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On March 22, 1976, one of the most iconic films in history commenced principal photography in the deserts of Tunisia. It was a long road to reach that day, and there was an even longer one ahead
By Lucas Seastrom
On March 22, 1976, the world changed, only no one knew it yet. On that morning 50 years ago, in the middle of a salt flat on the edge of North Africa’s Sahara Desert, an independent movie produced by Lucasfilm and financed by 20th Century Fox began principal photography. Its working title was The Star Wars.
Writer and director George Lucas was 31 years old that Monday. Having grown up in the small California town of Modesto, he was already a rising star among an emerging generation of American filmmakers. His first feature film, 1971’s bold and philosophical THX 1138, showed visionary potential but was a commercial failure. His second feature, 1973’s soulful and hilarious American Graffiti, became one of the most successful films of its time. Many were following the young filmmaker’s career with great interest, however few could understand the vision behind his newest project.
In truth, The Star Wars wasn’t all that different in theme from THX or Graffiti. A young boy from a backwater town seeks to break out and pursue his dreams. It was the setting of this newest film that struck so many as odd: a space fantasy realm that seemed equally inspired by Sergio Leone’s Westerns, Walt Disney’s fairy tales, and Akira Kurosawa’s epics. Lucas wanted to bring mythic dimensions to the operatic stories made popular decades earlier by the likes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers…
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