officer
Development
The movie was written and directed by Bill L. Norton who was picked by Lucas as being suitable due to his California upbringing and experience with comedy. Lucas was involved in the production by acting as the executive producer, editing both Norton's screenplay and the finished motion picture, and even manning a camera for sequences set in the Vietnam War.
It was released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1979 or 1980. It was released on DVD in September 2003 and once more as a double feature with American Graffiti (1973) in January 2004. It was released on Digital in 2011. It was released on Blu-ray for Europe in May 2012 and for North America in June 2018.
The film also featured a 24-track soundtrack entitled More American Graffiti, featuring music from the movie along with voice-over tracks of Wolfman Jack. The soundtrack, originally released in 1979 as MCA 2-11006, is long out of print, and has never been released on CD.
A fictional band called Electric Haze featuring Doug Sahm appears in the film, most notably performing the Bo Diddley song "I'm A Man".
An earlier album, also entitled More American Graffiti, was an official album sequel to the first soundtrack to American Graffiti. The album (MCA 8007) was released in 1975, four years before the film sequel of the same name was released. While only one of the songs in this album was actually used in the 1973 motion picture, this collection was compiled and approved by George Lucas for commercial release. In 1976 MCA Records released a third and final Various Artists double album set entitled: American Graffiti Vol. III (MCA 8008). Unike the first two albums, American Graffiti Vol. III does not include Wolfman Jack dialogue.
Box office
More American Graffiti opened on August 3, 1979. The Numbers cites the gross at $8.1 million, and Box Office Mojo at $15 million. Despite its minor box office success, its gross was nowhere near as high as that of American Graffiti, even though Ron Howard, Cindy Williams and Harrison Ford were bigger stars (due to their major roles in the TV hits Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley and the film Star Wars) in 1979 than they had been in 1973.
Critical reception
The film received negative reviews from critics, in contrast to the critical acclaim received by its predecessor. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 22% of critics were positive based on nine reviews.
Dale Pollock of Variety stated in his review that "More American Graffiti may be one of the most innovative and ambitious films of the last five years, but by no means is it one of the most successful."
Lucas reflected on the experience in 1997 during the production of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, remarking to Frank Oz, "You just never know on these things. I did a More American Graffiti; it made ten cents. Just failed miserably."
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