History Trivia / AmericanGraffiti

** Among non-technical problems, Paul LeMat had to be rushed to hospital after suffering a walnut allergy flare-up, Creator/RichardDreyfuss had his forehead gashed after LeMat threw him into a swimming pool the day before his closeups were to be filmed, Le Mat, Ford, and Bo Hopkins were claimed (according to a biography on Lucas with no source citations) to be drunk most nights and every weekend, and had conducted climbing competitions to the top of the local Holiday Inn sign and one actor set fire to Lucas' motel room.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RichardDreyfuss. Also the first significant non-child role for Creator/RonHoward.

** Creator/GeorgeLucas was so impressed by Creator/RichardDreyfuss that he was offered a choice between playing Curt or Steve. Dreyfus chose Curt as he figured it was closer to his true personality.

** Budgetary reasons meant that Creator/GeorgeLucas to drop the opening scene, in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist.

** Creator/GeorgeLucas was so impressed by Creator/RichardDreyfus that he was offered a choice between playing Curt or Steve. Dreyfus chose Curt as he figured it was closer to his true personality.

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #77
** AFIS100Years100Laughs: #43
** AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #62

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

** Creator/GeorgeLucas offered Creator/RichardDreyfuss one of two roles - Curt Henderson or Terry "the Toad" Fields. He chose Curt.

** Lucas wanted a few Music/ElvisPresley songs, but with the soundtrack being absurdly expensive right from the start, they were the first on the list to go.

** Lucas was so impressed by Richard Dreyfus that he was offered a choice between playing Curt or Steve. Dreyfus chose Curt as he figured it was closer to his true personality.

* WagTheDirector: Creator/HarrisonFord refused to cut his hair in a 1950s style, so as a compromise he was allowed to wear a cowboy hat.

** Creator/BobBalaban auditioned for Curt.

* CreatorsOddball: Creator/GeorgeLucas, a man associated with science-fiction/fantasy, made a realistic coming of age story.

* ExecutiveMeddling / ReCut: Universal trimmed four minutes from the film for its initial release. When it was re-released to theaters in 1978, following the success of ''Star Wars'' and Lucas' resulting clout, the cut scenes (including Toad dealing with a [[HonestJohnsDealership fast-talking car salesman]] and Bob Falfa serenading Laurie with "[[Theatre/SouthPacific Some Enchanted Evening]]") were put back in. Producer Coppola openly sympathized with Lucas over the matter, as he himself also dealt with executive meddling while shooting ''Film/TheGodfather''.

* WorkingTitle: Creator/{{Universal}} wasn't all that keen on ''American Graffiti'' as a title, so a large number of alternatives were tossed around -- ''Another Slow Night in Modesto'', ''The Hot Time'', ''The Wild Summer'', ''Color Them Wild'', ''The Young Crowd'', ''Summer Blood'', ''Wild Is the Blood'', ''The Young and the Doomed'', ''The Last Free Summer'', ''The Summer Before'', ''The Savage Heart'', ''The Cherry Coke Summer'', ''Look Back Once'', ''The Fast and the Deadly'', ''The Fires of Summer'', ''The Violent Four'', ''Before We Grow Up'', ''No More Rock'', ''The Frantic Heart'', ''The Games of Summer'', ''The Toy Dreams Gone'', ''The Yesterday People'', ''The Boys and Their Girls'', ''Last Knight to Make Out'', ''Burger City Blues'', ''A Night to Get Ready'', ''Make Out at Burger City'', ''A Night in '62'', ''Rock Around the Clock'', ''Last Night Together'', ''Remember '62'', ''Goodbye Burger City'', ''High School's Over'', ''Kids'', ''Buddies No More'', ''Ask Wolfman Jack'', ''Pals 'n Gals'', ''Make-Out'', ''Buddies'', ''Supercola'', ''The Race'', ''Growing Up'', ''Burger City'', ''The Drag Years'', ''Those Were the Days'', ''The Good Times'', ''The Sock Hop'', ''Wine, Women & Song'', ''1962 Was Some Year'', ''Collage'', ''Class of '62'', ''The Rock Set'', ''Rock Generation'', ''To Learn About the World'', ''A New World Tomorrow'', ''Misadventure'' and ''Rebus''.

* WorkingTitle: Several titles were tossed around - ''The Hot Time'', ''The Wild Summer'', ''Color Them Wild'', ''The Young Crowd'', ''Summer Blood'', ''Wild Is the Blood'', ''The Young and the Doomed'', ''The Last Free Summer'', ''The Summer Before'', ''The Savage Heart'', ''The Cherry Coke Summer'', ''Look Back Once'', ''The Fast and the Deadly'', ''The Fires of Summer'', ''The Violent Four'', ''Before We Grow Up'', ''No More Rock'', ''The Frantic Heart'', ''The Games of Summer'', ''The Toy Dreams Gone'', ''The Yesterday People'', ''The Boys and Their Girls'', ''Last Knight to Make Out'', ''Burger City Blues'', ''A Night to Get Ready'', ''Make Out at Burger City'', ''A Night in '62'', ''Rock Around the Clock'', ''Last Night Together'', ''Remember '62'', ''Goodbye Burger City'', ''High School's Over'', ''Kids'', ''Buddies No More'', ''Ask Wolfman Jack'', ''Pals 'n Gals'', ''Make-Out'', ''Buddies'', ''Supercola'', ''The Race'', ''Growing Up'', ''Burger City'', ''The Drag Years'', ''Those Were the Days'', ''The Good Times'', ''The Sock Hop'', ''Wine, Women & Song'', ''1962 Was Some Year'', ''Collage'', ''Class of '62'', ''The Rock Set'', ''Rock Generation'', ''To Learn About the World'', ''A New World Tomorrow'', ''Misadventure'' and ''Rebus''.

* WorkingTitle: Several titles were tossed around - ''The Hot Time'', ''The Wild Summer'', ''Color Them Wild'', ''The Young Crowd'', ''Summer Blood'', ''Wild Is the Blood'', ''The Young and the Doomed'', ''The Last Free Summer'', ''The Summer Before'', ''The Savage Heart'', ''The Cherry Coke Summer'', ''Look Back Once'', ''The Fast and the Deadly'', ''The Fires of Summer'', ''The Violent Four'', ''Before We Grow Up'', ''No More Rock'', ''The Frantic Heart'', ''The Games of Summer'', ''The Toy Dreams Gone'', ''The Yesterday People'', ''The Boys and Their Girls'', ''Last Knight to Make Out'', ''Burger City Blues'', ''A Night to Get Ready'', ''Make Out at Burger City'', ''A Night in '62'', ''Rock Around the Clock'', ''Last Night Together'', ''Remember '62'', ''Goodbye Burger City'', High School's Over'', ''Kids'', ''Buddies No More'', ''Ask Wolfman Jack'', ''Pals 'n Gals'', ''Make-Out'', ''Buddies'', ''Supercola'', ''The Race'', ''Growing Up'', ''Burger City'', ''The Drag Years'', ''Those Were the Days'', ''The Good Times'', ''The Sock Hop'', ''Wine, Women & Song'', ''1962 Was Some Year'', ''Collage'', ''Class of '62'', ''The Rock Set'', ''Rock Generation'', ''To Learn About the World'', ''A New World Tomorrow'', ''Misadventure'' and ''Rebus''.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
** Universal thought so little of the film (not knowing how to market it, and certain that as it had no stars it would flop), that it sat on the shelf for six months before the studio finally decided to release it. To their great surprise, it became enormously successful at the box-office.
** Creator/RichardDreyfuss thought at the time that this was just another film.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: John Milner is based on Lucas' friend Creator/JohnMilius, with an affinity for cars in lieu of surfing and firearms.

* ShoutOut: Anakin's yellow speeder in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' is colored the same as John Milner's Deuce Coupe.

* WorkingTitle: Several titles were tossed around - ''The Hot Time'', ''The Wild Summer'', Color Them Wild'', ''The Young Crowd'', ''Summer Blood'', ''Wild Is the Blood'', ''The Young and the Doomed'', ''The Last Free Summer'', ''The Summer Before'', ''The Savage Heart'', ''The Cherry Coke Summer'', ''Look Back Once'', ''The Fast and the Deadly'', ''The Fires of Summer'', ''The Violent Four'', ''Before We Grow Up'', ''No More Rock'', ''The Frantic Heart'', ''The Games of Summer'', ''The Toy Dreams Gone'', ''The Yesterday People'', ''The Boys and Their Girls'', ''Last Knight to Make Out'', ''Burger City Blues'', ''A Night to Get Ready'', ''Make Out at Burger City'', ''A Night in '62'', ''Rock Around the Clock'', ''Last Night Together'', ''Remember '62'', ''Goodbye Burger City'', High School's Over'', ''Kids'', ''Buddies No More'', ''Ask Wolfman Jack'', ''Pals 'n Gals'', ''Make-Out'', ''Buddies'', ''Supercola'', ''The Race'', ''Growing Up'', ''Burger City'', ''The Drag Years'', ''Those Were the Days'', ''The Good Times'', ''The Sock Hop'', ''Wine, Women & Song'', ''1962 Was Some Year'', ''Collage'', ''Class of '62'', ''The Rock Set'', ''Rock Generation'', ''To Learn About the World'', ''A New World Tomorrow'', ''Misadventure'' and ''Rebus''.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: The film was inspired by Creator/GeorgeLucas' teenage years.

** If the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' novel "[[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_Exodus Alien Exodus]]" had been published, it would've been CanonWelding of the highest order- a descendant of Curtis Henderson, Dale Hender, and a couple of allies would've escaped Earth as it was being taken over by computers (leading to what occurred in ''Film/THX1138''- Hender was to be the first of the THX series), only to fall into a hyperspace disturbance, into the ''Star Wars'' galaxy and onto what would eventually become Corellia (briefly facing a beat from ''Film/{{Willow}}'' as well). A further story then detailed how Dale's descendant, Cosmo Hender, eventually became the first of the Skywalkers.

** And when the film was screened for a test audience, Universal Studios representative Ned Tanen told Lucas the film was unreleaseable, prompting an outraged Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (the film's producer) to offer to buy the film from Universal and release it himself while Lucas, burned out from the chaotic film shoot, could only watch in shock. Instead, Universal offered a compromise whereby they could suggest modifications to the film before release. It was not until 1978, after the success of ''Film/StarWars'', that Lucas was able to re-edit and release the film as he originally intended.

** In Sweden, the film was called "Sista natten med gänget", meaning "The Last Night with the Gang".

* TakeThat: Is the result of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola stating that Creator/GeorgeLucas couldn't do a simple mainstream movie when Lucas was making ''Film/THX1138''.

* ThrowItIn: Toad crashing his moped into the trash can during the opening credits was an actual, unscripted accident.

* NiceHat: Bob Falfa's cowboy hat exists because Creator/HarrisonFord refused to get a period-appropriate haircut and consequently be sidelined from working in other projects while waiting for it to grow back out.

** Lucas wanted a few Elvis Presley songs, but with the soundtrack being absurdly expensive right from the start, they were the first on the list to go.