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| WOLFMAN DOES LUCAS! (cont.) |
| Wolfman's radio show is the backbone of American Graffiti. In the Lucas biography, Mythmaker co-producer, Gary Kurtz told the author that when Wolfman used to broadcast out of Mexico the signal would often fade in and out. "He was an ethereal presence in the lives of the young people," Kurtz said, "and it was that quality that we wanted and obtained in the picture." Because every teenager in the film is listening to his show on their car radio at the same time, the radio program acts as a thread tying the individual stories together. Most of the DJ's patter that is heard on car radio speakers throughout Graffiti was taken from tapes that were originally broadcast between 1966-71 on XERB. George Lucas and Wolfman listened to hours of tapes of his old radio shows and picked out dedication requests and ad-libbed bits to use on the soundtrack. Only about 10-20 percent of the Wolfman's radio rants were recorded exclusively for the film. |
| Radio station KRE in Berkeley, California leased out one of their studios for the night to allow Lucas and crew to film the 5-minute sequence where Curt visits the Wolfman at his radio station. Although Wolfman's appearance is brief he plays a pivotal role in the movie. Sound designer, Walter Murch has pointed out that Wolfman in the story is like the wizard in The Wizard of OZ. The important diety-figure that the protagonist seeks out winds up being just a little man in a booth, twiddling some knobs. And, in both films the larger-than-life figure helps the lead character to reach their destiny. Whereas, the wizard provides Dorothy with a way to return home, Wolfman acts as a catalyst for Curt to leave home. In the moment that he realizes the pot bellied, middle-aged station manager is really Wolfman Jack, Curt finds the courage to face an outside world. |
| Wolfman & Lucas spent many hours picking his favorite "Wolfisims" for American Graffiti. |
| "Wolfman was a legend. I wanted to have that be a pivotal character in the movie because he was a kind of mythical fantasy character that I was dealing with in terms of the fantasy of radio." |
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| -George Lucas |
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| A heavily-hairsprayed Wolfman & Ricky Dreyfuss clown around between takes. |
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| (Jeff Dunas) |
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