Alec Guinness ..from Bridge to Star Wars..

DarkHelmet said:

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Watched "Bridge on the River Kwai" last night and once again, just amazed at Alec Guiness's performance. Made me wonder what made such a fine distinguished British actor, do Star Wars.

Did he see the genius in this weird space opera script or did he simply need some money?

I've never been one to read the possible behind the scenes drama if there was any. The only thing I remotely remember hearing was Alec, like Ford, regretted being remembered soley for his SW character, and I might be wrong in that too.

Until i saw "All at sea" with sir Alec i had always seen him as Ben but All At Sea really shows what a great actor he is.
All at Sea (1957) - IMDb

I'd have to look it up but my giant book of 50s and 60s scifi films actually has him in one that predates SW. It's a comedy with him as a guy who creates a fabric that cannot be destroyed. Kinda oddball when you see how serious his other movies are.

From A Positively Final Appearance - A Journal 1996-98- By ALEC GUINNESS:

A refurbished Star Wars is on somewhere or everywhere. I have no intention of revisiting any galaxy. I shrivel inside each time it is mentioned. Twenty years ago, when the film was first shown, it had a freshness, also a sense of moral good and fun. Then I began to be uneasy at the influence it might be having. The bad penny first dropped in San Francisco when a sweet-faced boy of twelve told me proudly that he had seen Star Wars over a hundred times. His elegant mother nodded with approval. Looking into the boy's eyes I thought I detected little star-shells of madness beginning to form and I guessed that one day they would explode.

`I would love you to do something for me,' I said.

`Anything! Anything!' the boy said rapturously.

`You won't like what I'm going to ask you to do,' I said.

`Anything, sir, anything!'

`Well,' I said, `do you think you could promise never to see Star Wars again?'

He burst into tears. His mother drew herself up to an immense height. `What a dreadful thing to say to a child!' she barked, and dragged the poor kid away. Maybe she was right but I just hope the lad, now in his thirties, is not living in a fantasy world of secondhand, childish banalities.

Love this one:

I stand out of doors in my dressing-gown, gazing at it with gratitude, but know that all too soon there will be a thud of letters falling through the letter-box, including glossy photographs which no ordinary pen can sign. As often as not they have already been signed in a sprawling gilded signature by `Darth Vader' from Star Wars — `so-and-so IS Darth Vader'. Maybe — but it wasn't so-and-so's voice or face (when it was finally revealed) to the best of my remembrance. The `IS', I suppose, is for reassurance, like clutching at something when waking from a bad dream.

Alec certainly did not need Star Wars and regretted it later.

One of the best Actors of his time or any other.

As some have suggested the Ealing Comedies are must viewing as well as one other of his which is one of my favorites of his, " The Captains Paradise".

What a tremendous Actor!

In September of 1975 Lucas was courting Toshiro Mifune for the role of Ben Kenobi. At the same time, casting director Dianne Crittenden had a friend working on "Murder By Death." Through that intermediary, Crittenden was able to meet with Alec Guinness on the MBD set, at which point she passed along a copy of the Star Wars script (to which Lucas had cleverly attached a set of production renderings).

According to Crittenden, two hours after their meeting Guinness rang to say "I love this; I'm very interested in it." Shortly thereafter a meeting was arranged with Lucas, at which point Guinness agreed to take the role. It all happened without a middleman, agent or lawyer.

Guinness did recount some initial concerns about doing a "science-fiction" film, but he had enjoyed American Graffiti, respected Lucas, and was genuinely excited by the script...

"I started reading it, and I found myself involved. There was an excitement in the script, I wanted to turn each page to find out what happened next. It had a touch of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. It was an adventure story about the passing of knowledge and the sword from one generation to the next."

Guinness is frequently cited for his subsequent "concerns" about overzealous Star Wars fans, but the fact is he did the movie because he connected with the material, and recognized in Lucas "a new breed of filmmaker."

Now, it makes sense as to why George doesn't like Dave: it seems the [blue] ghost of Alec has the ear of Uncle George.

As often as not they have already been signed in a sprawling gilded signature by `Darth Vader' from Star Wars — `so-and-so IS Darth Vader'. Maybe — but it wasn't so-and-so's voice or face (when it was finally revealed) to the best of my remembrance. The `IS', I suppose, is for reassurance, like clutching at something when waking from a bad dream.

He was a great actor. It's a shame that the majority of today's generation will likely only know him as Ben Kenobi.


As far as Prowse goes, what did he really do? He was lucky to work on some great films. I find it laughable that he signs autographs as "David Prowse is Darth Vader". No one thinks of him when you think of Darth Vader. Hell, you could have put a trained monkey in that suit, with James Earl's Jones voice for that matter.

MooCriket said:

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He was a great actor. It's a shame that the majority of today's generation will likely only know him as Ben Kenobi.

To be fair, they think that Ewan "McDonald" is Obi-wan.

MooCriket said:

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No one thinks of him when you think of Darth Vader. Hell, you could have put a trained monkey in that suit, with James Earl's Jones voice for that matter.

Most members here will beg to differ, but I do see your point.

It's a crime is what it is.

I have turned on a lot of youthful star wars fans on to his earlier performances so we can thank Star wars for that I guess.

MooCriket said:

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He was a great actor. It's a shame that the majority of today's generation will likely only know him as Ben Kenobi.

I can't completely fault Prowse for claiming to be Vader. Heck, he was in the suit the majority of the time. It's only natural that he feels that way. If I played Darth Vader in three of the most popular films of all time, I'd be telling everyone and you know most of you would too.

I just watched Doctor Zhivago on TV. Guinness has several excellent scenes as Zhivagos brother. Sometimes I watch it just for him.

Like others said, he's an excellent actor. At the time he was doing Murder By Death, as a blind butler in a spoof, so anything would be better. And Star Wars was a good script.

It's weird that people forget that he was so funny.

CTF said:

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It's weird that people forget that he was so funny.

This fact wasn't lost on a young actor named Peter Sellers who, early in his career, had the privilege of working with Guinness on The Ladykillers.

Actors like Guinness and Ford can (past tense for Guinness, of course) wax arrogant about their talents and bemoan their associations with Star Wars all they like, but the truth is that pretty much no one from our generation would have known anything about them had they not appeared in that "God-awful, unspeakable film..."

^No one ever said that. Alec and Harrison, are arguably very good actors that do not wish to be only remembered for playing in Star Wars. I can understand that. Take that idiot woman who fell in the fountain while texting. She could win a nobel in a year, and I bet five or so years later someone would say...Hey your that idiot woman who fell in a mall fountain while texting. HA-HA!

Do you only want to be remembered for one thing in your life? I would rather be remembered for the sum of what I did/accomplished.

jme3 said:

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...but the truth is that pretty much no one from our generation would have known anything about them had they not appeared in that "God-awful, unspeakable film..."

When it comes to cinema, I guess I'm not one of the ignorant masses, huh?

MooCriket said:

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^Just not the same. I can see him just sitting around on some corner asking for change. Dammit, I am Darth Vader! I brought character and depth to that character...it was me on the screen in that costume!

Soooo, you were completly covered in a costume? Never spoke a word on screen? Helmet did'nt show emotion? Face it Dude...any half trained monkey could have did that. He was just lucky to have been cast to wear a costume.

Is Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, or Jeremy Bolluck any less their characters than Prowse?

MooCriket said:

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Do you only want to be remembered for one thing in your life? I would rather be remembered for the sum of what I did/accomplished.

Better than not being remembered at all!

Guiness was a fantastic actor though, never saw a performance of his that I didn't like.

The bad penny first dropped in San Francisco when a sweet-faced boy of twelve told me proudly that he had seen Star Wars over a hundred times. His elegant mother nodded with approval. Looking into the boy's eyes I thought I detected little star-shells of madness beginning to form and I guessed that one day they would explode.

`I would love you to do something for me,' I said.

`Anything! Anything!' the boy said rapturously.

`You won't like what I'm going to ask you to do,' I said.

`Anything, sir, anything!'

`Well,' I said, `do you think you could promise never to see Star Wars again?'

He burst into tears. His mother drew herself up to an immense height. `What a dreadful thing to say to a child!' she barked, and dragged the poor kid away. Maybe she was right but I just hope the lad, now in his thirties, is not living in a fantasy world of secondhand, childish banalities.

Ha! Half of us here are that kid. This site was founded by that kid...

The last fifteen miniutes of Bridge on the River Kwai is some of the most astounding cinema I remember seeing. It is a masterpiece, and I couldn't imagine it without Guiness.

As Orange Blend point out, even though those quotes are a little melancholy, take it out of context and the last line is a perfect tagline for us...

The RPF, "living in a fantasy world of secondhand, childish banalities."

Come to think of it. I'm sure people once said the same thing to children about Jules Verne (no I'm not comparing GL to Jules Verne, you get what I mean). Yet it was those fantasy worlds that inspired people to make them reality.

One day I *WILL* have a real lightsaber!

DarkHelmet said:

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Is Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, or Jeremy Bolluck any less their characters than Prowse?

Well...Peter did bring emotion to Chewey, Anthony did the same to 3-PO, and arguably, with the few lines Jeremy had in ESB, he brought a level of life to his character as well. Alittle different than just wearing something that completely covers you, and we do not get to hear you, or see any emotion.

I see what your saying though, but I would never ask for nor pay for an autograph from Prowse.