American Graffitti photos you may not have seen

Thanks for the great pics. AG was the best movie about american youth in the '60s. Now I'll have to watch it again, and listen to the wife say "not again" I'm going shopping!

 

very cool thread...thanks for the pix

 

Supposedly they were going to channel the '32 but ran out of money or time and only lowered the grille, is what I've read... the car was full-fendered when they got it.

 

In the race scene the road is still the same but to the left and right houseing tracks are there now.

 

Cool.... Thanks

 

super cool, thanks for the pics.

 

Macys and J-C penneys thats 4TH street in SAN RAFAEL CAL.

 

american graffitti was based on modesto at that time . i guess i never realized it was
not filmed there ! we had a "mels' in sacramento also . it went "corvettes only" toward the end .............. thx .. steve

 

Wow, I thought it was just a typical, of the time (70's), bad taste move as far as the grille shell goes, but that COMPLETELY makes sense if they were planning on channeling that car.
Find a profile shot of the coupe and maybe a resident photochopper will do what GL didn't have time to do.....

 

i watched it again today. thanks for the pics

 

What was Wolfman Jack's real name?

 

From iMDB.com.....

The Mel's Drive-in restaurant in the movie had been closed and was reopened specifically for filming. It was demolished after the movie was completed.

And after sitting up half the night, I found something I had believed for many years to not be right...

This is from the history section of Mels drive in website....

Tourists are generally unaware that along with the Golden Gate Bridge and its trolleys, San Francisco is famous for drive-ins. Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs started it all back in 1947 when they built their first carhop eatery, inspired by similar restaurants serving motorists in Los Angeles. With a staff of fourteen carhops covering a 30,000 square foot parking lot, they lured the hungry with a local radio personality broadcasting a live remote. As music reverberated through car radios in the drive-ups, the curb-stepping gals of 140 South Van Ness became a new paradigm for service.

At all hours of the day and night, crowds of patrons that fancied dining-in-your-car came early and often. It didn't take long for the first unit to multiply into eleven! Six Mels became landmarks in the Bay Area with an additional cluster achieving their own notoriety in Stockton and Sacramento. They reigned for almost twenty years, until a parade of franchised fast food outlets finally outpaced their service. As the new philosophy of "serve yourself" began to reprogram attitudes about dining, Mels began its gradual decline.

By 1972, a New York restaurant conglomerate purchased most of the faltering units and changed their names. As colorful marquees were scheduled for removal, it appeared to many local enthusiasts that Mel's success story was about to end. They were only partly right.

Around the same time, filmmaker George Lucas was scouting out locations to serves as centerpiece for his rock'n'roll fable about life, love, and coming of age in postwar America. The original Mels burger spot cam to his attention and was leased prior to its demolition. Crews descended on the site and soon it was lights...camera...action...all over again. Mels was back in business, immortalized in 35mm.
Out on the parking lot, Ron Howard, Candy Clark, Richard Dreyfuss, Mackenzie Phillips, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Paul LeMat, Suzanne Somers, and Charlie Martin Smith took their first steps to future stardom.

As the bulldozers razed the last remnants of the historic drive-in and trucks carted off the debris, American Graffiti opened in theatres.

 

REAL NAME :

<TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR bgColor=#f5f5c1><TD width=110>Sex:</TD><TD></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#e4e1ac><TD>Age:</TD><TD>56</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#f5f5c1><TD noWrap>Birth Date:</TD><TD>January 21, 1939</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#e4e1ac><TD>Astrology Sign:</TD><TD>Aquarius</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#f5f5c1><TD>Chinese Sign:</TD><TD>Tiger - Yang</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#e4e1ac><TD noWrap>Birth Name:</TD><TD>Robert Weston Smith</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#f5f5c1><TD noWrap>Birth Place:</TD><TD>Brooklyn, NY</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#e4e1ac><TD>Died Date:</TD><TD>July 1, 1995</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#f5f5c1><TD>Website:</TD><TD>http://www.wolfmanjack.org/</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=110>Occupation:</TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

************ STEVE

 

What a shame about Mel's going under before the movie hit the screen. I bet if the original Mels would have survived it would flourish today! People would eat there from all over the world.
I do remember though that this movie did not do real well when it came out but, grew in popularity over time. I have always just loved it, even though it did not have Pontiacs ( nothing is perfect ).
The music and the feel and mood of the movie is just outstanding. One of the best movies of all time. Very influential to multiple generations.
Steve Barcak

 

now this is a great POST!

 

Perhaps someone ought to 'recreate' a Mels in that area? I bet it would do well!

 

There are 3 in San Francisco already...

 

The used car lot is there as you see it in the picture at the flea market years ago i found 2 petaluma H-S year books 1954-1955 cool ads from local business. The one that caught my attention was MILNER'S SPORTING GOODS 142 kentucky st. 1955. .

 

[/IMG]http://www.geocities.com/kippullman/mels.html Anyone who has seen the 1973 film, American Graffiti remembers the large neon sign buzzing in the background exclaiming, Mels Drive-in. Burger City or Mels was the hub of the gang's activities and the place where the kids in the film converged. At the beginning of Graffiti, the main characters are all introduced one-by-one as each shows up at the local carhop drive-in. Although the story allegedly takes place in Modesto, California, the scenes at the carhop eatery were actually filmed at the very first Mels drive-in, formerly located at 140 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, California

 

The address of 140 S. Van Ness near Mission, where Mels drive-in once proudly stood, is now the location of high-rise apartment buildings.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPSN-SaVwVg

 

cool pics -thanks for sharing

 

We went to the one up at the Golden Gate end of town. It was pretty cool, food was nice, shakes were great, but the cars in the parking lot were SHIT!!!

Looking at the first pic, I can now see it's on the corner of Geary and Beaumont.

 

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<!-- start content --><TABLE class="infobox biography vcard" style="FONT-SIZE: 95%; WIDTH: 22em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; TEXT-ALIGN: left" cellSpacing=5><TBODY><TR><TD class=fn style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 125%; TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Wolfman Jack</TD></TR><TR><TH style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Born</TH><TD class="" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0.2em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em">January 21, 1938(1938-01-21)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.</TD></TR><TR><TH style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Died</TH><TD class="" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0.2em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em">July 1, 1995 (aged 57)
Belvidere, North Carolina, U.S.</TD></TR><TR><TH style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Occupation</TH><TD class=role style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0.2em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em">Radio personality</TD></TR><TR><TH style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Spouse(s)</TH><TD class="" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0.2em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em">Lou Smith</TD></TR><TR><TH style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Children</TH><TD class="" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0.2em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em">Joy Rene Smith (deceased)
Tod Weston Smith</TD></TR><TR><TH style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Parents</TH><TD class="" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0.2em; PADDING-LEFT: 0.2em; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.2em; VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; PADDING-TOP: 0.2em">Joe</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Robert Weston Smith (21 January 1938 – 1 July 1995) was a gravelly-voiced, American disc jockey who became world famous in the 1960s and 1970s under the stage name of Wolfman Jack.

 

http://www.geocities.com/kippullman/

Here's a site that has all of the above and more info....cool stuff and pics!

 

Cool pictures.I'm an addict for that movie.Having owned a near copy of the 55 chevy,i can never get enough of that movie.Thanks,Falfa

 

Great pics and fantastic read. I love AG, and my 2 year old son will sit there and watch it too. It influenced me, and its already working its magic on him.