Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the new This Week In Star Wars, my weekly attempt to look back at the wide, wide galaxy of history surrounding one of my favorite franchises.
This week we dig around and find out what happened between June 29th and July 5th that had an impact, big or small, on Star Wars. We got some more birthdays and big moments during the making of Empire Strikes Back and The Phantom Menace on dock, so let's get to it shall we?
July 1st, 1935 - David Prowse was born. While Prowse's relationship with Lucas and Star Wars on the whole is a bit contentious. He always felt burned by Lucas' totally right decision to dub James Earl Jones over his own voice and Lucas in turn felt like Prowse was too leaky when talking to the press... which could be one of the big reasons for keeping the “I am your father” line a big secret.
That said, it's hard to imagine the imposing form of Darth Vader without David Prowse under the suit. If you want to know how important his body language was to the role you need to look no further than Hayden Christensen's short time in the suit at the end of Revenge of the Sith. He just looks awkward and feels off.
I also have to give Prowse some props for engaging with a young high school aged nerd (who was prone to wear Star Wars ties... to school... don't tell anybody I was ever that dorky) and agreeing to do an interview for his high school newspaper. I may be wrong, but I think my mid-'90s interview with David Prowse was my first to make it onto AICN. My high school newspaper, The Lone Star Dispatch, wouldn't print my interviews whole. I was just starting to get to know Harry around that time and he told me he'd run my full interviews unedited and I'm pretty sure the Prowse chat, which was probably my third or fourth interview, made it to the site.
Anyway, he was nice when he could have been (and probably should have been) prickly, so happy birthday, Mr. Prowse!
June 29th, 1947 - Michael Carter (Bib Fortuna) was born.
I don't have much to say about Mr. Carter other than he was perfectly creepy as Jabba's right hand man. He added yet another bit of texture to an insane universe.
July 5th, 1948 - William Hootkins born.
Yes, Porkins hisownself also has a birthday this week. While Jabba might be the go-to fat guy Star Wars reference I've always preferred the heroic X-Wing pilot with the incredibly unfortunate name. The man gave his life so the Death Star wouldn't destroy any more planets and all we get is snickers when someone says his name! It's a damn shame!
Hootkins was a very active character actor and also turned in memorable performances in Raiders of the Lost Ark (“Top. Men.”) and as the slimy, corrupt Gotham detective Eckhardt in Tim Burton's Batman.
June 29th, 1979 - Harrison Ford wraps on The Empire Strikes Back.
And he apparently couldn't wait to leave. Supposedly, the endless Falcon cockpit shots really wore him down. By all accounts, Empire was a much more difficult shoot than the first Star Wars, which despite the legend of Harrison Ford's grumpiness, he actually reportedly enjoyed making.
From what I've read most of the cast butted heads with Irvin Kershner while making Empire, but the final result seemed to soften them on the experience.
It should also be noted that Ford wrapped on Empire almost exactly 3 years after wrapping on the first Star Wars. Trivia is fun, right?!?
July 2nd & 3rd, 1979 - Mark Hamill begins shooting the climactic Vader duel.
For the majority of this lightsaber fight David Prowse wasn't in the costume. Rather it was legendary swordman Bob Anderson (pictured above), who was already very tall and when you added in Vader's boots and helmet he positively towered over Mark Hamill.
Production was massively overschedule, everybody was tense and Hamill was just coming off of an injury (he broke his thumb while getting the shot of Luke dodging the AT-AT foot). The carbonite freezing room was reportedly hazardous, the fog making all the surfaces slick and wet and Anderson couldn't see much more than Hamill's feet when they were clashing sabers.
Hamill was stressed and Kershner was under a lot of pressure and during this fight they actually came to a shouting match when Kershner acted out what he wanted from Hamill, which is a big no-no for a lot of actors.
All that began on July 2nd, 1979 and thankfully they pushed through it all and created one of the most iconic sequences in film history.
July 4th, 1979 - Cast and crew screening of Show Reel and Empire teaser trailer while filming.
The evening of the fourth of July wasn't filled with fireworks and patriotism (they were filming in England after all), but it was the first time the cast and crew were treated to an assembly of the footage they had all shot as well as the first screening of the Empire Strikes Back teaser trailer which you may remember as being comprised mostly of Ralph McQuarrie's production paintings.
The screening was so popular that they had to add a second run in order to accommodate all cast and crew who wanted to attend.
July 2nd, 1997 – First day of shooting on “Star Wars Episode 1 – The Beginning” for most of the lead characters.
The scene was the landing platform meeting with Palpatine and Valorum and was the first time all the leads were assembled. Natalie Portman had already done a scene in Palpatine's office, but I believe this was the first day for Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best. So, depending on your opinion of the prequels this is either a happy anniversary or a dark, sad one.
That's it for this week! Come on back next week for yet more Star Warsian goodies!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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