I heard on TV today that he talked George Lucas into killing off the Obi-Wan character in the first movie. But I’ve also long heard another version - that he was furious after his character was killed off in the first movie and so Lucas added in the ghost scenes in the next two films to appease Guinness…
Are either/neither of these correct??
I’d be more inclined to believe the second.
I think the problem Sir Alec had with Star WArs is that people didn’t see him as Alec, they saw him as Obi Wan, which could probably grate on one’s nerves…
Besides, from what I’ve heard of him, listening to interviews with -sigh- Mark Hamill, he’s actually a very polite and gracious man.
They still sent each other Xmas cards every year.
From a report about an interview with Alec Guiness:
quote:
Guinness says it was his idea to kill off Obi-Wan, ostensibly so he might appear more poignant as a ghost. George Lucas agreed and altered the script. What the respected thespian didn’t tell Lucas: “I just couldn’t go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I’d had enough of the mumbo jumbo.”
The version I saw in various contemporary biographies and interviews (which I credit more than 20-years-later recollection) is that Lucas originally had something important for Obi-Wan to do at the end of the movie, but then changed the story and removed that business, leaving the character – and I quote Guinness from memory here – “standing about with his thumb in his ear.” It was then that the decision was made to kill the character in a poignant reversal.
Based on this, I would suspect that the truth is something of a combination of what everyone has said. My conjecture: Guinness reads the revised script and notices how his character turns into a piece of furniture for the last forty minutes, and suggests, half-joking, half-frustrated, that it might be better if he just died and got out of everyone’s hair. Lucas thinks about it, agrees, and makes the change. Guinness briefly feigns pique to cover up the fact that he’s secretly relieved, and another piece of film history disappears into the mists of rumor and myth.
Respectable Hijack (if there is such a thing)
Sir Alec Guinness passed away last night at age 86.
He was a wonderful actor. If all anyone has seen his is Star Wars Role, I urge you to check out his other films.
“Bridge over the River Kwai” (spelling?) would be a good start.
May God his soul.
“Bridge on the River Kwai” to be precise.
See ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’, and ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’ and ‘The man in the White Suit’ and ‘The Horses’ Mouth’ to get a real idea of the kind of work you have to do to get ‘Sir’ in front of your name. Go easy, Alec.
From the IMDB:
–An early version of the script had Obi-Wan surviving and giving Luke a special power crystal to use on the attack against the Death Star. This crystal was the source of power used by the evil Sith Lords.
–Reportedly hated working on Star Wars (1977) so much, Guinness claims that Obi-Wan’s death was his idea as a means to limit his involvement in the film. Guinness also claims to throw away all Star Wars related fan mail without even opening it.
–[Guinness discussing how much he disliked working on Star Wars (1977) and his attempts to encourage George Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi] “And he agreed with me. What I didn’t tell him was that I just couldn’t go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I’d had enough of the mumbo jumbo.”
I heard an old interview with Guinness on “All Things Considered” yesterday, and I think it tempers these comments from the IMDB. I believe that Guinness just saw Obi-Wan as another role, and couldn’t understand why movie fans couldn’t seperate the actor from the role. I think he had the right idea.
As far as bad movie roles go, Obi-Wan was hardly his worst. Anyone remember “Murder by Death”, “Raise the Titanic!”, and “Situation Hopeless…But Not Serious”?
The episode of “Fresh Air” for August 8, 2000 , includes a segment on Guiness . A replay of an interview from 1986. (you can hear it real audio, I think, if you follow the link.)
In it, Sir Alec makes a couple of statements about “Star Wars”. One is to dispel the rumor that he hated it, and turned it down at first. As he put it, he set the script aside the first time he saw because he didn’t have much time and wanted to know a little more about Lucas. When he began to read it, he almost put it aside since it was sci-fi and he thought it wouldn’t be for him. But he kept reading, due to Lucas’s reputation, and became quite wrapped up in the story. He didn’t like the dialogue, true, but found the story absolutely compelling. He encouraged Lucas to kill him off, since he didn’t want to ‘fizzle’ at the end of the movie.
Another thing he mentioned was that he never felt quite comfortable as Col. Nicholson (Bridge on the River Kwai). He didn’t feel enough empathy with the character to be able to play him well (and that script he did turn down before the rewrite; perhaps it followed the book more closely which isn’t nearly as good, IMHO).
They mention “Kind Hearts and Coronets”, and he said that he’d either play one family member, or all eight after being asked to play two. He plays all 8 in the movie.
I also heard the “Fresh Air” interview today. To expound, Sir Alec said that in the original script, the writing for Obi Wan was better in the beginning of the script and became lame in the end. He asked to be killed off so he could go out with a bang. He said, “Now I can say this,” implying that he didn’t admit that when he actually filmed it, but plenty of time had gone by since. I’m not sure when the interview occurred, but I believe it’s within the last 12 months.