“American Graffiti” a montage of music and some classic performances

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Logan5, Sep 3, 2008.

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  1. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    Does anyone know which 35 songs Lucas ended up cutting? I seem to remember The Crows' "Gee" being in the shooting script but not the finished movie.
     
  2. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    I wonder how many of the 25 tracks on the "More American Graffiti" LP (not to be confused with the soundtrack LP from the sequel) were songs that were cut from the film? Maybe all of them? Wolfman Jack voice-overs are on the album, just like on the original sountrack album, and the Crows' "Gee" is also on the album. I wish I had bought it when I saw it years ago; it appears to be quite rare as I haven't seen a copy since. :sigh:
     

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  3. johnny 99

    johnny 99 Down On Main Street

    Location:
    Toronto
    An excellent film that we loved when we first saw it in 1973 at the theatre.
    Just terrific in every way!

    (The scene where "Toad" is trying to buy a pint of Old Harper just cracks me up every time!)
     
    Jack Lord likes this.
  4. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    I'm ashamed to say I never noticed the fake sunset before, and I've seen that movie dozens of times in the theater.

    The Mel's Drive-In in the film was located on the corner of Mission and South Van Ness in San Francisco, on the opposite left corner in this shot:

    [​IMG]

    That chain was all over the Bay Area in the early '60s, and was revived in the late '80s, IIRC.
     
  5. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    It is now gone?
     
  6. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    "Gee" is in the film, but not on the soundtrack LP.
     
  7. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    Really? Do you recall approximately where in the film it is? Thanks.
     
  8. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    The Mel's location in the film is long gone, but the Mel's chain still exists. They are "retro" style diners, with '50s music piped in. The Mel's in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip is located in what used to be Ben Frank's, where a lot of hippie types used to hang out in the mid '60s. The building has fantastic googie-style architecture.

    http://www.melsdrive-in.com/

    Here's the "American Graffiti" Mel's as it looked in the '50s (located at 140 South Van Ness):

    [​IMG]

    BTW, I was wrong before about where it was located in that Google Map image. From the vantage point of the image, it was about halfway down the block on the right.
     
  9. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    It appears early in the film, while Terry the Toad is chasing Buddha the carhop around, trying to get a date.
     
    Drifter likes this.
  10. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    BTW, when I lived in SF I used to occasionally see George Lucas (?) driving around in THE '32 Ford deuce coupe, license #THX-138. This was in the '80s and early '90s.
     
  11. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    please delete - double post glitch when doing edit
     
  12. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    Thanks, I'm watching it now and there it is. :righton: IIRC, the "More American Graffiti" album I mention above mentions that "Gee" is the only track that is from the film. I read a review on the internet that said Wolfman Jack is "all over the song". :laugh:
     
  13. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    To a Brit this movie exemplifies American excess
    And the paucity of good music in this period
     
  14. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    :(
     
  15. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    Can someone give me the catalog number of the unaltered VHS version of this movie? Does anyone have an unaltered VHS version that is widescreen???
     
  16. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    Hello out there..

    I am still looking for this catalog number. I thinbk Pan and Scan is the only way to get the unaltered movie...can someone give me a catalog number?
     
  17. musicfan37

    musicfan37 Senior Member

    Just watched AG two nights ago followed by More AG last night. Great movies!
     
  18. Laservampire

    Laservampire Down with this sort of thing

    I miss logan5... he was so entertaining.
     
  19. Chip TRG

    Chip TRG Senior Member

    The original Laserdisc has the full Letterboxed ORIGINAL movie. Find it and grab it.
     
    Drifter likes this.
  20. Ready Steady Go

    Ready Steady Go Active Member

    Location:
    California
    The actors were great in this film because they didn't attempt to portray an early 60's teenager in a badly exaggerated or forced manner (even Ronny Howard, so identified as Opie Taylor and later Richie Cunningham from television, brought sinister shadings to his typical nice freckle-faced kid character in this movie). Most of these actors were pre-teens or teens themselves in 1962, so they had the natural nuances down. Candy Clark received an Oscar nomination for her dizzy Debbie turn. Even young Mackenzie Phillips gave heart to what could have been a sitcomish portrayal of a pesky kid sister by artfully playing the balance between sullen, repressed pubescence and unbridled youthful exuberance - a recurring theme in "American Graffiti" and in 1962.

    This thread has inspired me to revisit it on DVD. Thank you.
     
    Drifter likes this.
  21. jupiter8

    jupiter8 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ, USA
    anyone checked out the new Blu Ray yet?
     
  22. Marty Milton

    Marty Milton Senior Member

    Location:
    Urbana, Illinois
    In the cast lineup typed up by Logan5, he accidentally listed Richard Dreyfuss twice. In the cast listing on IMDB.com, Ron Howard is listed second.
     
  23. FatherMcKenzie

    FatherMcKenzie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Winnetka, CA, USA
    I watched the blu-ray last night and it does contain Lucas's alterations.

    I watched the film along with the U-Control video commentary and Lucas said that, originally, Universal made a series of cuts and edits he did not approve of and was quite upset about. He had his cut restored in future home video releases. I don't know the history of all of the home video releases, so I defer to the experts here.
     
  24. Kirk76

    Kirk76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texoma
    The 5.1 remix didn't make it onto the new Blu-ray & DVD for some reason. I wonder why.

    :realmad:
     
  25. lugnut2099

    lugnut2099 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri
    I believe that all the home video versions contain Lucas's "extended cut." Several minutes were added back to the film for its 1978 re-release that hadn't appeared in the original 1973 run, and I believe it's the '78 version that was released on all video versions. Other than the "digital sunset" that was added around '98, I don't believe any other changes were made to it over the years...and frankly, the digital sunset doesn't bug me a bit (besides making me wonder why he even bothered with it).
     
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