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American Graffiti
August 24 1973
(Page 1)
THE SCENE was Ravinia Park .last week. A would-be folksinger had completed his last number; a pack of maybe 20 applauding teen-agers stormed the stage in a self-induced frenzy possibly to affirm the wisdom of their ticket purchases; and 20 rows behind them a 27-year-old grumbled to himself, "Stupid kids."
But what about his musical taste at that age? Hadn't his crowd made "Purple People Eater" and "Alley Ooop" No.1 on the hit parade? Where was his memory? Explanation: Today's asininity quickly becomes tomorrow's nostalgia.
That thought was prompted by a much-celebrated new movie that opens in Chicago today. The presumptuous title is "American Graffiti," and in its best moments it is about being teenage. Those moments are rare for two reasons: the film is bursting at its seams with late '50s memorabilia-cars, records, clothes, jargon, more cars -and the beautifully-acted characters cumulatively are too pat.
An example of this perfection-to-a-fault occurs at the very beginning of the movie, which opens with a front view of Mel's Drive-in. It's dusk, and the place is empty now, the long sweep of neon that rims the place reflecting off the white lines that mark the parking stalls. Quickly, tho, the "burger city" begins to fill up as the principal cast rolls in for what must be a nightly ritual of fueling up on greasy fries.
First, the wimpy kid, the kid with buck teeth and thick glasses; he barely manages to park his Vespa - it almost runs away from him. Then the doubt-filled intellectual, undecided whether he'll get on the plane tomorrow that will take him out of his familiar surroundings and into the intensely competitive world of an eastern college; he's
driving an old Citroen - it has the proper tinge of musty academia. Then the innocent square, who talks a circumspect game, but really is ready to settle down with the one girl he's been dating thruout high school; his wheels belong to a Chevy Impala - already
he's bought the Middle America dream.
And finally, the greaser enters the picture with his kandy-kolored, custom Ford deuce coupe - his car is himself; he is his car.
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