Gloria Katz, 1942-2018: The writer who gave Star Wars some of its best lines

  

Gloria Katz with George Lucas

Think for a moment of some of the best lines in Star Wars – the wittier ones, that remind you of the golden age of movies.

The chances are that you are thinking of lines that were written by the late Gloria Katz and her husband Willard Huyck.

When was the title Star Wars devised? It’s earlier than you might think

The title Star Wars as it appears in the film

Apart from its virtues as a film, Star Wars had one of the best titles ever to grace a movie.  But it could just as easily have been called The Adventures of Luke Starkiller. 

Today, we’re looking at the origins of the title Star Wars – and, at the same time, the meeting at Cannes that set George Lucas’s idea on the way to becoming reality.

Some unsung heroes of the 1977 Star Wars

The Star Wars effects team receive their Oscars from Joan Fontaine

When you read original, 1970s coverage of Star Wars, you come across a few names which are rarely mentioned today.

On the other hand, there are a few people who were not named much at the time, but who we later discovered to have been a key part of the film's success.

What Mark Hamill and Gary Kurtz told science fiction fans about Star Wars in 1976

Charles Lippincott, Gary Kurtz and Mark Hamill promoting Star Wars at MidAmeriCon 1976

In 1976, well before Star Wars was ready for release, a campaign was going on to make science fiction fans aware of it. 

Charles Lippincott, who was in charge of merchandising and publicity for the film, organised convention appearances, at which he or producer Gary Kurtz would explain what the film was about. They would take artwork and information sheets with them and slow slides (yes, slides) to give some idea of the look of the movie.

As I wrote in a blog post at Amazing Stories recently, Gary Kurtz was the face of Star Wars for many fans back then, patiently explaining what the film was about.
One of those appearances is available on video – and it reminds us of a time when pictures from Star Wars seemed weird and exotic, and no one knew quite what the movie would be like.

John Stears: the man who built R2-D2

John Stears with the landspeeder

There are a few Star Wars personnel whose names were mentioned a lot when the film was released, yet who don’t seem to get the attention today. 

One of them is John Stears, the British film industry veteran who was the film’s special production and mechanical effects supervisor. He once described his work on the film as “everything that moves, breaks or falls apart” – including R2-D2, the landspeeder, the garbage masher, and hundreds of other effects. 

Gary Kurtz, 1940-2018: an obituary

Gary Kurtz with Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill
on the set of Star Wars

Gary Kurtz died on Sunday, September 23, at the age of 78.

He was, of course, the producer of Star Wars – and screen credits don’t get much bigger than that. And yet I think he has also become one of Star Wars’ unsung heroes.

Star Wars debuts: The first work of the people behind the film

Gilbert Taylor, director of photography on Star Wars

Star Wars owed its huge success largely to the young people who came out to see it, but many of the those who made it were industry veterans. Some had been working for almost half a century.

Today, Episode Nothing looks back at the debuts of some of the key talents involved in the original 1977 film.

An unsung hero of Star Wars: Maurice Murphy

The London Symphony Orchestra recording
the music for Star Wars

A trivia question for you: Who did exactly the same job throughout the Star Wars original trilogy and prequels?

The best books about the original Star Wars - part two

Today, I'm finishing my look at some of the most enjoyable or informative books for lovers of the original, 1977 Star Wars.

Its a chronological list, and I'm resuming with the weighty tome that marked the film's 30th anniversary.

The best books about the original Star Wars: a guide

George Lucas's own library. A comprehensive Star Wars collection would surely be as big

Last week, we looked at Craig Stevens' new book The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain, and I recommended it to anyone interested in the impact Star Wars had, in the UK or elsewhere.

But what other books belong on the shelves of anyone interested in the original Star Wars the first time around?

Here's the first part of a chronological list of those I'd recommend. Watch for longer reviews of some of them in due course.

Review: The Galaxy That Britain Built – a BBC documentary on the making of Star Wars

The BBC's latest contribution to Star Wars documentaries

The BBC has made some pretty good documentaries about Star Wars over the years. I’m thinking in particular of the Omnibus episode George Lucas Flying Solo back in 1997 and its follow-up at the time of The Phantom Menace.

A new show, The Galaxy That Britain Built, was broadcast by BBC4 in the UK on Thursday, December 21, sandwiched between two other Star Wars-related programmes. (Those were a repeat of last summer’s BBC Proms concert devoted to John Williams and Hollywood’s Master of Myth, a documentary about Joseph Campbell.)

Today, Episode Nothing reviews a show that interviewed some of the lesser-known figures in the Star Wars story – including those who really did build that galaxy.

As Dave Prowse retires: a tribute to the original Darth Vader

Dave Prowse as Darth Vader

As Dave Prowse, makes his final public appearance this weekend, Episode Nothing considers the legacy of the original Darth Vader.

Carrie Fisher: October 21 1956-December 27 2016

Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, unfazed by
Darth Vader in Star Wars 

Today, like every Star Wars fan in the world, Episode Nothing tries to process the news of Carrie Fisher's death – with a particular focus on how Princess Leia changed things for women in cinema.

The Harrison Ford-Carrie Fisher affair: Does it tell us anything new about Star Wars?

Carrie Fisher at around the time of
the affair with Harrison Ford
on the set of Star Wars

After Carrie Fisher revealed details of the affair she had with Harrison Ford during the shooting of Star Wars, Episode Nothing considers whether there are some things about Star Wars that we’d be just as happy not to know.

The story of a boy, a girl and a universe: the original Star Wars teaser trailer from 1976

The 1976 teaser trailer for Star Wars, before the final logo was produced

Almost forty years after cinema audiences saw the first trailer for Star Wars, Episode Nothing considers what people would have made of this strange new movie.

Who was the storm-trooper who bumped his head in Star Wars?

A stormtrooper bumps is head in Star Wars' most famous blooper

At least two actors thought they might have been the stormtrooper who bumps his head in Star Wars' most famous blooper. Episode Nothing considers each one’s case – and reflects on what the interest in this gaffe tells us about the film.

One of our dragons is missing: How Disney’s missing dinosaur appeared in Star Wars

The skeleton in Star Wars that was re-used
from One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing

In the spring of 1976, my birthday treat was to be taken to the cinema with some friends. The film, like almost all of those I had seen at the cinema up to then, was from Disney. It was called One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing. Not only was it the kind of movie that pretty much disappeared after Star Wars, but you can actually see the symbolic death of the Disney family comedy in a memorable moment from Star Wars itself. 

RIP Kenny Baker, 1934-2016: the man who was R2-D2

Kenny Baker with Anthony Daniels
on the set of Star Wars in 1976

The fan reaction to the death of Kenny Baker, the man who was R2-D2, showed how much the character meant to generations of Star Wars lovers. Episode Nothing reflects on Kenny Baker’s contribution to the original Star Wars – and considers what difference it made to have a real person operating the levers and lights to bring R2-D2 to life.

What came before Star Wars in 1970s science fiction?

George Lucas directing Star Wars

It's true to say no one, in 1977, had ever seen a film quite like Star Wars. But that doesn’t mean no one had been trying to get big budget, old fashioned entertainment off the ground.

Today, Episode Nothing looks at film makers who were trying to make science fiction and fantasy, or to revive old movie genres, in the 1970s.

A 1977 interview with Mark Hamill from Blue Peter - and what it reveals about Star Wars

 

Mark Hamill interviewed on the BBC's Blue Peter in December 1977

Millions of children will have seen it in December 1977, but a fascinating clip of Mark Hamill on the British children's show Blue Peter has only recently reappeared. 

Episode Nothing considers what it tells us about the 1970s and the early days of Star Wars fandom.