news culture Without this rescue operation, Star Wars would have been a huge failure!
If Star Wars is now one of the most important franchises of all time, George Lucas’ film encountered many difficulties in the beginning. Luckily, the American filmmaker was able to surround himself with the right people who made his success possible. This is especially true of Marcia Lucas, his then-wife, who now plays a pivotal yet little-known role.
Marcia Lucas, the savior from the shadows?
Set in 1977 during the airing of A New Hope, Star Wars is an instant hit. Nevertheless, At first nobody believed it, starting with George Lucas himself, the film’s director and creator of this universe, who took refuge in Hawaii with Steven Spielberg because he was so afraid of critical feedback. It has to be said that even some of his friends weren’t convinced during the press preview. Under the legend that surrounds the first presentation of the film, we remember it Brian de Palma is reported to have said that the force is “a shit thing” and that he didn’t understand the context of the film. Despite everything, the feature film had the success we know today, up to one of the most profitable licenses of all time. However, things were very complicated at first, but luckily George Lucas could count on his close guard, especially Marcia Lucas, his then-wife, whose role had been somewhat forgotten.
1969, George and Marcia Lucas get married, and from that moment she plays a crucial role in the director’s films. For her first project, THX 1138, she was hired as an assistant editor and offered advice on how to engage the public regarding the visual and graphic aspect of the work. While the editing takes place in the attic of her house, Marcia is the only person George listens to despite their differing opinions. Despite her goodwill, the film is a commercial failure, although it does receive some critical acclaim. You have to wait years later for the success of Star Wars until the feature film becomes a cult.
For George’s next film, American Grafiti, released in 1973, we find the same dynamic, Marcia is the only one who believes in the project while criticizing the structure originally planned by her husband. Instead, it offers a less frenetic editing rhythm that allows the scenes to breathe more, making viewers feel more involved and connected to the characters. A decision that appears to have paid off as the film enjoyed critical success, grossing more than $100 million in revenues. Her talents as an editor will be noticed so much that Martin Scorcese will recruit her as sole editor for many projects., first with Alice is no longer here. Satisfied with his work, the director enlisted his services again to edit what would become a cult film: Taxi Driver. However, this independence displeased George Lucas, who at the time had a rather antiquated idea of the position of women. However, the latter will again help him with the most ambitious project of his life: Star Wars.
Star Wars, a project that does not convince at first!
Two years before the cinema release, Marcia Lucas advises on the second draft of the Star Wars screenplay, in particular with regard to the construction of the characters, the emotional impact of certain scenes and the writing of the dialogues. A stake in the narrative that goes as far as suggesting that George killed Ben Kenobi since the latter achieved its narrative goal in the third act, but also to recruit Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker for the lead role. Through her participation in the project, Marcia is quite frustrated to see that George Lucas fully identifies with the writers’ policies, acknowledging every element of the film when it is the result of numerous deliberations.
While filming Star Wars, Marcia follows her husband to Tunisia and the UK and the least we can say is that she saved his day. At first it was John Thompson who edited the film and George Lucas was not at all happy with that first cut as it lacked the energy he envisioned for his feature film. He was quickly fired and could count on his wife to make amends. She starts by selecting all the rushes, prompts wizards to start everything over. In the fall of 1976, a few months before the film’s release, this recast was completed and won over Alan Ladd Jr., a major producer of the time. Obviously the feature film fulfills the success that we know today and Marcia Lucas even gets an Oscar for best editing with the other two editors.
Here, as the Lucas couple continues with the Star Wars sequels, their relationship deteriorates over time. George Lucas is becoming more and more absent due to his new duties and he is much less involved in his projects, especially The Empire Strikes Back. When Marcia Lucas returns to edit some sequences Return of the Jedithe couple eventually divorced in 1983 because of the distance between them. Unfortunately, this will exclude him from his old circle of acquaintances and close the doors to many projects. She will only be speaking about her experience with Star Wars on the film’s 40th anniversary, without her the saga would not be as we know it today.