PETALUMA -- Saturday morning, thousands gathered in Petaluma to salute"American Graffiti." Many of them brought their classic cars to pay tribute to a movie classic. Reportedly filmed in 28 days with a budget below $850,000, it's now on the American Film Institute list of the top 100 movies of all time.
The film struck a nerve with the Baby Boom generation, making American Graffiti one of the most popular movies of all time and Saturday, almost exactly 50 years from the day Lucas began filming, Petaluma hosted a tribute car show on the streets where movie crew assembled."At that time, it was not really a big deal," he recalled. "They blocked the streets off for a couple days and it made the newspaper once. Probably more of an inconvenience for all the people.
Candy Clark, who was signing autographs in Petaluma Saturday, got an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the bleach-blond party girl"Debbie." Clark said it's every actor's dream to be in a film that stands the test of time.Mackenzie Phillips was only 12 years old when she played Carol, a young girl who spends the evening cruising with local drag race king John Milner, played by Paul Le Mat.
American Graffiti is one of my all time favorite films.