That has got to be one of the best scenes in movie history. Headlights breaking the the dawn, the high powerline towers in the background, the (doppler effect) sound of the cars racing by, the background music, the dialouge. For me it's a very real scene that in a sense could be adapted to any generation as long as there is cars rock&roll and girls.
Even though the 10 minute chace in Bullet is a classic, this race will always be the best their ever was and ever ill be..... I'd give almost everything I own for those two cars.....
Larry L Doub You aint alone.The 32. John milner drove is priceless.If it were mine NO MONEY WOULD EVER GET ME TO PART WITH IT.SOME THINGS ARE BIGGER THAN MONEY AND THAT DUECE IS ONE OF THEM.
There is a blooper in this scene. When they are walking up the hill after the crash, Falfa has his hat in his hand, but in the next scene by the cars on the road, Milner hands falfa his hat!
I think this is the best scene in the whole movie, from the sounds of "Green Onions" playing in the background, the rumble of the engines at :24 to the '55 Chevy's burn out, yikes gives me goose bumps. I read that they had trouble filming this scene because they couldn't get the crash car to roll over. Adobe Rd looks different today than it did then, there is a golf course on one side and houses were build on the other, a couple of stop signs too.
Yeah Liverpool England. I love the Beatles, i go past john lennons old house were he used to liveon the way to work every day! superb! I just watched this film for the 1st time and im absoloultey hooked! i had a look on google maps and it looked virtually the same apart frim the golf course. cheers for replying all the best!
@4everEddie The tune is "Green Onions" by Booker T & the MGs. from the 1950s It's on TH-cam. Great bit of music. Don't play it on your car stereo if there's cops around, you'll speed and get fined...!!
Look closely after the 55 flips on it's top. As Milner is helping Falfa and they walk around the car, you will notice an automatic in the car. Trans pan and looks like a piece of channel welded from frame rail to frame rail as the crossmember.
True story, I was an 8th grader living in Petaluma Calif. when filming for American Graffiti was taking place. It was the talk of the town that year, "hey our little chicken village is gonna be inna movie" Petaluma was in those years still seen as a forlorn poultry capital. One of our neighbors was paid to drive his classic cars through a few of the scenes as I recall. Pinkys Pizza was a place we used to prank call on Saturday night as punk kids. Gas was 33 cts/gal at the station on Hwy116.
I hadn't noticed this before, but look at the cars how they start out, and the direction they are going.55 on the right with driver to the inside. When the car runs into ditch it flips over onto passengers side, By the way they start out it can't flip onto the passenger side, It would only flip towards driver side.
I was just at the video for Green Onions, and most of the conversation seemed to be about a video game the song is in. I felt like a dinosaur mentioning that it was in this scene.
This is based on something that actually happened to George Lucas as a teenager -I don't know if it was in a drag race but he did get into a wreck that nearly killed him.
@starguy2718 A few years ago in one of the Model car groups on yahoo, somebody did a diorama with Falfa's 55 sitting beside a house 4sale after the race, it was very well done to.
green onions used in this scene sounds fairly different from the one in the soundtrack or any other version ive heard. does anyone know where i can find the exact version of green onions in this scene?
Milner's nostalgic dialogue about "the whole strip is shrinkin" and that "it used to take a couple hours and a tank full of gas, just to make one circuit...it was really something" are part of the tone. Steve and Curtiss are planning to leave the next morning to go east to school. This is the last night for the entire group of friends to be together,...and for Milner, whose part is clearly that of an older person, he knows he is losing yet another group of friends.
This scene was awesome. I said if I would've been around back in the 50s or 60s, I would want to drag race. I was looking for the Police Car scene, is it on here?
...don't think I made any comments about spelling. I'm no wiz in that dept. I'm 40 yrs old and this movie is my favorite of all time. My dad took me to see it when I was 5. Actually, he took himself and I had no choice, but I was mesmerized. I love everything about the movie. The color, the right song at the right time, the acting, the story...and I've read just about everything about it that I can find.
Theres more to driving than the fastest car . Milner won due to his skill ! ! Ive been down that exact same road in Petaluma delivering to wineries many , many times.....A great movie...one of the best.....
Mel Fiscus Yup milner knew how to drive.Theres more to lining em up and just stomping the throttle and holding on.Falfa was beaten before they left the line.
Actually if you look closely after the 55 flips, you'll notice it has an automatic trans in it. When they walk around it, you'll see the automatic trans pan.
@carbonfootprintmyass Supposedly it's supposed to have happened from a blowout of the right rear tire. There's another scene, I can't remember now if it's the burnout next to Toad in Bollander's `58 or the first race with Milner but you see sparks come from that tire. That would of course mean it was worn down to the steel belt...I don't know if they had steel belted tires in `62 but the film was released in `73.
Inserted sounds. Pah! You can tell it's the same engine as TLB. Listen to that motor redlining after lift-off (starting at 0.47). Same sweet sweet roar.
what song is that it is being played quitly through the whole clip the song is "Green Onions" by Booker T & the MG's (1962) Great soul band with Donald Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper, who later went on to play with the Blues Brothers.
As for acting performance, if you consult periodicals from 1973, Paul LeMat's performance in this movie was highly lauded. His intensity and empathy for this character is evident. LeMat, by all practical purposes, became Milner. In contrast, Harrison Ford's "Falfa", plays a key role in that he is the Grim Reaper for Milner's status as drag racing champion, the role required little from Ford other than that he be a cocky, not too bright, cowboy.
Old School thing. At the top of the bank Falfa still has his hat. When he sits Milner hands it to him. Purposeful edit. Origin: in more ceremonious days, if someone came to visit you, you would see him to the door at visit's end. Then either you or your butler would hand him his hat, since everyone in those days wore hats, but not inside. Figurative meaning: to be shown the door, to be sent packing.
Milner was in fact losing the race before Falfa's car blew a tire with Falfa losing control of the car. Forget about the fact that one can see that the '32 is running a small block chevy and that it is now common knowledge that the '55 was running either a 427 or 454 (depending on which account you read), as this car is from the movie "Two Lane Blacktop". We all know that neither mill was available in September of 1962. This movie is about change.
That year I bought at least 4 55-57 chevys for parts cars. I didn't pay more than 100.00 for any of them. One 57 4 dr hardtop I paid only 60 bucks for and It even drove! It was movies like this that made them popular.
A Cali cop I met once told me he was at a similar race and the car crashed (just like the movie) and a girl got out and started running (again like the movie) the cop thought she was really short, until he noticed that her legs were cut off below the knees...(she died on the way to the hospital) which should show how dangerous these type of races were
Your info isn't entirely correct. There was 3 55's used in the movie. Two of them had 454's and one of them had a 427. Also one of the 454's and the 427 were 4speeds. The other 454 being an auto. They also had a 4.88 olds rear. Nonetheless the 32 coupe didn't have a chance.
@skatepunkzero because he isn't running open headers. while it looks like Milner just has headers but they re-routed the exhaust underneath the car out to the bacl. check out this video, muCFwfTKPEY, and you can see it at the 0:30 mark.
Good point. "You want to end up like John, you just can't stay 17 forever". Actually, keeping a little bit of 17 inside one's self isn't such a bad thing...lol.
This movie is DIRECTLY responsible for my addiction to drag racing!
We'll take em all... If only you could John. Sad to see this era gone
One of the best movies of the '70's and one of my favorites. It was so cool to be around back in the day..
I remember drag racing in my 1968 chevy nova.When at work while at lunch,I miss those day's...
That has got to be one of the best scenes in movie history. Headlights breaking the the dawn, the high powerline towers in the background, the (doppler effect) sound of the cars racing by, the background music, the dialouge. For me it's a very real scene that in a sense could be adapted to any generation as long as there is cars rock&roll and girls.
This song is absolutely perfect for this moment.
"Okay Toad, we'll take 'em all.", as the sun rised behind the coupe. Inspiring stuff.
Even though the 10 minute chace in Bullet is a classic, this race will always be the best their ever was and ever ill be..... I'd give almost everything I own for those two cars.....
Larry L Doub You aint alone.The 32. John milner drove is priceless.If it were mine NO MONEY WOULD EVER GET ME TO PART WITH IT.SOME THINGS ARE BIGGER THAN MONEY AND THAT DUECE IS ONE OF THEM.
There is a blooper in this scene. When they are walking up the hill after the crash, Falfa has his hat in his hand, but in the next scene by the cars on the road, Milner hands falfa his hat!
I think this is the best scene in the whole movie, from the sounds of "Green Onions" playing in the background, the rumble of the engines at :24 to the '55 Chevy's burn out, yikes gives me goose bumps. I read that they had trouble filming this scene because they couldn't get the crash car to roll over. Adobe Rd looks different today than it did then, there is a golf course on one side and houses were build on the other, a couple of stop signs too.
Yeah Liverpool England. I love the Beatles, i go past john lennons old house were he used to liveon the way to work every day! superb!
I just watched this film for the 1st time and im absoloultey hooked! i had a look on google maps and it looked virtually the same apart frim the golf course. cheers for replying all the best!
Okay Toad, we're take 'em all! Damn straight we'll take 'em all! Imports are history, American Muscle is FOREVER!!!!
Imports are still being made too, as well as muscle cars though. But imports are just made elsewhere on the planet.
@4everEddie The tune is "Green Onions" by Booker T & the MGs. from the 1950s It's on TH-cam. Great bit of music. Don't play it on your car stereo if there's cops around, you'll speed and get fined...!!
Look closely after the 55 flips on it's top. As Milner is helping Falfa and they walk around the car, you will notice an automatic in the car. Trans pan and looks like a piece of channel welded from frame rail to frame rail as the crossmember.
True story, I was an 8th grader living in Petaluma Calif. when filming for American Graffiti was taking place. It was the talk of the town that year, "hey our little chicken village is gonna be inna movie" Petaluma was in those years still seen as a forlorn poultry capital.
One of our neighbors was paid to drive his classic cars through a few of the scenes as I recall. Pinkys Pizza was a place we used to prank call on Saturday night as punk kids. Gas was 33 cts/gal at the station on Hwy116.
read that the Chevy had a 454 CID and the Ford coupe had a 327 CID / / great movie
music makes us happy Dont knoe about the chevy but the 32 had a 327 from a 62 impala.
I hadn't noticed this before, but look at the cars how they start out, and the direction they are going.55 on the right with driver to the inside. When the car runs into ditch it flips over onto passengers side, By the way they start out it can't flip onto the passenger side, It would only flip towards driver side.
greatest movie ever made
man that was a really close race i wish it didnt crash and that 55 is such a masterpeice
I was just at the video for Green Onions, and most of the conversation seemed to be about a video game the song is in.
I felt like a dinosaur mentioning that it was in this scene.
At least you don't feel as old as my mom... She's a very early dinosaur, from the Triassic!
I don't know if someone have ever notice this details,but all customised cars in this movie have the same rims
I've just noticed that as I read your comment!
This is based on something that actually happened to George Lucas as a teenager -I don't know if it was in a drag race but he did get into a wreck that nearly killed him.
this is my favorite scene in the whole movie
Nobody should mess with the classics man
Once of the coolest scenes in cinema. I love the early morning scene with Green Onions playing as they make their way to the line.
@starguy2718 A few years ago in one of the Model car groups on yahoo, somebody did a diorama with Falfa's 55 sitting beside a house 4sale after the race, it was very well done to.
I love That Movie! I wish 60's America was still here. What a great time in for the American youth!
Ah! Thank you for your thorough explanation. Now I can go use that somewhere!
This movie made an indelible impression on a then 9 year old boy. It helped form my taste in music and cars. It is still my favorite movie.
One of my all time favourite films, the cars, the music, man i was born in the wrong era.
"We'll take 'em all Toad." Great line for the end.
gives me chills every time i hear green onions!
reminds me of all my countless nights of street-racing!!!! Thanks
Its Green Onions by Booker T and the MG's.
love the movie, some nice photos on Ebay American graffiti photo , love the cars and back in the good old days,
I've seen this movie a thousand times ... I never get tired of it !!
Where were you in 62 ?
Wow, you were looking pretty close. So far no one has picked up on the dialog I edited out. I cleaned it up to just have a cool car scene.
I guess Bob Falfa's "pink slip" isn't worth a whole lot after the crash.
"We'll take 'em all" as the sun comes up behind the coupe. Makes the hair on my neck stand up every time.
"you'll always be no.1 john...you're the greatest!" Its still true!!!
green onions used in this scene sounds fairly different from the one in the soundtrack or any other version ive heard. does anyone know where i can find the exact version of green onions in this scene?
how the name of the song ??? i will have this song ???
what's the name of the song in the beginig of the clip
What is the name of of the song at the beginnin of the scene ?
Milner's nostalgic dialogue about "the whole strip is shrinkin" and that "it used to take a couple hours and a tank full of gas, just to make one circuit...it was really something" are part of the tone. Steve and Curtiss are planning to leave the next morning to go east to school. This is the last night for the entire group of friends to be together,...and for Milner, whose part is clearly that of an older person, he knows he is losing yet another group of friends.
For the movie sake, those big blocks worked, but if i'm not mistaken, only big block that was available at the time, in 62, was the 409.
This scene was awesome. I said if I would've been around back in the 50s or 60s, I would want to drag race.
I was looking for the Police Car scene, is it on here?
"You got he bitchn'ess car in the Valley, you'll always be number one John, you're the greatest!"
Ya gotta love the Toad!
Cool..
...don't think I made any comments about spelling. I'm no wiz in that dept. I'm 40 yrs old and this movie is my favorite of all time. My dad took me to see it when I was 5. Actually, he took himself and I had no choice, but I was mesmerized. I love everything about the movie. The color, the right song at the right time, the acting, the story...and I've read just about everything about it that I can find.
"...we'll take 'em all..." as the sun comes up behind the coupe. Makes the hair on my neck stand up.
That's Frates Road in Petaluma, I drive on it daily. There is a huge golf course and tons of homes there now.
Theres more to driving than the fastest car . Milner won due to his skill ! ! Ive been down that exact same road in Petaluma delivering to wineries many , many times.....A great movie...one of the best.....
Mel Fiscus Yup milner knew how to drive.Theres more to lining em up and just stomping the throttle and holding on.Falfa was beaten before they left the line.
Actually if you look closely after the 55 flips, you'll notice it has an automatic trans in it. When they walk around it, you'll see the automatic trans pan.
certainly one of them.
It's called Green onions by Booker T and the MG's.
The English mods of the sixties loved it.
@carbonfootprintmyass Supposedly it's supposed to have happened from a blowout of the right rear tire. There's another scene, I can't remember now if it's the burnout next to Toad in Bollander's `58 or the first race with Milner but you see sparks come from that tire. That would of course mean it was worn down to the steel belt...I don't know if they had steel belted tires in `62 but the film was released in `73.
Inserted sounds. Pah! You can tell it's the same engine as TLB. Listen to that motor redlining after lift-off (starting at 0.47). Same sweet sweet roar.
what song is that it is being played quitly through the whole clip
the song is "Green Onions" by Booker T & the MG's (1962) Great soul band with Donald Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper, who later went on to play with the Blues Brothers.
@Illogicalcaptain I just noticed, you see it spark in this race too. It does it in both of them.
@skatepunkzero open headers makes the car go abit quicker as the exhaust gasses dont get restricted, like they do on a full exhaust system
Translated from Russian to English. "This is not such a good movie."
It was a good holeshot, but it took all of 3 seconds for the big block to reel him in once he got traction.
As for acting performance, if you consult periodicals from 1973, Paul LeMat's performance in this movie was highly lauded. His intensity and empathy for this character is evident. LeMat, by all practical purposes, became Milner. In contrast, Harrison Ford's "Falfa", plays a key role in that he is the Grim Reaper for Milner's status as drag racing champion, the role required little from Ford other than that he be a cocky, not too bright, cowboy.
You mean the 55 with the L-88? I could see the 55 running that on slicks, proper tuning, straight headers and good track conditions.
Old School thing.
At the top of the bank Falfa still has his hat. When he sits Milner hands it to him.
Purposeful edit.
Origin: in more ceremonious days, if someone came to visit you, you would see him to the door at visit's end. Then either you or your butler would hand him his hat, since everyone in those days wore hats, but not inside. Figurative meaning: to be shown the door, to be sent packing.
Milner was in fact losing the race before Falfa's car blew a tire with Falfa losing control of the car. Forget about the fact that one can see that the '32 is running a small block chevy and that it is now common knowledge that the '55 was running either a 427 or 454 (depending on which account you read), as this car is from the movie "Two Lane Blacktop". We all know that neither mill was available in September of 1962. This movie is about change.
That year I bought at least 4 55-57 chevys for parts cars. I didn't pay more than 100.00 for any of them. One 57 4 dr hardtop I paid only 60 bucks for and It even drove! It was movies like this that made them popular.
A Cali cop I met once told me he was at a similar race and the car crashed (just like the movie) and a girl got out and started running (again like the movie) the cop thought she was really short, until he noticed that her legs were cut off below the knees...(she died on the way to the hospital) which should show how dangerous these type of races were
Wow that would have been scary!
Little fact..there was no dialog written for Milner and toad at the end of this scene...they ad libbbed the whole thing.
@crifoter69 It wasn't a four door, it was a two door.
green onions sounds SO GOOD in this movie!
Does John Milner's handing Falfa his hat symbolize something? If so, I missed it.
Your info isn't entirely correct. There was 3 55's used in the movie. Two of them had 454's and one of them had a 427. Also one of the 454's and the 427 were 4speeds. The other 454 being an auto. They also had a 4.88 olds rear. Nonetheless the 32 coupe didn't have a chance.
Ultimate irony : in the beginning of the movie, Milner is Toad's idol. At the end, it is Toad who needs to instill confidence back in Milner.
Watch when falfa makes it to the pavement he has his hat , then suddenly John hands him his hat. Nice blooper
Classic...the wrecked 55 was also used in two-lane
I miss my 72 Olds....I was the king! but all glory is short lived..:{
@woodzo40 good ear, its actually the same 55. i saw it in a magazine
damn this movie looks dope as hell, wish i was alive when it came out
Not to mention the wheels. Before they're chrome and after they're painted silver.
Showing John it didn't matter if he thought he won; it mattered what everyone else thought.
@skatepunkzero because he isn't running open headers. while it looks like Milner just has headers but they re-routed the exhaust underneath the car out to the bacl. check out this video, muCFwfTKPEY, and you can see it at the 0:30 mark.
@MAG315
Man is it possible they could make another
American Graffiti without messing it up?
what song is that it is being played quitly through the whole clip
Actually that chevy was in another movie "two lane black top" check it out
no seat belts..those two would have had broken necks
Filmed on Petaluma Hill Road???
@SARSquid79 Booker T and the Mg's - Green Onions one of the best ever sounding records.
I'm guessing he's running capped turn-outs on his headers. A little whisp of exhaust would still come out the back despite this.
@eze14213 they used a diffrent 55 that didnt have chrome smoothies
@ILoveLauriePartridge
Definitely an automatic. The actual car had a four speed but this one was a turbo hydramatic. Good eye.
U mean the dialog :"Oh Steven don't leaveme........." ?
What is the song in beginning of the video?
Makes sense since they had both of them.
the best movie ever made!
does anybody knows the title of the song on this scene????????
that car ran 10.66 at lacr in 1970 before the studio bought it had a bb in it
Good point. "You want to end up like John, you just can't stay 17 forever". Actually, keeping a little bit of 17 inside one's self isn't such a bad thing...lol.
This strip is in Nor Cal