interesting, there’s a 480p transfer on the spleen claiming to be the 1973 version, is that from this print? Perhaps it could be used as the source to created a despecialized version of American Graffiti.
It’s a bit too beat up for that, with some dropped frames and some…interesting optical borks. It definitely looks like it was made in the mid 70’s, though for what purpose is anyone’s guess. It’s definitely the original edit - it’s even got the same tag for the Universal Studios Tour that’s on all of the original posters. My best guess is that it was a quick and dirty scan made for tv broadcast with the cropping left up to whoever was showing it.
For all its problems I frankly love it - the movie looks so much better with a high grain count and colors that don’t pop off the screen. It’s almost Michael Mann-esque in the way it’s fascinated with how a certain city looks at night.