---
name: "Willard Huyck"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/willard-huyck"
roles: ["Director","Screenwriter","Writer"]
born: "8 September 1945"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 64
updated: "2026-09-16T14:20:28.779028+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Willard Huyck

Director and screenwriter. Born 8 September 1945 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Screenwriter, Writer
- **Born:** 8 September 1945, Los Angeles, California, U.S
- **Active:** 1973–1986
- **Also known as:** Willard Miller Huyck
- **Works often with:** Gloria Katz

## Fi1m on Willard Huyck

> Willard Huyck helped make the teenage uncertainty of *American Graffiti* funny and affecting. His direction of *Howard the Duck* is much less persuasive: there is warmth between its characters, but he keeps leaving them behind for jokes and action that do not work.

In *American Graffiti* (1973), a car, a companion and a casual remark can all help a teenager claim a little standing. The screenplay by George Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck notices how much effort goes into seeming at ease. Richard Dreyfuss gives Curt Henderson an appealing hesitation. We were moved by Curt’s uncertainty; his fascination with the blonde in the white Thunderbird catches how much a brief glimpse can matter at that age.

That is shared writing, and Lucas’s film, not evidence that Huyck alone could achieve the same effect behind the camera. His own directing began with the horror film *Messiah of Evil* (1974), co-written with Katz. *French Postcards* (1979) and *Best Defense* (1984) followed, before *Howard the Duck* (1986), his fourth and final feature. Katz co-wrote all four, a continuing partnership across a directing career that ended while the screenwriting carried on.

*Howard the Duck* makes the problem plain. Huyck and Katz have a workable opening: a talking duck trying to fit into human society, with all the awkward encounters that permits. Huyck then keeps adding risqué comedy, slapstick and science-fiction adventure instead of developing those encounters. The costume is awkward, but the deeper trouble is how quickly the film loses interest in one sort of joke and starts another. At 110 minutes, there is too much time to notice how little attention each receives.

Lea Thompson provides much of the warmth, and the friendship between Beverly Switzler and her feathered companion suggests a comedy we might have liked. We do not need the duck to become convincing flesh and blood for that affection to work. We do need Huyck to stay with the people he has brought together. The recurring interruptions for action make the failure frustrating, especially from a writer who had helped make teenage conversation so revealing.

He also co-wrote *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom* (1984) with Katz. Screenwriting continued beyond his last feature as director, including *Radioland Murders* (1994). For an evening’s viewing, we would choose *American Graffiti* and leave *Howard the Duck* to the completists.

## Biography

Willard Huyck is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He met George Lucas while studying at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and later became associated with Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope group of filmmakers.

With his wife Gloria Katz, Huyck wrote the screenplay for *American Graffiti* (1973), for which they received an Academy Award nomination and won awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. Their other screenwriting credits include *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom* (1984) and *Radioland Murders* (1994); they also contributed uncredited work on the original *Star Wars* (1977). Huyck directed four films co-written with Katz: *Messiah of Evil* (1974), *French Postcards* (1979), *Best Defense* (1984) and *Howard the Duck* (1986).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Howard the Duck* (1986), Fi1m 43, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/howard-the-duck.md)
- *American Graffiti* (1973), Fi1m 84, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/american-graffiti.md)

## Also known for

- *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom* (1984), Screenplay
- *Messiah of Evil* (1975), Director, Screenplay
- *Best Defense* (1984), Director, Screenplay
- *More American Graffiti* (1979), Characters
- *Radioland Murders* (1994), Screenplay

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/willard-huyck