The Bearded Trio

     Recently I’ve become more and more interested in the George Lucas before Star Wars. Primarily what sort of films he made prior to creating the blockbuster space opera. A few years ago I did some digging on websites like Wikipedia, and wrote down any film titles I came across that he made while attending USC. Films like Look at Life, Herbie, 1:42.08, The Emperor, Anyone Lived in Pretty (How) Town, filmmaker, Freiheit, 6.18.67 and THX 1138 4EB. Considering how many awards Lucas won at film festivals, I always wondered why these films didn’t get more recognition than they do. I understand they’re just student films, and at the time Lucas was an unknown. So I wanted to shine a spotlight on some of these films and who knows maybe it’ll spark some interest for whoever is reading this to do your own bit of research and learn about the man behind the camera.              Look at Life was Lucas’s first student film. It was a montage fi...

From hot tubs to drive-ins, it seems the world of cinema screenings knows no bounds, so why not watch sci-fi classics on a screen usually reserved for the stars? London’s only planetarium at the Royal Observatory Greenwich is currently hosting a Silver Screen Sci-Fi Season playing cult films featuring deep space, dystopia and defective androids. This month the observatory will be showing the futuristic  Silent Running  (1972) where all plant life on Earth has become extinct, save for a few specimens guarded by a botanist who refuses his order to destroy the precious cargo on his spacecraft. In July the animated thriller,  A Scanner Darkly  (2006), will be gracing their screens as Richard Linklater directs Keanu Reeves as an uncover cop in a future ravaged by mass drug addiction and excessive police surveillance. August and September showcase includes George Lucas’ THX-1138  (1971) and creator of  Jurassic Park , Michael Crichton’s  W...

Most of us know that Steven Spielberg started filming at a very young age and that, when he got a chance to direct professionally, he took one of his amateur films ( Firelight ) and sort of remade it as Close Encounters of the Third Kind . George Lucas, however, almost did the same. In his case it wasn't amateur films that were made, when he was young, but films he had to make because of his study at UCS . During his time at UCS he was involved in at least 8 film projects (that we know of), most of them shorts and mostly as a director. One of these shorts he must've liked soo much, that he decided to make a feature out of it, as soon as he was given the chance by Francis (then Ford) Coppola. The short was titled: THX-1138-EB ( Electronic Labyrinth ). When Lucas remade the short as a feature, the film got longer, but the title shortened: THX-1138 . THX-1138 is turning 44 on March the 11th. Ronny THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER ...

Watching episode two of Firefly tonight.  The episode is called The Train Job and half way through I noticed this subtle 1138 reference while Serenity is hovering over the train they are bout to steal goods from. Rob @welshslide

Thanks to Jedi News for bringing this to our attention.  This is a payroll invoice showing the wage George Lucas was getting from Warner Brothers during his THX-1138 days.  Amazing to see the famous director was only getting $125 a week at one point. Hollywood Reporter write: Lucas first joined Warners' payroll when Francis Ford Coppola brought his friend on board as an assistant on 1968's Finian's Rainbow. Studio payroll memos highlight how Lucas was getting paid $110 a week and was even bumped up to $125 per week. Warners' internal memos between executives highlight the young Lucas' interest in sci-fi. A year later, Warners came aboard to distribute Lucas' THX 1138, paying him $2,500 in installments. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/early-george-lucas-contract-reveals-649370 THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+