Did Alec Guiness See Episode 1 before he died?

I think he may have, I mean thats his character being portrade in TPM, and I am most sure he would want to have some knowledge of who took over his role.

 

Are you serious? I must say that as a SW fan that makes me feel very offended and appalled, not to mention a little betrayed. Actually, that makes me so mad that now I DO want them to replace Alec with a digitally aged Ewan McGregor. Naw, just kidding. I wouldnt go that far. It would be way too difficult to do that anyway. But that still ticks me off.

If you leave him in it will tick him off more.

If it makes him feel any better, I loved his performance as Hitler.

Yet another role that Ewan almost got to play. He just can't seem to shake his Star Wars legacy, can he?

 

...if he did, perhaps that was the cause of his death?

 

haahaha

that was so funny, NORTHSTAR

ah, maybe not

 

Mark Hamill will forever be remembered as Luke Skywalker. Sure, he made other movies. Name one.

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. Oh wait... that wasn't really a movie...

 

Off topic: Why is it not funny to joke about death? Although this particular joke wasn´t extremely funny, I didn´t find it offensive in the least.

Almost on topic: Mark Hamill didn´t want to become a big moviestar like Harrison Ford. He wanted to act on stage and that´s exactly what he´s been doing ever since the 80´s. And I don´t think he minds being remembered by the average movie audience as Luke Skywalker. Star Wars was fun to shoot and he seems to enjoy talking about it.

BTW: Hamill was pretty good as the bad guy in the swedish action movie Hamilton!

 

Ronald Neame, director and lifelong friend of Alec Guinness, recalls the quiet, private man who nevertheless craved praise - and liked making money.His favourite film was Star Wars:-
"His favourite film would have been Star Wars. I know that he would often say that he hated the attention he received from that part. But through the generosity of George Lucas, who gave him a percentage of the gross, he became a millionaire many times over, I understand".

This is from a website, "Alec Guinness, The man of many parts." (http://www.murphsplace.com/guinness/agquotes.html.)

This indicates that Sir Alec Guinness liked star wars, just not the attention he received.

 

I'm going do Alec a favour by watching "The Bridge on the River Kwai." It's pretty good so far.

 

Hey, Mark Hamill is a pretty good voice actor, like the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, and most recently as the villian in Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.

 

Well Lars_Muul, just wait until someone you care about dies, and then you will see why some people don't think it is very funny.

Listen to all of this rampant, self indulgent speculation about Sir Alec Guinness.

1) He didn't hate the SW films. He had a great deal of respect for Lucas and what he was trying to do.

2) He DID see Episode I, and he said that he really enjoyed the performance given by Ewan McGreggor.

3) He felt a little responsible for the rabid SW fans who have no other life than being SW fans. That is why he ended up making that one kid cry. He was trying to get through to him so that he would balance his life out with other things. You have to realize that in his time, people didn't see a movie more than one or two times. They didn't have VCR's or DVD players back then.

So lay off the guy, he was a great man.

 

He DID see Episode I, and he said that he really enjoyed the performance given by Ewan McGreggor.

REALLY?

I never knew this! Do you have a quote or article or something? I'd love to read more on that.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I tried searching for the article I read back in 99, but can't find it now. Sorry.

 

Go-Mer -
He may have liked it in '77 but I don't think he cared much for it in the late '90's:

"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."

That was from his memoirs.

g

 

Yes, but the point is that he might have not thought that way if SW wasn't somewhere or everywhere.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

You think it was the level of popularity that bothered him ? I think he was concerned that some people were so obsessive about it.
But to say "I shrivel inside each time it is mentioned" seems a bit strong. Perhaps he did feel that this character had eclipsed his other work.

g

 

Listen, I understand that he was bitter about people only remembering him for SW and not for his other films (though true film buffs like myself won't forget great such as Bridge on the River Kwai and Kind Heart and Coronets). That's understandable. I would probably be mad, too. But at least he's remembered. There are many great actors of the past who aren't.

I am just interested to know if he did see TPM and what he thought of it, especially Ewan.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

OTHER MARK HAMMIL MOVIES

Cadillac Summer
Batman:Mask of the Phantasm
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Village of the Damned

Note:Batman is the best of these.


As for Guiness,I think if he were to read this thread and saw that even rabid Star Wars fans were thiking about his other movies,it would warm his heart.

Without Star Wars,would our generation even know who he is?

 

Well, the ones who knew a bit about films probably would.

 

"OTHER MARK HAMMIL MOVIES

Cadillac Summer
Batman:Mask of the Phantasm
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Village of the Damned "


I thought it was Corvette Summer

 

It was Corvette Summer. You know, it was so memorable and all, I'm shocked that they forgot that.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Remember the gold flake paintjob on that Corvette?

 

Interesting to note, in the George Lucas Companion, the notes on AG's feeling about SW contradict almost everything the storys that were mentioned in the article Durwood sited...

Acording to TGLC, Alec nearly refused the role because Obi-wan was killed off so quickly... it was only the fact that he was returning as a guide that kept him 'in'.

At the time of filming ANH, there were no definate plans to film ESB or ROTJ... and even if there were, an actor of AG's 'power' could have got out of the contract easily enough.

Anthoney Daniels has nothing but good things to say about AG and working with him on the set of the SW films... he says he was a lovely man on AND off screen... If he hated working on the films, he'd kept it to himself.

AG DID dislike the 'rabid fan' base of the franchise... it's a given.

I believe in the end, the truth lies somewhere in the middle and as he is gone, we'll never really know.

 

Another Mark Hamill film, "The Big Red One"

Like somebody else has already pointed out. Would the "MTV" Generation even know who Alec Guiness is if it wasn't for Star Wars.

Another thing is that Star Wars introduces Alec Guiness to many people who would never have seen any of his other films. I'm sure there are many people who after seeing him in Star Wars looked up many of his other films to see him in those too.

The Inside had a great article about him after his death that included a great deal about his film work including an entire filmography.

That issue would be a great place to start for those interested in see the other great works of Sir Alec Guiness.

 

www.maxpages.com/dons/go_to_hell_guinness

Also has sometthing about Neeson that I had not heard.

 

That Web site is the antithesis of cool. "Go to hell Guinness"? Reeeeal classy.

It really annoys me when fanboys treat it like some great insult if Guinness or Ford or McGregor says something bad about Star Wars. It's almost as bad as people who refuse to see Annie Hall because it beat ANH out for the Oscar.

Have some perspective, people. They're movies, not religion. (Outside of that one census... )


I actually sort of like how people like Guinness, Ford etc. are honest and open about what they liked and disliked about doing things. Much better than what you usually get from the entertainment media.

I mean, the whole cast of movies like "Kangaroo Jack" went on TV and said "oh this is such a great film, it's really special" in an attempt to make you see the flick. Save the plugging, guys. I'll take Guinness and his 'mumbo jumbo' comment any day of the week.



Rick McCallum loves you!