Fifty-three years ago today, American Graffiti was released in the US. It was a quiet, low budget movie that might never have been made had it not been for the clear vision of teenage life presented by George Lucas and a late cash infusion by Francis Ford Coppola.
The movie launched Lucas’s career along with a stable of actors including Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers, 12-year old Mackenzie Phillips, and Harrison Ford as drag racer Bob Falfa, a role he took on the condition he wouldn’t have to get a buzz cut. (Imagine, we were just one bad haircut away from Lucas casting someone else as Han Solo.)
George Lucas has said he was inspired to make a movie about the lost culture of cruising and drag racing he grew up with in Modesto, California. Said Lucas, "Cruising was gone, and I felt compelled to document the whole experience and what my generation used as a way of meeting girls.” (He also said he was inspired by Federico Fellini’s Vitelloni but we all know it was about the girls, George.)
And by the way, that “lost” culture was alive and well right here in Columbia, MO. Teens would cruise up and down the Business Loop, stopping at Mug’s Up or Zestos for fries or to simply to pull a u-turn. In fact, the Hickman High School yearbook devoted a spread to Cruising the Loop in their 1986 yearbook.
We love hearing everyone’s stories about cruising—and the days when driving down The Loop wasn’t a slog or a chore. As we continue reimagining the street as part of the Reconnecting Communities planning grant, we’re keeping this sense of fun and community in mind. We may not be able to bring back the bright yellow 1932 Ford Coupe or the 1956 Ford Thunderbird (with porthole window) but we can certainly make driving The Loop a lot more memorable.
