Ron Howard wears an unidentified watch

Steve Bolander is leaving for college in the morning. His three closest friends are staying behind. That's the whole premise of American Graffiti, George Lucas's 1973 film about one last night of cruising in small-town California, set in 1962 and soaked in Wolfman Jack and doo-wop.

Ron Howard plays Steve as the responsible one — pressed shirt, penny loafers, and a gold dress watch with a silver dial on a brown leather strap. Among the hot rods and rolled-up sleeves of Modesto's main drag, the watch reads more like something borrowed from a father's dresser than anything a teenager would pick for himself. The other kids are living in the moment. Steve is already counting down.

The watch hasn't been identified. Whatever it is, it does its job. Steve looks like someone who'll end up in an office while his friends end up somewhere worse, which is exactly what the film's closing titles confirm.