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1. CH1LL3V
   June 12th, 2008 at 8:06 am

   The Harrison Ford carpenter thing is an urban ledgend. His first credit was ten years before Star Wars. He had about 35 credits before Star Wars according to IMDB.

2. Morgan
   June 12th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

   CH1LL3Vis right. George used Harrison as someone to read for the auditions, he was never intended to have the part.

3. Man or Monster
   June 12th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

   It’s not an urban legend. As the article states, he was a relatively unknown actor. He was a carpenter. He also was not cast as Han Solo until he convinced Lucas to let him have the role. He originally was just a script reader on the film.

4. James Taylor
   June 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

   Harrison Ford acted then basically went into early retirement for a while as a carpenter. This brought him back to the biz’.

   The article failed to mention that Lucas was very inspired by the Kurosawa film “The Hidden Fortress”. Moreover, he originally wanted the lead from said film, a one Toshirô Mifune, to play Obi-Wan.

   Watch them back to back some time. It’s not fair to say he stole the whole film, but there are two bungling idiots, a tomboyish princess, and a reckless, fearless leader all trying to escape from the kingdom of their enemy and evade capture.

5. Catalyst
   June 12th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

   I don’t think the American Graffiti statistic is accurate. In terms of return on investment, it’s not even in the top 5, and the Blair Witch Project was about much cheaper, and made twice as much money.

   http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.php

6. Sk8iR
   June 12th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

   No no no! David Prowse is not Welsh! And he doesn’t have a Welsh accent!

   (sorry for all the exclamation marks, can you tell the article touched a nerve?)

   He’s from the West Country of England (Bristol, to be precise), and has a lovely West Country accent, just like me.

   Very different from a Welsh accent, I should know, I was born near Bristol but live in Wales

7. Ryan H
   June 12th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

   Catalyst beat me to it. I love that site.

   I have a feeling it may be impossible to beat Blair Witch Project’s ROI. Too bad it’s such a terrible movie.

8. DOJ
   June 12th, 2008 at 5:15 pm

   @Catalyst and Ryan H - the article was written in 1993, Blair Witch came several years later

   everything from the “early stages of development” sounds horrible

9. tigergal39
   June 12th, 2008 at 5:24 pm

   I’m such a Star Wars Geek, I had already heard all of these. My 9 year old finally can appreciate Star Wars with me. YEAH!!!

10. Johnny Cat
    June 12th, 2008 at 5:29 pm

    I’m glad I’m not alone in spotting many fallacies in this. I’ll just correct one. In 1973 Lucas was trying to pitch a science fiction script that was nothing like the Star Wars finished product, and at the time it was titled “The Journal of the Whills”. And the story was indeed ripped directly from Kurosawa’s “Hidden Fortress”.

11. Holly
    June 12th, 2008 at 6:02 pm

    David Prowse isn’t Welsh! He’s English, from the West Country.

12. Crash Chloride
    June 12th, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    No facts about Star Wars are accurate without mentioning Dune. Lucas can deny all he wants but he ripped Frank Herbert off pure and simple. To make matters worse he dumbed the whole thing down.

    -shaking my fist in George Lucas’ general direction-
    _

13. Chad Cloman
    June 13th, 2008 at 12:39 am

    Regarding the executives, it’s not completely true that they all disliked it. I read The Making of Star Wars, and there were some executives who came out of the screening crying because it was such an emotional experience. My memory is faulty, so it may not have been the first screening, but Lucas definitely had people in the whole spectrum between dislike and total enthusiasm.

14. web design company
    June 13th, 2008 at 2:16 am

    Hard to believe what happens, if Star Was really didn’t come out.. man! My childhood heros..

15. Sheet
    June 13th, 2008 at 2:29 am

    Who cares.

    You’re all GAY.

16. andrewdoane
    June 13th, 2008 at 9:03 am

    It’s amazing that I have seen beaucoup documentaries and TV specials and DVD special features on Star Wars and I still learn new things about it all the time. The thrill of there being new Star Wars in the world has worn off after 10 years and I finally have to admit that the prequels stink and the old trilogy is what Star Wars really is.

17. Thomas
    June 13th, 2008 at 11:34 am

    Wow, you’re just now coming to that conclusion? Better late than never, I suppose.

18. jabba the gut
    June 14th, 2008 at 5:04 am

    The thing about the ‘Harrison Ford was just a carpenter’ was that he was making good money doing kitchens and cabinets in LA. He was probably making more money than a lawyer in Nebraska. And I believe he used it to bump up his salary for Star Wars as well.

19. JC
    June 14th, 2008 at 9:06 am

    George Lucas, a great visionary, without mentioning his achievements in the video gaming industry.

20. L'il Phoenix
    June 15th, 2008 at 12:40 pm

    David Prowse can be seen sans mask in “A Clockwork Orange,” where he plays the old guy’s caretaker/bodyguard.

    Thanks for the interesting facts!

21. Bobby
    June 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am

    only huge starwars fans would point out this crap. Nerds.

22. Chad Cloman
    June 18th, 2008 at 12:41 am

    I’m a geek and proud of it.

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