American Graffiti Video Showcase

American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age comedy-drama film co-written/directed by George Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford. Set in 1962 Modesto, California, American Graffiti is a study of the cruising and rock and roll cultures popularized amongst the Post-World War II baby boom generation. The film is a nostalgic portrait of teenage life in the early 1960s told in a series of vignettes, featuring the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures within one night.

The genesis of American Graffiti came from Lucas's own teenage years in early 1960s Modesto. He was unsuccessful in pitching the concept to financiers and distributors, but finally found favor at Universal Pictures after United Artists, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures turned him down. Filming was initially set to take place in San Rafael, California, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day. As a result, the majority of filming for American Graffiti was conducted in Petaluma.

American Graffiti was released to universal critical acclaim and financial success, and was nominated the Academy Award for Best Picture. Produced and marketed on a small $1.27 million budget, the film has turned out to be one of the most profitable movies of all time. Since its initial release, American Graffiti has garnered an estimated return of well over $200 million in the form of box office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. In 1995 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film culturally significant and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Ronald William "Ron" Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer, as well as an actor. Howard came to prominence in the 1960s while playing Andy Griffith's TV son, Opie Taylor, on The Andy Griffith Show (credited as Ronny Howard), and later in the 1970s as Howard Cunningham's son and Arthur Fonzarelli's best friend, Richie Cunningham, on Happy Days (a role he played from 1974 to 1980). Since retiring from acting, he has directed many films including Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frost/Nixon, The Da Vinci Code, and its sequel, Angels & Demons.

Richard Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor, known for starring in a number of films, television and theater roles since the late 1960s. He is probably best known for his roles in Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Always, Mr. Hollands Opus, and most recently, the 2008 bio-pic W. as former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney.

Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977 for The Goodbye Girl, and was nominated in 1995 for Mr. Holland's Opus''. He has also won multiple Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.