‘American Graffiti’ on Showtime: Stream the Movie That Gave ‘Star Wars’ Its Cool

It’s hard to believe there was ever a time when the name George Lucas was not synonymous with Star Wars, but there was. Before anyone read the words “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” Lucas was best known as a hotshot young director, a member of a generation of exciting new filmmakers including Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. And the movie he was most known for, his major blockbuster achievement, involved exactly zero droids and absolutely no aliens. That film was American Graffiti.

Released almost four years before Star Wars in August 1973, American Graffiti heralded the incoming nostalgia wave for days gone by that would soon dominate all of pop culture for, well, forever. Lucas based the film on his own youth in Modesto, California, days spent listening to rock and roll and racing cars. As one of the first films to tap into the very new nostalgia for the very recent past, American Graffiti connected with moviegoers that came of age in the early ’60s (so, you know, the people most likely to spend a night at the movie theater in the early ’70s)

The film featured a cast of actors who would become synonymous with not only the ’70s, but the ’70s version of the past. Ron Howard and Cindy Williams starred as a couple of young lovebirds just a few years before landing roles in the ’50s-set sitcoms Happy Days and the spinoff Laverne and Shirley. And American Graffiti features the stars of the two most iconic ’70s films before they were household names: Richard Dreyfuss (ahead of 1975’s Jaws) and, in a minor-but-super-cool role, Harrison Ford (before 1977’s Star Wars).

If you’re a Star Wars fan, especially one fascinated with the behind-the-scenes events that shaped the DNA of the greatest space epic ever, American Graffiti is essential viewing. The film is Lucas’ mainstream breakthrough, where his love of quick-witted characters and even faster rides first grabbed everyone’s attention (the film grossed over $100 million in 1973, which is over $600 million in 2018 dollars!).

But there’s another connection to Star Wars that makes American Graffiti a must-watch, and it’s one you’ll have to keep an ear out for. George Lucas co-wrote American Graffiti with his USC classmates Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck. Those are two names every Star Wars fan should know, because they’re the ones that did an uncredited dialogue pass on Lucas’ shooting script for Star Wars, giving the film much of the snappy banter that humanizes these sci-fi heroes. They’re also responsible for shaking up Lucas’ initial idea of Leia and making the take charge character she became, as embodied by Carrie Fisher.

All of that is on display in American Graffiti, a movie phenomenon from before the blockbuster age. And now that the film is streaming on Showtime, you can see where Star Wars got so much of its cool from.

Watch American Graffiti on Showtime