American Graffiti (PG, 1973)

AMERICAN GREAFFITI is a coming-of-age dramedy set in Modesto, California. Steven (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfus) are leaving for college. Over the course of a long last night, Steven and Laurie (Cindy Williams) resolve to date others, while Curt chases a mysterious blonde woman (Suzanne Sommers) in a T-bird. Meanwhile, Steven's friend Toad takes Steven's car and romances the somewhat dim Debbie. Another friend, John Milner, wants to drag race hot-shot Bob (Harrison Ford). Unfortunately, Milner gets saddled with a whiny 13-year-old for the evening. Before the night is over, Curt escapes the clutches of a gang, destroys a cop car, and consults with Wolfman Jack. Toad's (borrowed) car is stolen and Milner narrowly defeats Bob, who crashes with Laurie in tow. Curt departs for college while Steven decides to stay with Laurie for one more year. With varying degrees of anticipation and fear, the teens leave high school behind.

The music! The clothes! The stars! The cars!! An unknown George Lucas, four years before he would make Star Wars, set a standard for teen movies. American Graffiti's cast is uniformly strong. Most of the young actors are famous now -- Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfus, and Suzanne Sommers. And the soundtrack, virtually a greatest hits collection from the era, includes recordings from such early rock legends as Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Fats Domino. The songs are beautifully woven into the restless teenage world.

Like the characters themselves, America in 1962 was on the brink of enormous changes, and Lucas captures that momentous feeling tinged with uneasiness. Children may ask, "Was it really like that?" One twelve-year-old enjoyed the movie, but had lots of questions: "Who was Wolfman Jack?" and "Did kids really say stupid things like Neat?" The child laughed at exchanges that are supposed to be risky, but seem innocent by today's standards -- less offensive than what kids see in the eight o'clock family hour.