Every Saturday I have breakfast with my Gearhead buddies. These guys are truly Hot Rodders. "Ford-men" to the core of thier souls; Been there done that since the 50's. Its a great time talking shop, upcoming projects, sharing history, blah, blah, blah. I sit down with the group and one of them blurt out, "Hey, guess who's coming to breakfast with us?" With cobwebs still in my mind from not woke up yet, I say "Who?" They Grin...."Milner from American Grafitti" Okay, what are th odds right. Im the youngest guy of the group...probably by 20 years. They joke and laugh with and at me all the time. So I wave off and tell em, okay...yeah right. 10 Min. later guess who walks in and sits down with us. Yep, Paul Lemat. Mr. Milner himself. Long story short, it was great to talk with him about the movie and life in general. A quick movie trivia story: He was telling us about the scene of when he was cruisin down the strip and his buddy drives up in the black coupe. I think it was a 35-36. He yells out the window "Hey, what happened to your flathead!" You know, asking him about where his ride was. The guy in the coupes p***enger seat screams back and says "Your Motha". ( Paul said it was some fill in acting at the time of the scene nothing was scripted.) Before they made the shot, the guys in the black coupe were just fill in's for this particular scene. They had long hair before the shot and the production crew made them cut it short for the movie scene. If you look, they hacked them short. After they finished the scene, the guy who yelled "your motha" went up to Paul and asked him why he yelled out the window making fun of his head/haircut....you know "what happened to your flat-'head'?" He actually though he was bashing on his haircut....not about his "car" or "engine." Pretty amazing...the irony is, the fill in knew nothing about cars. The morning was truly an experience that will not be forgotten. What ****s is, they came out fuzzy
I figured the guy who said "Yo Motha" had blown up his flathead motor the preceding week. Ha Ha, great story! Thanks for p***ing that on.
That is sooo kool Norm! Not everyday you can actually sit down and shoot the **** with someone like that and be filled in about little things like that from the American Cl***ic movie that was for all of us gearheads. KNUX!
That's great Norm. Funny how that is just ad libbed. I thought the same as an earlier post that it meant he had blown his motor and he was giving him grief. Paul LeMat is a super nice guy, talked to him a few years back at Route 66 show in San Berdoo.
You know, I thought the same thing. But he said that he blurted it out to refer to his car..."Where is your ride?"
I wonder how often someone wants to talk to him about something other than that movie. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Another thing, he was telling me that the "Piss yellow" deuce coupe went up for sale after the movie where is was stored in the back lot. It was for a measly $1700 bucks. He said he would have bought it but it really was mechanically a pile of junk. The car didnt run right the whole movie shoot, and the clutch would never engage unless the pedal was all the way out. He did say it took alot to make it run as smooth as it did. The car sat for a long time until it was sold. The "behind the scenes" are great to talk about. Who would have known eh?
You know, I thought of the same thing, but after we ate, he mingled with us and our cars. We talked about the mechanics, how-to's and all that jazz. He was really amazed at what little we had at the restraunt. Only a few people outside our group really knew who he was, but for the most part, it was like the gang hanging out. The movie was really talked about for only 10 min or so. I did tell him before we split up to leave that the movie had a huge impact on me regarding the Hobby. He had a huge grin on his face afterwards and thanked me. You can tell that he enjoys to hear especially those things, the impact and how great it has become over the years. I know he is no Harrison Ford or Ron Howard, but IMHO, it was just the same if not better.
In the movie, I think he had a better part and played it better than the other two. Thanks for posting it.
MILNER!!! God damnit that's it, I'm facing the cold hard reality that if I want to meet cool people, I gotta move the **** outta Fart ******, Arkansas.
Damn right he did! Funny how life decides what path we take. A decision here...a choice there...and in Paul LeMats case he somehow got held back. I don't think it was in any way a lack of talent...more a lack of EXPLOITING the talent by choosing unsuitable roles. Maybe it just came down to a poor agent or something. OUR loss. There should be a movie about Milner BEFORE "American Graffiti"... How he became the local hero etc...the racing...school...the cops...the Pharoahs etc. Just do it better than that rushed AG2 timewaster. Its time for a REAL car/nostalgic movie...just to get the drivel of these last few years put out to pasture. Paul could play Milners ol' man! Someone SHOULD do "Hot Rod" by Felson too! That could be a blockbuster with the right group of people. Some wicked action in that book...the lead in of the Hot Rod being tested by Bud Crayne would hook you right from the start.
Colonel Ingus: you funny *******. (I feel the same way up here in Montana) Chopped50: That's cool you got to hange with him. What does Paul have for cars? What has he been doing for the last 10 or 20 years?
Thats really great that Paul still enjoys talking about the movie. Two years ago at the Houston Autorama they had Candy Clark and Bo Hopkins signing autographs. My son was 5 at the time and wanted their autographs as we had just watched the movie the night before so he knew who they were. He carries an autograph book around that has signatures from Mickey Mouse to Ed Roth. Candy Refused to sign his book unless I paid $10 for it. I explained that we werent buying a pic. She still wanted the money so we respectfully declined and went over to Bo. He was awesome. He signed my sons book and spent a few minutes with him. He asked my son if he knew who he was and my son said "A PHAROAH". We took a couple of pics of him with my son. I offered to pay him for just for making my son feel special and he declined. Really nice guy....
Candy Clark probably needed that $10...................she has done little since AG...............Bo Hopkins is another story.......been quite sucessful as a character actor
Hey, that is what was going thru my mind about a hot rod car as well. I would think that sometime during the meal someone would of brought that up. Gary 4T950 Chevy Guy
All of the posts re: Paul are great! I met him and hung out with him a couple of times and each time was intriquing. First @ Fuddruckers in Pasadena where I had my mug in a shot with him. ( I wish that I would have taken it before they closed down ) The second, was @ a Swap that was trying to make it @ Angels Stadium-Anaheim. Here I am getting out of my car & this guy walks up & asks where the head is, Funny I was thinking the same thing =Too much 5 Am coffee This guy is Paul Le Mat. he is there to sign pics of his mug. so off we go in search of the port a potty and he asks how I'm doing-hows my rodaster. I'm kinda blown away, How did this guy remember me from Fudds Well his reply was he saw mug in the pics that were taken there & recognized me & remembered what kinda car I drove. I guess he liked it. (he's not really a car guy, but digs that era.) He goes off the sign pics with his Brooklyn NY accented mgr guy and I cruise the swap. @ that time, Ertl had just released the American Grafitti Collection and a guy was selling a few there, I had an idea. I went & grabbed Paul & Brooklyn Bob? and told the seller that they needed to hook up. Paul could buy the cars direct from him & sell autographed copies of the Coupe that he as an actor turned Hot Rod Icon made famous through George Lucas' direction & Haskell Wexlers' lense. For my idea, Paul gifted me an autographed copy of the coupe & bid me a great "Thank You!" and bought a bunch of coupes & both parties were happy as stink !!!!!! I still have it as I do all of the rest of the collectlon even the bird. I never cared for the others autographs and have seen Bo & Candy @ Paso as well as Cindy @ the GNRS. Brought Paul an ez up @ the LA Roadster Show for shade one year, he still remembered me & said a heartfelt thanks! Paul is the reason that I saw that movie, he is a very cool guy and I think it would be cool to build him a historically accurate steel version of his coupe as HAMBers and gift it to him. His only income is from doing Personal Appearances & the autographs. I don't think he makes enough to buy the original from Rick Figari or build one himself. Kevin
I think that is a great idea. How cool would it be to recreate what is truly a Hot Rod icon and gift it to the guy who helped make it an icon. John Milner is the epitome of cool. I have one of the coupes signed by Paul too. (Great minds think alike )
That is a great idea, could it be possible? Its the least we could do to return back to him a Big Thanks!
Thats great for you, but I prefer **** for breakfast. But seriously, thats cool. Nothing like that happens around here.
The Jalopy Journal
