American Graffiti

"Where were you in '62?"

1973 1h 52m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 1,656🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●97Metacritic★7.4IMDB · 104,185

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

“Where were you in '62?”

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Cast

Richard Dreyfuss
Curt Henderson
Ron Howard
Steve Bolander
Paul Le Mat
John Milner
Charles Martin Smith
Terry 'The Toad' Fields
Cindy Williams
Laurie Henderson
Candy Clark
Debbie Dunham
Mackenzie Phillips
Carol
Wolfman Jack
XERB Disc Jockey

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George Lucas
Writers: Willard Huyck, George Lucas, Gloria Katz
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $140M — a 180.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "American Graffiti Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George Lucas, shot by Jan D'Alquen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Marcia Lucas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard and Paul Le Mat carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Where were you in '62?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Lucas directs. Jan D'Alquen behind the camera. Marcia Lucas cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $140M — a 180.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
353 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "American Graffiti Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by George Lucas, shot by Jan D'Alquen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Marcia Lucas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard and Paul Le Mat carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Where were you in '62?".
9IMDB entry: tt0069704 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 19 themes, including "farewell", "california", "rock 'n' roll", "robbery".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jan D'Alquen
Editing: Marcia Lucas
Costume design: Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Makeup / hair: Gerry Leetch
Sound: Walter Murch
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $777,000
Box office: $140,000,000
Return: 18018% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: American Graffiti (1973)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 97/100
IMDB rating: 7.4/10 · 104,185 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Nominated for 5 Oscars. 9 wins & 13 nominations total

Part of

American Graffiti Collection

A coming-of-age film series that follows a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college. The sequel follows the characters from the first film a few years later.

Also by

George Lucas

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Rob2023-05-13
★ 6/10
It's 1962. '50s cool cars, killer music and an all-star cast from before they were stars. The story doesn't really mean anything here, it's all about the ambience of the period. So put on a white T-shirt, slick back your hair and feel young again.

Production companies