Lucas waves hand: "Greedo shot first from the beginning..."

[Brazoo]

Wasn't his ex-wife the one who edited Star Wars originally?

Exactly - she worked on the original 3 movies. By all accounts she was an editor with a great story sense, and from various sources she was one of the few collaborators Lucas had who could criticize him and have it effect his decisions. She also edited for Frances Ford Coppola and Scorsese.

By all accounts George is a great editor too - but he is often criticized for not understanding the emotional structure or characters the same way - and it seems like she brought that to his projects.

In the book Skywalking (which I read years ago), they talk at length about her contributions - which are never acknowledged now. She has been credited for rearranging the original climax of Star Wars to make it work.

Off-hand there's another story I always remember - Spielberg and Lucas screened "Raiders of the Lost Ark" for feedback - the movie originally went from Indy with the G-Men arguing about the ark directly to the big warehouse shot with the dude pushing the ark in a crate - everyone else was flipping out about how great the movie was, and Marcia caught everyone off-guard by asking 'what happened to Marion?' Everyone forgot about tying that loose end up - They had to go back and reshot the scene in the film now.

It's the kind of thing she's credited for - not being shy about her opinions and contributing valuable insight.

You'll never hear her name on a Star Wars commentary though.

[Goblin19]

That's interesting. I had never heard that before.

[Mawni]

He just likes to mess with the fans.

[kennermike]

I dont know what to say about Lucas anymore? Im out !

[Brazoo]

For more on Marcia Lucas, check out the book "Skywalking: The Life and Films Of George Lucas", which I believe was written with Lucas' cooperation, and then not authorized by him.

There's a summary of that book and other insights into Marcia Lucas here:
The Secret History of Star Wars

There's some gossipy stuff mixed in there too, but I have to say, I don't think his work has been as good without her - so I do think that lends credence to her being a key to his success to some degree. Also, he really does seem fixated on re-writing his own history.


Here's some insight into her influence:

"After THX went down the toilet, I never said, 'I told you so,' but I reminded George that I warned him it hadn't involved the audience emotionally...He always said, 'Emotionally involving the audience is easy. Anybody can do it blindfolded, get a little kitten and have some guy wring its neck.' All he wanted to do was abstract filmmaking, tone poems, collections of images. So finally, George said to me, 'I'm gonna show you how easy it is. I'll make a film that emotionally involves the audience."

[kennermike]

For more on Marcia Lucas, check out the book "Skywalking: The Life and Films Of George Lucas", which I believe was written with Lucas' cooperation, and then not authorized by him.

There's a summary of that book and other insights into Marcia Lucas here:
The Secret History of Star Wars

There's some gossipy stuff mixed in there too, but I have to say, I don't think his work has been as good without her - so I do think that lends credence to her being a key to his success to some degree. Also, he really does seem fixated on re-writing his own history.


Here's some insight into her influence:

I totally forgot about the contribution Marcia Lucas brought to the project

[Werewolf]

For more on Marcia Lucas, check out the book "Skywalking: The Life and Films Of George Lucas", which I believe was written with Lucas' cooperation, and then not authorized by him.

There's a summary of that book and other insights into Marcia Lucas here:
The Secret History of Star Wars

Thanks for the link. Informative read. Makes a lot of sense in context on how his movies have gotten worse. Jedi is definitely weakest of the original trilogy and the film he had the greatest control over. The new movies just suck. No emotional spark. You don't care about the characters and the "romance" between Padme and Anakin was just cringe worthy.

I knew he was a self important thin skinned BSer that liked to rewrite his own history but to try to erase a person's existance and accomplishments is more cruel, petty and vindictive than I would have given him credit for.

[johnmiic]

Maybe Marcia Lucas should be hired to do Special Editions on the prequels.

[samurainoir]

I haven't reread Skywalking since the nineties, but it was definitey a must read for Star Wars fans.

Given his closely he skated to risk and ruin throughout the first half of his life as a filmmaker, I think it gave hs films a real sense of urgency and energy that the new films really seem to lack. just as there were ridiculous stakes in those original films, these were really real stakes for Lucas who was always convinced that he was going to crash and burn. What's really telling is the part of the book which details the production of Empire, and how he beleived Kirscher was ruining his film, and managed to return to micromanaging on Jedi.

Also worth reading alongside this book is the biography Lucas' mentor, Francs Frord Coppola. Given their close relationship in the beginning, I think it really helps to see what Coppoa went through during those times... Particularly since Coppola did actually fall off that cliff that Lucas always feared, both creatively and commercially. And more than once!
Amazon.com: Whom God Wishes to Destroy . . .: Francis Coppola and the New Hollywood (9780822318897): Jon Lewis: Books


And if you want to follow the lineage, there is the biography of Coppoa's mentor, Roger Corman.
Amazon.com: Roger Corman: An Unauthorized Biography of the Godfather of Indie Filmmaking (9781580631464): Beverly Gray: Books

[Bruce Banner]

"Skywalking" is definitely a great book.

And yeah, that "The Secret History of Star Wars" is also very interesting and informative. The PDF version I read a few years ago was full of terrible grammar which actually made the thing a chore to read, but I hear it's been tidied up and proofread since then.

John Baxter's biography of Lucas is also worth reading: