Substitute light sabers for swords, and you have the making of a franchise. Jimmy Stewart plays the na ve new senator to Claude Rains' version of the Emperor. Politicians of the day hated this Frank Capra-corn because they were cast as the Storm Troopers. The public loved it. It was also the top-grossing movie of the year, beating out Citizen Kane .
Idealism always wins at the box office.
In the years after World War II, Hollywood revisited that other war to end all wars, World War I. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn make a treacherous journey down a river in Africa and come up with a plan to aid anti-German war efforts. Constantly at odds with each other, they end up in each other's arms. Take note, Han and Leia. Former gunfighter Alan Ladd comes to the defense of homesteaders and fights for their rights. Jack Palance plays the heavy, and you can easily imagine him donning Darth Vader's headgear.