Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

*"A film for a generation growing up without fairy tales."* - George Lucas

Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first part of the Star Wars original trilogy and the first Star Wars film released.

The film is set 19 years after the formation of the Galactic Empire and the events of Revenge of the Sith; construction has finished on the Death Star, a weapon capable of destroying a planet. After Princess Leia Organa, a leader of the Rebel Alliance, receives the weapon's plans in the hope of finding a weakness, she is kidnapped and taken to the Death Star. Meanwhile, a young farmer named Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived in seclusion for years on the desert planet of Tatooine. When Luke's home is burned and his aunt and uncle killed, Obi-Wan begins Luke's Jedi training as they—along with Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 attempt to rescue the princess from the Empire.

## Synopsis

### Assault on *Tantive IV*

19 years after the formation of the Galactic Empire and the events of *Revenge of the Sith*, the galaxy is in a state of civil war. The Rebel Alliance has won their first major victory by stealing plans to the Galactic Empire's secret weapon, the Death Star. Hoping that the stolen plans can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy, Princess Leia Organa, who is in custody of the plans, attempts to race home aboard the *Tantive IV*. However, her ship is intercepted by the *Imperial* *I*-class Star Destroyer *Devastator* over the desert planet of Tatooine.

The ship is captured, and several Imperial stormtroopers come aboard. After defeating the small number of guards defending the ship, the Sith Lord Darth Vader arrives to assess the damage. Vader is outraged and questions Captain Antilles, whom he eventually strangles and kills. Hiding on the ship, Princess Leia is able to record a holographic message with the help of R2-D2, and gives the droid the plans for the Death Star and the responsibility of taking the message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi-in-hiding on Tatooine. Leia is spotted by stormtroopers and they shoot her with a stun blast and bring her before Vader. Leia claims she and the ship's crew were on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan, but is disbelieved by Vader, who denounces her as a traitor and has her taken prisoner. Vader orders a message be sent to the Imperial Senate, informing them that the ship was destroyed, with everyone on board killed. R2-D2 and C-3PO use an escape pod in order to escape the ship and reach the planet of Tatooine below.

### Luke's destiny

"*There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.*"
―Luke Skywalker
After arguing and going their separate ways for a while, the droids are individually picked up by Jawa traders and brought aboard a Sandcrawler. They are later bought by moisture farmer Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker, a young farmer who lost his parents as a baby and hopes to one day be a starfighter pilot just like his friends. While cleaning R2, Luke discovers the hologram, at the mention of Obi Wan, he wonders if she means his neighbor Ben Kenobi.

While eating dinner with Owen and his Aunt Beru, Owen asks Luke to take R2 to Anchorhead the next day to have his memory wiped, and expresses his hope Luke will stay with them for one more harvest season before sending his application to the Academy. R2 escapes from the Lars' homestead in search of Obi-Wan, whom the droid claims to be the property of. Luke and C-3PO search the desert and find R2 the next day, only to be attacked by Sand people. Luke and his droids are rescued by Ben Kenobi, who confirms he is Obi-Wan.

At his home, Obi-Wan gives Luke his father's lightsaber, as Obi-Wan recalls his own friendship with Luke's father. He tells Luke that he and his father were a part of the Jedi order that once protected the galaxy before the Empire took over and that Darth Vader was once his apprentice before he fell to the dark side of the Force and murdered Luke's father. After viewing Princess Leia's message carried by R2-D2, Obi-Wan attempts to persuade Luke to accompany him to Alderaan. Luke refuses to go until the group discovers the remains of the Sandcrawler, the Jawas having been killed by stormtroopers searching for the droids. Realizing this, Luke hurries home only to find his aunt and uncle's charred remains, having been brutally murdered by the same stormtroopers.

Luke returns upset, but Obi-Wan tells him there was nothing he could do, and that he would have been killed too and the plans would be in possession of the Empire. With nothing keeping him on Tatooine, Luke, Obi Wan, and the two droids travel to Mos Eisley to find passage to Alderaan, Princess Leia's home planet.

Aboad the Death Star, Cassio Tagge argues with Conan Antonio Motti about the stations vulnerability to the rebels and points out that the rebellion has been gaining support within the imperial senate. Wilhuff Tarkin enters the room with Darth Vader and informs them that the Emperor has dissolved the senate completely, sweeping away the last remnant of the Old Republic. Believing fear will keep the galaxy in line, Motti boasts the power of the Death Star, to which Vader replies that its power is insignificant compared to the Force. When Motti mocks Vader's belief in the Force, Vader Force chokes him until Tarkin orders him to stop, and expresses his own desire to crush the Rebellion.

Back in Mos Eisley, Luke, Obi-Wan and the Droids run into a patrol of stormtroopers, who ask for their identification. Obi-Wan uses a Jedi Mind trick on the lead trooper, who lets them pass. Arriving at Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, the group hires smuggler Han Solo and his First Mate, a Wookiee named Chewbacca, for 17,000 credits, 2,000 in advance and 15,000 upon arrival, to take the four of them to Alderaan aboard their ship, the *Millennium Falcon*. After Han has a brief run-in with Greedo over his debts to crime lord Jabba The Hutt, which ends with Han fatally shooting Greedo, they make it to the Falcon's hanger. A brief scuffle with stormtroopers and henchmen sent by Jabba ensues, and the *Falcon* escapes Imperial Star-Destroyers over Tatooine and sets a course to Alderaan, unaware that the Death Star has just arrived there as well.

### Rescue of the princess

Leia, having resisted being tortured with a Mind probe for the location of the Rebel Alliance's headquarters, is brought before Grand Moff Tarkin. Tarkin threatens to use the Death Star's Superlaser on Leia's Homeworld of Alderaan if she does not tell them the Rebel base's location. She reluctantly tells them the base is on Dantooine, but Tarkin orders Alderaan to be destroyed anyway for its role in supporting the rebels.

Aboard the Millennium Falcon, Obi-Wan feels a great disturbance in the Force while Luke undergoes Lightsaber training with a training remote. Upon dropping out of Hyperspace, they find what seems to be an asteroid field in Alderaan's place. The *Millennium Falcon* is then pulled aboard the Death Star by its powerful tractor beam.

Tarkin and Vader discover that Leia lied about the Rebel bases location when their forces only discover the ruins of a base on Dantooine. Tarkin orders her to be executed.

Having docked with the Death Star, Solo and the others ambush two stormtroopers and the Imperial scanning crew sent to investigate the Falcon by hiding in hidden smuggling compartments. With Han and Luke now disguised as the two stormtroopers, the group storms a control room to figure out how to escape. Obi-Wan separates from the group to disable the tractor beam, leaving the others alone. While connected to the Imperial Network, R2-D2 discovers Princess Leia is aboard the station and is set for termination. Luke convinces Han and Chewbacca to rescue her with the vague promise of a grand reward. Han and Chewbacca reluctantly agree. Luke plans to march into Detention Block AA-23, claiming that Chewbacca is part of a prisoner transfer. C-3PO and R2-D2 are instructed to remain behind, and the trio sets off on their rescue attempt. Upon being met with suspicion, they are quick to subdue the officers and guards in the princess's cell block. Luke frees Leia from her cell, but the group are pinned down by a squad of stormtroopers. Leia takes charge, blasting a hole in a nearby grate and jumping through while Chewbacca, Luke, and Han all dive after the princess.

The chute ends up leading to a garbage compactor that is also home to a resident dianoga. Soon after landing, the creature pulls Luke under the surface, but releases him and is scared away when the Imperials realize where the heroes escaped to and activate the compactor. As the walls close in on the foursome, Luke desperately calls to C-3PO over his comlink asking for the compactor to be shut down. Leia struggles to get to the top and Chewbacca tries to unlock the door. R2-D2 manages to shut down the compactor just in time, although, amidst the muffled cries of joy over the comlink, C-3PO is briefly convinced that his master and friends have been crushed.

After escaping from the trash compactor, the group hurries back to the *Millennium Falcon*, hoping that Obi-Wan has successfully shut down the tractor beam. Leia and Han bicker about who is in charge of the mission, while Han muses no reward is worth dealing with Leia's scathing criticism. Luke and Leia briefly become separated from Han and Chewie when Han chases after a group of stormtroopers, only to run into a whole battalion and be chased by them instead. Luke and Leia nearly run into a large chasm and are forced to swing across with a Grappling hook amongst blaster fire, with Leia giving Luke a brief kiss "for luck". The group soon rejoins and makes there way back to the Falcon.

### Sacrifice and victory

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan, remaining completely undetected, shuts down the tractor beam. Vader, however, had sensed his presence through the Force, and, while Obi-Wan makes his way to the Falcon, confronts his old master and engages him in a lightsaber duel. Luke and the others make it back to the Falcon, where Luke and several stormtroopers witness the battle. Sparing one last glance at Luke, Obi-Wan allows himself to be struck down by Vader, thus becoming one with the Force and allowing Luke and the others to escape. Horrified and angered at having witnessed Obi-Wan's demise at the hands of Vader, Luke and the others are forced to flee on the *Millennium Falcon* under a hail of blaster fire from the stormtroopers.

Still mourning Obi-Wan's death, Luke helps Solo fend off a squadron of TIE fighters. Despite their supposed victory, Leia correctly believes the empire let them go in order to track them to the rebel base. The crew of the Falcon finally meets the Rebel Alliance on the moon of Yavin-4, and the information in R2-D2 is turned over to them. General Dodonna plans the attack on the Death Star, as the plans reveal a weakness in the Death Stars design in the form of a thermal exhaust port leading to the station's reactor. Believing a direct hit with Proton torpedos will cause a chain reaction that will destroy the station, Dodanna tells the pilots to man their ships in preparation for the battle. To Luke's dismay, Han leaves after receiving his reward to settle his debts.

The Rebel strike force begins its attack on the Death Star, as the space station approaches Yavin-4. A group of X-wing, and Y-wing starfighters, Luke among them, assault a trench on the Death Star's surface to hit the station's vulnerable spot before it can destroy the Alliance's base. During this, most of the Rebel craft, including Luke's friend Biggs Darklighter, are picked off by a group of Imperial fighters led by Darth Vader. Tarkin is told by an imperial officer that the Rebels do pose a danger, but Tarkin refuses to evacuate in their supposed moment of triumph. With the Death Star only minutes from being in range to destroy Yavin-4, Luke makes one last run down the trench toward the exhaust port. Just as Vader opens fire on Luke from his personal TIE Advanced fighter, Han returns in the *Millennium Falcon* and attacks the Imperials, resulting in Vader's ship getting knocked out of the trench. Luke, aided by the voice of Kenobi and guided by the Force, accurately fires two proton torpedoes into the exhaust port, and the battle station explodes, killing Tarkin and everyone on board, while Vader escapes into space.

The few remaining ships (those of Wedge Antilles, Luke, Han, and a Y-wing Pilot) return to Yavin 4 and a victory ceremony commences, where medals are presented to the heroes, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, by Princess Leia, as the rebels give them a standing ovation.

## Development

### Conception

During post-production on his previous film, *American Graffiti*, Lucas repeatedly discussed the concept of a "space opera" with producer Gary Kurtz. In January 1973 Lucas began work on this, and by May had prepared a 14-page story outline for distribution among film studios. He had originally envisioned the film as being a continuation of both *American Graffiti* and *Apocalypse Now* (the latter of which he helped make before Warner Bros. Studios shut down his studio of American Zoetrope and thus forced him to hand over development to his compatriot, Francis Ford Coppola). His note for the basic plotline for the film, which was intended to be a response to the Vietnam War era, was that it involved "a technological empire going after a small band of freedom fighters." According to Walter Murch, a former associate of Lucas when the latter was filming *Apocalypse Now*, the space opera setting was conceived in large part because, due to the Vietnam War still going on, the audiences would not have been receptive to a direct attack on American involvement in Vietnam. Because of its outer space setting, the story was viewed as science fiction, an unpopular genre at the box office. Lucas later proposed that terms like "space fantasy" or "science fantasy" better fit the story. He brought the outline to Universal Studios and United Artists; both rejected the project (the former refused directly, while the latter withheld their answer until after the 10 day wait period ended). He also turned to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, though they also turned him down. Lucas disliked the studio system because his previous two films, *American Graffiti* and *THX 1138*, had been re-edited without his consent. Still, aware that studios were unavoidable, he pursued Alan Ladd, Jr., the head of 20th Century Fox. Although Ladd did not grasp the technical side of the project, he believed that Lucas was talented. Lucas later stated that Ladd "invested in me, [but] he did not invest in the movie."

### Production

Lucas wrote multiple drafts of the script: a *Rough Draft* in May and a *First Draft* in July 1974, a second draft titled, *Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars* in January and a third titled, *The Star Wars: From The Adventures of Luke Starkiller* in August 1975.

As the draft developed, the characters evolved significantly. Early in development, Luke Skywalker's character changed from a 60-year-old general to a member of a family of dwarfs; the Corellian smuggler, Han Solo, was envisioned as a large, green-skinned monster with gills. Chewbacca was inspired by Lucas' Alaskan malamute dog, Indiana, who often acted as the director's "co-pilot" by sitting in the passenger seat of his car. The Force, a mysterious energy field, was initially conceived as the Kyber crystal, a "galactic holy grail." The completed script was too long for one movie; however, Lucas refused to condense it. Instead, he expanded the first third of it into one movie and left the rest for two future films, effectively creating the original *Star Wars* trilogy.

Lucas hired conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie to create paintings of certain scenes during screenwriting. When Lucas delivered his screenplay to the studio, he included several of McQuarrie's paintings. 20th Century Fox approved a budget of $8,250,000; *American Graffiti*'s positive reviews allowed Lucas to renegotiate his deal with Alan Ladd, Jr. and request the sequel rights to the film. For Lucas, this deal protected *Star Wars*' unwritten segments and most of the merchandising profits.

In 1975, Lucas founded the visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) after discovering that 20th Century Fox's visual effects department had been disbanded. ILM began its work on *Star Wars* in a warehouse in Van Nuys, California. Most of the visual effects used motion control photography, which creates the illusion of size by employing small models and slowly moving cameras. Model spaceships were constructed on the basis of drawings by Joe Johnston, input from Lucas, and paintings by McQuarrie. Lucas opted to abandon the traditional sleekness of science fiction by creating a "used universe" in which all devices, ships, and buildings looked aged and dirty.

When filming began on March 22, 1976 in the Tunisian desert for the scenes on the planet Tatooine, the project faced several problems.[*source?*] Lucas fell behind schedule in the first week of shooting due to a rare Tunisian rainstorm, malfunctioning props, and electronic breakdowns. When actor Anthony Daniels wore the C-3PO outfit for the first time, the left leg piece shattered down through the plastic covering his left foot, stabbing him. After completing filming in Tunisia, production moved into the more controlled environment of Elstree Studios, near London. However, significant problems, such as a crew that had little interest in the film, still arose. Most of the crew considered the project a "children's film," rarely took their work seriously, and often found it unintentionally humorous. Actor Kenny Baker later confessed that he thought the film would be a failure. Harrison Ford found the film "weird," in that there was a princess with buns for hair and what he called a "giant in a monkey suit" named Chewbacca.[*source?*] Ford also found the dialogue difficult, saying, "You can type this shit, George, but you sure can't say it."

Lucas clashed with Director of Photography Gilbert Taylor, whom producer Gary Kurtz called "old-school" and "crotchety." Moreover, with a background in independent filmmaking, Lucas was accustomed to creating most of the elements of the film himself. His camera suggestions were rejected by an offended Taylor, who felt that Lucas was over-stepping his boundaries by giving specific instructions. Lucas eventually became frustrated that the costumes, sets and other elements were not living up to his original vision of *Star Wars*. He rarely spoke to the actors, who felt that he expected too much of them while providing little direction. His directions to the actors usually consisted of the words "faster" and "more intense."

Ladd offered Lucas some of the only support from the studio; he dealt with scrutiny from board members over the rising budget and complex screenplay drafts. After production fell two weeks behind schedule, Ladd told Lucas that he had to finish production within a week or he would be forced to shut down production. The crew split into three units, led by Lucas, Kurtz, and production supervisor Robert Watts, respectively. Under the new system, the project met the studio's deadline. ILM concluded shooting on April 22, 1977 with shot 110P, that of a Star Destroyer.

*Star Wars* was originally slated for release in Christmas 1976; however, delays pushed the film's release to summer 1977. Already anxious about meeting his deadline, Lucas was shocked when his editor's first cut of the film was a "complete disaster." After attempting to persuade the original editor to cut the film his way, Lucas replaced the editor with Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. He also allowed his then-wife Marcia Lucas to aid the editing process while she was cutting the film *New York, New York* with Lucas' friend Martin Scorsese. Richard Chew found the film had an non-energetic pace; it had been cut in a by-the-book manner: scenes were played out in master shots that flowed into close-up coverage. He found that the pace was dictated by the actors instead of the cuts. Hirsch and Chew worked on two reels simultaneously; whoever finished first moved on to the next.

During production, the cast attempted to make Lucas laugh or smile as he often appeared depressed. At one point, the project became so demanding that Lucas was diagnosed with hypertension and exhaustion and was warned to reduce his stress level. Post-production was equally stressful due to increasing pressure from 20th Century Fox. Moreover, Mark Hamill's face was injured in a car accident, which made reshoots impossible.

Meanwhile, ILM was struggling to achieve unprecedented special effects. The company had spent half of its budget on four shots that Lucas deemed unacceptable. Moreover, theories surfaced that the workers at ILM lacked discipline, forcing Lucas to intervene frequently to ensure that they were on schedule. With hundreds of uncompleted shots remaining, ILM was forced to finish a year's work in six months. Lucas inspired ILM by editing together aerial dogfights from old war films, which enhanced the pacing of the scenes.

During the chaos of production and post-production, the team made decisions about character voicing and sound effects. Sound designer Ben Burtt had created a library of sounds that Lucas referred to as an "organic soundtrack." For Chewbacca's growls, Burtt recorded and combined sounds made by dogs, bears, lions, tigers, and walruses to create phrases and sentences. Burtt created the robotic voice of R2-D2 by filtering his voice through an electronic synthesizer. Darth Vader's breathing was achieved by Burtt breathing through the mask of a scuba tank implanted with a microphone. Lucas never intended to use the voice of David Prowse, who portrayed Darth Vader in costume, because of Prowse's thick English West Country accent. He originally wanted Orson Welles to speak for Darth Vader. However, he felt that Welles' voice would be too recognizable, so he cast the lesser-known James Earl Jones. Nor did Lucas intend to use Anthony Daniels' voice for C-3PO. Thirty well-established voice actors, such as Stan Freberg, read for the voice of the droid. According to Daniels, one of the major voice actors recommended Daniels' voice for the role.

When Lucas screened an early cut of the film for his friends, among them directors Brian De Palma, John Milius and Steven Spielberg, their reactions were disappointing. Spielberg, who claimed to have been the only person in the audience to have enjoyed the film, believed that the lack of enthusiasm was due to the absence of finished special effects. Lucas later said that the group was honest and seemed bemused by the film. In contrast, Alan Ladd, Jr. and the rest of 20th Century Fox loved the film; one of the executives, Gareth Wigan, told Lucas, "This is the greatest film I've ever seen," and cried during the screening. Lucas found the experience shocking and rewarding, having never gained any approval from studio executives before. Although the delays increased the budget from $8 million to $11 million, the film was still the least expensive of the *Star Wars* saga.

### Music

From the very beginning, Lucas' intention for "Star Wars" was that it would have very familiar sounding music, that despite the extraordinary visuals and events occurring onscreen, the music would be reminiscent of Earth and of the past. To that end, he originally wanted to fill the film with tracked classical music from various composers, in a similar fashion to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Lucas' friend, Steven Spielberg, recommended composer John Williams to Lucas after their recent collaboration on Jaws (1975). Spielberg convinced Lucas that he should meet with the composer, who in turn convinced him of the need for original music. They also decided in this early meeting that the score should have a romantic musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and events, similar to the operas of Richard Wagner.

Rough cuts of "Star Wars" used something called a "temp score", referring to musical material that was there to find a rhythm while editing but would not be kept in the final cut as it would be replaced by the final score. These temp tracks would help to inspire the direction John Williams was to take with his score as he began writing it. Most of the temp tracks are not public knowledge, but some information has been revealed over the years. In one interview, editor Paul Hirsch confirmed that a cue from Bernard Herrmann's Psycho score containing the famous "3-note motif" was used to temp the scene where the heroes exit the smuggling chambers of the Millennium Falcon. In another interview, Hirsch revealed that the opening to "The Sacrifice" from Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" was used to temp the scene in the desert, the Jawa scenes were temped from other parts of the same piece, and the Main Title crawl was temped with the overture of Ivanhoe by Miklós Rózsa. Later, in his own book, Hirsch would claim that the Main Title crawl was temped with Erich Korngold's theme to the 1938 Robin Hood. It is unknown which of these claims is correct. Also in his book, Hirsch mentions that the Cantina scene was tracked by Benny Goodman's "Avalon" from his Carnegie Hall performance, some of the early battle footage was tracked with "Dance of the Adolescents" from "The Rite of Spring", and the approach to the Death Star was temped with the music from the approach to Kong Island from Max Steiner's King Kong score. In an interview, sound editor Ben Burtt said that Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony was temped into the medal ceremony (Hirsch mentioned this in his book too), and parts of Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony were temped as Luke's theme. Homages to many of these known temp tracks appear in the final score. For example, the cue [1m5-2m1] Desert Song from Star Wars is extremely similar to the opening of the Stravinsky piece it was temped with. Further, the music in [1m2] Main Title that plays when the underbelly of the Star Destroyer flies over the camera is very similar to the ending of "Mars - The Bringer of War" from Holsts' "The Planets". Even the 3-note motif from Psycho appears in the very opening of the Star Wars cue [7m1-7m2 New] The Hatch Opens, exactly where the temp track would have been.

On January 10th, 1977, Williams was invited to the spotting sessions, where he watched a rough cut of the film with Lucas, music supervisor Lionel Newman, music editor Ken Wannberg, producer Gary Kurtz, and film editor Paul Hirsch. Over the next several weeks, he would get to work writing the score. The way Williams wrote his score, he began by creating all the various leitmotifs and character themes (such as "Luke's Theme", "Leia's theme", and "Ben's theme", the "Jawa theme," the "Rebel Fanfare," and the "Imperial motif"). He then went on to create the actual score by stringing all the themes he created together in a way that would match up with what was happening on screen. It's unknown exactly how long John Williams spent writing the score, but it is certain that he would have had at the absolute most no more than 8 weeks, given that they started recording on March 5th. This is unrealistic because there needed to have been time for the orchestrators to write out all the various parts for the players, so it is more likely that the score was completed in 7 weeks or less.

As with any creative process, parts of the score went through multiple revisions. One well-known example is the cue "Lost R2", which scores the famous "binary sunset" scene. This scene was originally scored with a very different sounding piece that contained "Luke's theme". When Lucas heard the cue, he asked if it could be rescored with "Ben's theme" because he felt it fit the scene better. It can be argued that this opened the door for "Ben's theme" to be recontextualized into what we think of today as the "Force theme". Another interesting example of the score changing was the cue "A Home Destroyed". When this cue was written, it was designed to score the end of Ben's house, Leia's torture, the discovery of the attacked sandcrawler, and Luke returning home to find his guardians dead and his home burned. While Williams was writing the score, the film was re-edited so that the board room scene would occur where the torture scene used to be. This caused the cue to be split in half. The first 14 bars were recorded by themselves with a newly written ending featuring the "Death Star theme" for the transition to the boardroom scene. Then a second cue was recorded, being made up of bars 31-71 (attacked sandcrawler and burned homestead scenes) and bars 17-30 (Leia torture scene), with some new transition material written to join them. This isn't the only time editing of the film would require changes to the score, but it is one of the only examples where a re-edit resulted in the score being changed before it was recorded. The rest of the edits were done too late, and the remaining score changes were left to be made artificially by Ken Wannberg. After the writing of the score was completed, the orchestrations were performed by lead orchestrator Herbert Spencer, who was assisted by Arthur Morton, Angela Morley, Al Woodbury, Alexander Courage and Williams himself. When it came time to record the score, Williams was given no choice but to record in London, presumably due to budget constraints and the fact that most of the film was shot in England. He did have the choice of which orchestra he wanted to work with, and he ended up choosing the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) due to its primary conductor being his friend André Previn. This was historically significant, as it was the first time Williams ever got to work with an organized symphony orchestra for a film. Previous films of his usually recorded with freelance players. The score was recorded over the course of eight days between March 5th and March 16th of 1977 at Anvil Recording Studios in Denham, England. People present at the sessions included John Williams himself, who was conducting, George Lucas, recording engineer Eric Tomlinson, his assistant Alan Snelling, and music editor Ken Wannberg. The orchestra itself was made up of 26 violins, 10 violas, 10 cellos, 6 basses, 11 woodwinds, 8 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, 2 harps, 3 percussion, 1 timpani, 1 piano, and 1 celeste. The score was recorded with approximately 23 microphones, placed at strategic positions around the orchestra. The mixing console, a Rupert Neve, had 24 inputs and 16 outputs. Recording engineer Eric Tomlinson used the console to create a live LCR (Left, Center, Right) mix while the orchestra was playing. The live mixes were recorded straight to two 35mm magnetic film recorders (with healthy Dolby A noise reduction applied). The live mix was also routed to tracks 1-3 of a Struder A80 16-track 2 inch recorder, with sections of the orchestra isolated on tracks 4-15 and a 50 hz pilot tone on track 16. The pilot tone could later be used for synchronization with the film during editing. After the recording was completed, the best takes were combined into performance edits by music editor Ken Wannberg. He created performance edits using one of the 35mm mag recordings, as well as with the 16 track tapes. (note: a performance edit is where sections of different takes are combined together to create the best possible recording of a given cue) The 16 track tapes were intended both for backup purposes, and to be sent off to be remixed by John Neal for the eventual soundtrack release on LP. The 35mm edits would of course be further edited by Wannberg into the final stems for use in the film.

## Release

Wary that *Star Wars* would be beaten out by other summer films, such as *Smokey and the Bandit*, 20th Century Fox moved the release date to Wednesday before Memorial Day: May 25, 1977. However, few theaters ordered the film to be shown. In response, 20th Century Fox demanded that theaters order *Star Wars* if they wanted an eagerly anticipated film based on a best-selling novel titled *The Other Side of Midnight*. *The New York Times* published the first advertisements for the film on May 15, only ten days before its premiere.

*Star Wars* became an instant success upon release; within three weeks, 20th Century Fox's stock price doubled to a record high. Before 1977, 20th Century Fox's greatest annual profits were $37,000,000; in 1977, the company earned $79,000,000. Although the film's cultural neutrality helped it to gain international success, Ladd became anxious during the premiere in Japan. After the screening, the audience was silent, leading Ladd, Jr. to fear that the film would be unsuccessful. He was later told that, in Japan, silence was the greatest honor to a film. Meanwhile, thousands attended a ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater, where C-3PO, R2-D2 and Darth Vader placed their footprints in the theater's forecourt.