This will be my only contribution to Star Wars mania
by digby
When Star Wars came out back in the dark ages, people in my little town (Fairbanks Alaska) had to wait for weeks for the film to finish it's run in Anchorage before our theatre got it. One of my little friends had a new Z-28 and it flew so a group of us decided to drive the 400 miles to see it when it opened. It was worth it.
I haven't really been much of a fan since then, I must admit. I saw the second one, barely remember the third and missed all the prequels. But the original was fun and had some simple universal messages that obviously hit a nerve with a lot of people. I wore a Luke Skywalker t-shirt all through europe some time later and it always got a conversation started with somebody in every country.
Anyway, I came across this, which most of you Star Wars obsessives have probably seen. But I hadn't and I thought a few people might also have missed it:
The story about Han Solo is interesting. Apparently in early drafts he was a green monster. Then they made him an African American but were persuaded that much of the country would object to the flirtation between Han and Leia if he were black. (Sadly, I'm sure they were right. And America would have been the least of it. Even in the 90s and 2000s when I was selling movies to foreign countries, particularly Asia and the Middle East, this was a big problem. It's a sick, sad world.)
Anyway, once they settled on Han Solo as a youngish, cowboy type, Ford was cast. And you can see in that audition that he had the character from the beginning.
I hope everyone's enjoying the new one this week-end. I'm a big fan of JJ Abrams but I'd rather jam chopsticks in my ears then go to a movie like this on opening week-end. I'm happy to wait for as long as it takes.
The Holiday fundraiser continues and I hope you'll consider throwing a little something in the kitty to keep this old blog going for another year.