I recall hearing legendary deejay Wolfman Jack talking about the 1973 film American Graffiti. He said something to the effect of when it came out, it only had one star (him). Now it has a dozen stars. And he was right. In 1973, no one knew the names Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Sommers, or George Lucas. We knew Ron Howard only as the young child Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. The movie followed a group of recent high school graduates over the course of one night in 1962, and became not only a box office hit, but a coming-of-age classic. Even if it's been a long time since you've seen American Graffiti, you no doubt remember it. And now you can find out what went on behind the cameras.
10. The film had an insanely low budget.
George Lucas couldn’t afford to pay a lot of the actors so he gave them screen credit instead. This was one of the first times this happened.
9. Harrison Ford didn’t want to cut his hair for the film.
He had such a short part in the film that he didn’t want to cut his hair for nothing, so he offered to wear a hat so people couldn’t tell how long it was.
Read more about the making of American Graffiti at TVOM.