More American Graffiti
Encyclopedia
More American Graffiti is the 1979
sequel film to George Lucas
's hit 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 us where the characters from the first film end up a few years later.
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
, and Charles Martin Smith
. Harrison Ford
even makes a cameo appearance
. Richard Dreyfuss
was the only principal cast member from the original film not to appear in the sequel.
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 burned 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 listed fates of the main characters at the ending sequence of American Graffiti
were updated again at the end of this sequel. In More American Graffiti, John Milner was revealed to have been killed by a drunk driver in December 1964 (reminiscent of the death of James Dean
in 1955, though the accident involving Dean did not involve a drunk driver), with the ending scene of the movie driving his trademark yellow Deuce at night along a lonely highway toward another vehicle's headlights, and is never seen going further, hinting that the crash was in that vicinity. Set on New Year's Eve
1964, it is never actually shown that his tragic end comes after his racing win on the last day of the year, very probably instead into the first few moments of 1965, given that the 1967 segment was just barely into 1968. The anniversary of John's death is mentioned in both the 1965 and 1966 sequences. Terry "The Toad" Fields' classification as "missing in action
" is not explored in greater detail since the movie shows that he faked his own death. The ending sequence would have read "killed in action
" had the story ended there. Terry is believed to be dead by his superiors in 1965 and by his friends – Debbie in 1966 and Steve and Laurie in 1967. Joe Young (the leader of "The Pharaohs"), Toad's war partner, vividly meets his death with a sniper
's bullet to the chest in one scene after having promised to make Terry a Pharaoh once they get back from Vietnam.
The relationship of Steve and Laurie is strained by Laurie's insistence that she start her own career, though Steve forbids it saying he wants her to be a mom to their young twins. Free-spirited Debbie "Deb" Dunham has turned from Old Harper 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 for More American Graffiti were filmed at the Fremont Raceway, later Baylands Raceway Park, in Fremont, California
.
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
.
entitled More American Graffiti which has only been released in double Long Play album, 8-Track tape cartridge and cassette tape form (No CD). The soundtrack, originally released in 1979 as MCA2-11006, is long out of print, and featured music from the movie along with voice-over tracks of Wolfman Jack
.
A fictional band called Electric Haze featuring Doug Sahm
appears in the film, most notably performing the Bo Diddley
song "I'm A Man
".
Another album, also entitled More American Graffiti, was an official album sequel to the first soundtrack to the film 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 soundtrack album as well as it's sequel, American Graffiti Vol. III does not include Wolfman Jack
dialogue.
Its critical reception was nowhere near as positive as it had been for American Graffiti. Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 22% of critics gave positive reviews based on nine reviews.
Dale Pollack 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."
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
sequel film to George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
's hit film American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
, this film shows us where the characters from the first film end up a few years later.
Most of the main cast members from the first film returned for the sequel, including Candy Clark
Candy Clark
Candace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
, Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
, Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
, Cindy Williams
Cindy Williams
Cynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
, Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
, and Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
. Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
even makes a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
. Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
was the only principal cast member from the original film not to appear in the sequel.
Plot
The film, set over the 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 conceit of a distinct cinematic style for each section. For example, the 1966 sequences echo the movie of WoodstockWoodstock (film)
Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...
using split screens and multiple angles of the same event simultaneously on screen, the 1965 sequences (set in Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
) 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
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
. One character burned 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
Traffic stop
A traffic stop, commonly called Being pulled over, is a temporary detention of a driver of a vehicle by police to investigate a possible crime or civil infraction. In constitutional law in the United States, a traffic stop is considered to be a subset of the Terry stop; the standard set by the...
as a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
pulls them over, and another scene shows the police brutality with billy clubs during an anti-Vietnam protest.
The listed fates of the main characters at the ending sequence of American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
were updated again at the end of this sequel. In More American Graffiti, John Milner was revealed to have been killed by a drunk driver in December 1964 (reminiscent of the death of James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
in 1955, though the accident involving Dean did not involve a drunk driver), with the ending scene of the movie driving his trademark yellow Deuce at night along a lonely highway toward another vehicle's headlights, and is never seen going further, hinting that the crash was in that vicinity. Set on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
1964, it is never actually shown that his tragic end comes after his racing win on the last day of the year, very probably instead into the first few moments of 1965, given that the 1967 segment was just barely into 1968. The anniversary of John's death is mentioned in both the 1965 and 1966 sequences. Terry "The Toad" Fields' classification as "missing in action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
" is not explored in greater detail since the movie shows that he faked his own death. The ending sequence would have read "killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
" had the story ended there. Terry is believed to be dead by his superiors in 1965 and by his friends – Debbie in 1966 and Steve and Laurie in 1967. Joe Young (the leader of "The Pharaohs"), Toad's war partner, vividly meets his death with a sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
's bullet to the chest in one scene after having promised to make Terry a Pharaoh once they get back from Vietnam.
The relationship of Steve and Laurie is strained by Laurie's insistence that she start her own career, though Steve forbids it saying he wants her to be a mom to their young twins. Free-spirited Debbie "Deb" Dunham has turned from Old Harper to marijuana and has given up her platinum blonde
Platinum Blonde
Platinum Blonde may refer to:* Platinum Blonde , a 1931 film starring Jean Harlow* Platinum Blonde , a Canadian New Wave music band, popular in the 1980s* Platinum blonde, a color of hair...
persona for a hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
/groupie
Groupie
A groupie is a person who seeks emotional and sexual intimacy with a musician or other celebrity. "Groupie" is derived from group in reference to a musical group, but the word is also used in a more general sense, especially in casual conversation....
one in a long, strange trip that ends with her performing with a country-and-western music group. Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
briefly reprised his role, but in voice only. The drag racing scenes for More American Graffiti were filmed at the Fremont Raceway, later Baylands Raceway Park, in Fremont, California
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
.
Cast
- Paul Le MatPaul Le MatPaul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
as John Milner - Cindy WilliamsCindy WilliamsCynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
as Laurie Henderson Bolander - Candy ClarkCandy ClarkCandace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
as Debbie Dunham - Ron HowardRon HowardRonald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
as Steve Bolander - Mackenzie PhillipsMackenzie PhillipsMackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
as Carol / Rainbow - Charles Martin SmithCharles Martin SmithCharles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
as Terry "The Toad" Fields - Scott GlennScott GlennTheodore Scott Glenn is an American actor. His roles have included Wes Hightower in Urban Cowboy , astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff ,Emmett in Silverado , Commander Bart Mancuso in The Hunt for Red October , Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs and The Wise Man in Sucker Punch -Early...
as Newt - Mary Kay PlaceMary Kay PlaceMary Kay Place is an American actress, singer, director and screen writer. She is best known as portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series in 1977...
as Teensa - Anna BjornAnna BjornAnna Bjorn is an Icelandic model and actress. She was born in 1955, and was Miss Iceland 1974. She has starred in several movies and television shows in the 1980s . She was briefly married to Icelandic actor and musician Jakob Magnússon...
as Eva - Wolfman JackWolfman JackRobert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
as Himself - Rosanna ArquetteRosanna ArquetteRosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and producer.-Early life:Arquette was born in New York City, the daughter of Brenda Olivia "Mardi" , an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Her paternal...
as Girl in Commune - Jonathan GriesJon GriesJonathan Francis "Jon" Gries is an American actor, writer and director. He is also credited under the names Jon Francis and Jonathan Gries. He is known for his role in Napoleon Dynamite as Uncle Rico, and more recently as recurring character Roger Linus on Lost...
as Ron - Naomi JuddNaomi JuddNaomi Judd is an American country music singer, songwriter, and activist.-Personal life:She was born Diana Ellen Judd to Charles Glen Judd and his wife Pauline Judd on January 11, 1946, in Ashland, Kentucky. Her father owned a gas station; her mother started out as a homemaker but later became a...
as Girl on Bus - Bo HopkinsBo HopkinsBo Hopkins is an American actor.-Career:Hopkins has appeared in more than one hundred film and television roles in a career of more than forty years, including The Bridge at Remagen, The Wild Bunch, The Getaway, American Graffiti, White Lightning, Radioland Murders, The Killer Elite, Midnight...
as Little Joe - Harrison FordHarrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Officer Bob Falfa - Delroy LindoDelroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
as Army SSgt. - John Lansing as Lance Harris
- Will SeltzerWill SeltzerWill Seltzer is an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as Johnny Dangerously, The Wizard and More American Graffiti...
as Andy Henderson - Monica Tenner as Moonflower
- Carol-Ann Williams as Viki Townsend
Production
The movie was written and directed by Bill L. NortonBill L. Norton
Bill L. Norton is a film director, writer and producer. He also has directed many television series, among them Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, John Doe, Hack, Las Vegas, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Lincoln Heights and Roswell.He is the son of screenwriter William W...
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
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Soundtrack
The film also featured a thirty-three track soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
entitled More American Graffiti which has only been released in double Long Play album, 8-Track tape cartridge and cassette tape form (No CD). The soundtrack, originally released in 1979 as MCA2-11006, is long out of print, and featured music from the movie along with voice-over tracks of Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
.
A fictional band called Electric Haze featuring Doug Sahm
Doug Sahm
Douglas Wayne Sahm , was an American musician from Texas. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he was a child prodigy in country music, but became a significant figure in blues rock and other genres. Today Sahm is considered one of the most important figures in what is identified as Tejano music...
appears in the film, most notably performing the Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
song "I'm A Man
I'm A Man (Bo Diddley song)
"I'm a Man" is a song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. A moderately slow blues with a stop-time figure, it was inspired by an earlier blues song and became a #1 R&B chart hit. "I'm a Man" has been acknowledged by Rolling Stone magazine and has been recorded by a variety of artists,...
".
Another album, also entitled More American Graffiti, was an official album sequel to the first soundtrack to the film American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
. 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
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
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 soundtrack album as well as it's sequel, American Graffiti Vol. III does not include Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
dialogue.
Reception
More American Graffiti opened on August 3, 1979 grossed $8,100,000 in the United States. Despite its minor box office success, its gross was nowhere near as much as American Graffiti grossed.Its critical reception was nowhere near as positive as it had been for American Graffiti. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 22% of critics gave positive reviews based on nine reviews.
Dale Pollack 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."