Friday, June 15, 2012

LET'S GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE...

Ron Howard test drives owner, Skip White's 1923 T-bucket roadster.























- FULL CAST & CREW CREDITS -

Director
 
George Lucas
Writing Credits
George Lucas
Gloria Katz
Willard Huyck

CAST


Richard Dreyfuss... Curt

Ron Howard... Steve (as Ronny Howard)

Paul Le Mat... John

Charles Martin Smith... Terry (as Charlie Martin Smith)

Cindy Williams... Laurie

Candy Clark... Debbie

Mackenzie Phillips... Carol

Wolfman Jack... Disc Jockey

Bo Hopkins... Joe
Manuel Padilla Jr.... Carlos
Beau Gentry... Ants

Harrison Ford... Bob Falfa
Jim Bohan... Holstein
Jana Bellan... Budda - Car hop
Deby Celiz... Wendy

Lynne Marie Stewart... Bobbie

Terence McGovern... Mr. Wolfe (as Terry McGovern)

Kathleen Quinlan... Peg (as Kathy Quinlan)
Tim Crowley... Eddie
Scott Beach... Mr. Gordon
John Brent... Car Salesman
Gordon Analla... Bozo

John Bracci... Station Attendant
Jody Carlson... Girl in Studebaker
Del Close... Man at Bar
Chuck Dorsett... Man at Accident (as Charles Dorsett)
Stephen Knox... Kid at Accident
Joe Miksak... Man at Liquor Store
George Meyer... Bum at Liquor Store
James Cranna... Thief
Johnny Weissmuller Jr.... Badass #1         Rick Boom   ... Badass #2 (uncredited)
William Niven... Clerk at Liquor Store
Al Nalbandian... Hank
Bob Pasaak... Dale
Chris Pray... Al
Susan Richardson... Judy
Fred Ross... Ferber
Jan Dunn... Old Woman
Charlie Murphy... Old Man
Ed Greenberg... Kip
Lisa Herman... Girl in Dodge
Mark Anger... Mr. Kroot (as Irving Israel)

Kay Lenz... Jane (as Kay Ann Kemper)
Caprice Schmidt... Announcer at Dance

Joe Spano... Vic
Debralee Scott... Falfa's Girl
Ron Vincent... Jeff
Donna Wehr... Carhop          Judy Feil   ... Carhop (uncredited extra)
Cam Whitman... Balloon Girl
Jan Wilson... Girl at Dance

Suzanne Somers... Blonde in T-Bird
Warren Knight... Herby and the Heartbeats (as Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids)
Sam McFadin... Herby and the Heartbeats (as Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids)
Kris Moe... Herby and the Heartbeats (as Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids)
Linn Phillips III... Herby and the Heartbeats (as Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids)
George Robinson... Herby and the Heartbeats (as Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids)

Linda Christensen... Falfa's Girl  # 2 (uncredited) 
Produced by
Francis Ford Coppola.... producer
Gary Kurtz.... co-producer
Cinematography by
Jan D'Alquen(director of photography)
Ron Eveslage
Haskell Wexler 
(director of photography)
 (Visual Consultant) 
Film Editing by
Verna Fields
Marcia Lucas
George Lucas(uncredited)
Casting by
Mike Fenton
Fred Roos
Art Direction by
Dennis Lynton Clark(Credited as Dennis Clark)
Set Decoration by
Douglas Freeman
Costume Design by
Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Makeup Department
Bette Iverson....key hair stylist (Credited as Betty Iverson)
Gerry Leetch....key hair stylist
Production Management
Jim Hogan....production manager
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ned Kopp....first assistant director
Charles Myers....second assistant director
Art Department
Doug von Koss....property master (as Douglas Von Koss)
Sound Department
Walter Murch....sound montage
Walter Murch....sound re-recordist
James Nelson....sound editor
Art Rochester....production sound (as Arthur Rochester)
Michael Evje....boom operator (uncredited)
Stunts
Bob Herron....stunts (uncredited)
Charlie Picerni....stunt driver (uncredited)
Camera and Electrical Department
William Maley....gaffer
Ken Phelps....key grip
John Bonfield....electrician (uncredited)
Tony Coangelo....grip (uncredited)
Lawrence Gruenberg....first assistant camera (uncredited)
Paul Ryan....still photographer (uncredited)
Music Department
Kim Fowley....music producer
Kim Fowley....music recordist
Karin Green....music coordinator
Transportation Department
Henry Travers....transportation supervisor










Monday, June 11, 2012

THE VALUE OF THE LUCASFILM MOVIE CARS

Ron Howard & Cindy Williams pose next to her character's 1958 Edsel.

Charles Martin Smith standing behind the '58 Impala
Once filming was completed for American Graffiti in the Fall of 1972 Transportation Supervisor, Henry Travers was given the task of selling off 8 of the movie cars for the film's production company, LUCASFILM.  He was sent a letter which revealed the amount of money the company expected Travers to get for each movie car.  (Scroll down to the bottom of this post to view a copy of the letter).  The price values ranged from as low as $50 for the 1955 Studebaker driven by Carol's (Mackenzie Phillips) sister to as high as $2,000 for the yellow ’32 coupe driven by John Milner (Paul LeMat).  The anticipated  amount the company expected Travers to get for selling all eight movie cars barely exceeded $4,000. Of course, nobody knew American Graffiti would become an enormous success otherwise the anticipated amount would have been a few dollars higher.

John Milner (Paul LeMat) & friend lean on the now world-famous '32 Ford coupe.






















To find buyers an advertisement was placed in the classified section of several local San Francisco Bay Area newspapers which announced, "SPECIAL SALE OF CARS USED IN MOTION PICTURES."  Response to the ad was slow.  Eventually, two cars, the 1958 Edsel driven by Laurie Henderson (Cindy Williams) and the white ’58 Chevrolet Impala driven by Steve Bolander (Ron Howard) and Terry Fields (Charlie Martin Smith) were sold off.  Surprisingly, the other vehicles did not generate much interest.  To encourage sells, Travers lowered the price on the cars.  However, this did nothing to encourage potential buyers.  Even with a reduced price of only $1,500 for the yellow ’32 coupe, nobody bought it.  The chopped 1951 Mercury, (driven by gang members, The Pharaohs) with an asking price of $900 shared a similar fate and as a result both movie cars were hauled down to Southern California and put on display at Universal Studios for several years.

Director, George Lucas leans on the hood of a '61 Ford Falcon while reviewing the script.
The history of the the remaining 4 movie cars is unclear. It is presumed that these cars, which included the ’61 Ford Galaxy cop car operated by Officer Holstein (Jim Bohan), a red 1957 VW driven by Bobby Tucker (Lynne Stewart), the '55 Studebaker, and a 1961 Dodge, did not sell and were hauled to and destroyed at the local junk yard..

Rocky Moreno was the alleged owner of the Studebaker driven by Carol's (Mackenzie Phillips) sister.

Below is a reasonable facsimile of the original letter sent to Travers with the anticipated amount for selling eight of the movie cars.

(Click on above pic to enlarge)
The beat-up '57 VW convertible, without a title, had the asking price of $200.

 -FIN-
NOTES:
_____________________________________________________________________________

  • Famelette, Mike.  (May 15, 2008).  Personal Interaction.  [Provided original letter to Travers from Lucasfilms dated 11/1/1972.]
  • Gabahl, Pat. (May 1976).  The American Graffiti cars.  Street Rodder.  Vol. 5.  No. 5. 
  •  Groster, B.G. ( Summer 2010).   American Graffiti Father/Daughter Style.  Northern Reach. Vol. III, Issuer 3.  Northern Reach Media, LLC.  Colville, WA. 99114.