explore | Grilled Cheese

You'll notice that Milner's car has the license plate THX 138, of course, in reference to Lucas' first film "THX 1138."

"Rock 'n' roll's been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly died."
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW

Here's the entire 42-song list from the film in chronological order.
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW

Lucas wanted Elvis Presley songs too, but RCA wouldn't agree to the licensing arrangement. So in a movie absolutely saturated with early rock & roll…there's no Elvis.
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW

Within five years of its release, virtually every principal cast member was a major movie or TV star. Arguably the highest slugging percentage of any American film. #AmericanGraffiti #TCMParty

Funny seeing a VW Bug amidst all these big '50s tail-fin cars. #TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti

About 10% of the movie's entire production budget went toward music rights. Negotiating all those songs reportedly took about 14 months.
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Listen closely to the soundtrack tonight
Lucas actually wrote scenes with particular records in mind. The finished movie licensed 42 songs, from artists including Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino and the Beach Boys.
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW

There is essentially no traditional musical score in American Graffiti. Lucas instead built the movie around existing rock & roll records—something much less common in 1973 than it is today.
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And look who produced it…
Francis Ford Coppola came aboard after the success of The Godfather. His involvement helped convince a skeptical Universal to finance Lucas's strange little movie about teenagers, cars and rock & roll.
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW

This was only Lucas's second feature film as director, after the dystopian sci-fi movie THX 1138. Star Wars was still several years away.
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George Lucas modeled the story of #AmericanGraffiti on Federico Fellini's "I Vitelloni" (roughly translated as "The Slackers).

Interestingly, tonight's #TCMImports is a double feature of Fellini's two films #Amacord and "Il bidone". #TCMParty

This was a VERY small movie
The production budget was only about $770,000–$780,000. The film ultimately became one of the great low-budget success stories in Hollywood history.
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW

And Steve responds by immediately giving Terry his car to look after while he's away. #AmericanGraffiti #TCMParty

Sound designer Walter Murch helped create a “worldized” radio effect—the music and Wolfman seem to come from radios at different distances rather than simply being laid cleanly over the soundtrack. It was a remarkably inventive sound design choice.
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW (2/2)

great question!

Notice how the radio sounds different as cars move around?
#TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti ^JW (1/2)

Runaway is my favorite song on the soundtrack. What’s yours? #TCMParty #AmericanGraffiti