More American Graffiti (1979)

Director:

Bill L. Norton

Writers:

Bill L. Norton (written by)
George Lucas (characters) ...

Release Date:

3 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

The sights and sounds of the '60s. There were bittersweet times. There were funny times. And it was all unforgettable.

Plot:

College graduates deal with Vietnam and other issues of the late '60s. |

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Box Office Flop | Sequel | National Guard | Faked Death

Cast

Candy Clark	...	Debbie Dunham
Bo Hopkins	...	Little Joe
Ron Howard	...	Steve Bolander
Paul Le Mat	...	John Milner
Mackenzie Phillips	...	Carol / Rainbow
Charles Martin Smith	...	Terry the Toad
Cindy Williams	...	Laurie Bolander
Anna Bjorn	...	Eva
Richard Bradford	...	Major Creech
John Brent	...	Ralph
Country Joe McDonald	...	Country Joe and the Fish
Barry Melton	...	Country Joe and the Fish (as Barry 'the Fish' Melton)
Robert Hogins	...	Country Joe and the Fish
Robert Flurie	...	Country Joe and the Fish
Peter Albin	...	Country Joe and the Fish

Also Known As:

Purple Haze

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Icelandic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (1992) | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-12 | UK:12 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Baylands Raceway Park - 44333 Christy Lane, Fremont, California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

George Lucas's original four story lines were about Curt (Richard Dreyfuss's character) and Laurie (Cindy Williams and the changes they underwent in the sixties, Debby (Candy Clark) being a topless dancer who had an affair with a local politician, Milner (Paul Le Mat) trying to beat the Factory Racing team at the local drag strip and Toad (Charles Martin Smith) in Vietnam. When Dreyfuss refused to sign on, Lucas had to invent a new character, Laurie's younger brother Andy (Will Seltzer, who also auditioned for Star Wars (1977)).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Toad brings the cake to Major Creech, the major is not wearing a cap. After Toad blows up the latrine and the Major is covered in waste, he has a cap on.

Quotes:

Rob: Debbie, you wanna stay away form weed. You know it's gonna lead you into cigarettes.

Movie Connections:

References "MisteRogers' Neighborhood" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Just Like a Woman

Unwanted, unloved but not without its good points

Like Texasville, The Two Jakes and, before long, Evan Almighty, More American Graffiti is one of those sequels to that most people not only didn't want but don't know even exists: certainly George Lucas seems happy to pretend it doesn't (it's conspicuous by its complete absence in the otherwise comprehensive 78-minute documentary on the DVD for the original film), a fate not even Howard the Duck or The Radioland Murders share among his oeuvre. No Richard Dreyfuss, and Ron Howard is little more than a cameo but the rest of the original cast are all present and correct – even an unbilled Harrison Ford turns up as a traffic cop – while Scott Glenn, Delroy Lindo and Rosanna Arquette provide the "they were around that long?" factor in the supporting cast. Yet the result is even more of a mixed bag than the original, with writer-director Bill L. Norton separating his main characters over four different New Year's Eves with wildly varying results: Paul Le Mat has now graduated to drag racing, perhaps the least cinematic sport ever invented, Cindy Williams and Ron Howard get mixed up in student riots, Candy Clark's hippie chick finally gets the message about her loser guitarist boyfriend while, in by far the best part of the film, Charles Martin Smith's Terry the Toad is doing everything he possibly can to get out of Vietnam. Shot in multiple aspect ratios from 1.33:1 to 2.35:1 and with some imaginative and often amusing split-screen work, the execution is often better than the material and it's more entertaining than you might expect, but there's little of the resonance of the original.