CT Two times that the Seven Samurai screenplay was used in the Star Wars Rough Draft from 1974

I was looking through Donald Richie's 1970 published translation of the Seven Samurai "screenplay" (it's more a transcription of the final film than the real screenplay) and I noticed two passages that were used by George in his Star Wars Rough Draft of May 1974.

EXAMPLE ONE:

This line of dialogue spoken by one of the villagers in Seven Samurai:

MANZO
We were born to suffer. It’s our lot in life.

appears in the rough draft as:

THREEPIO
What a forsaken place this is. We seem to be made to suffer. It’s our lot in life.

And of course that borrowing made it to the final film.

EXAMPLE TWO:

When George was writing Scene 140 of the Rough Draft he used some of the words from the scene where Katsushiro begs Kambei to become his apprentice:



This scene didn't make it to the final Star Wars film—and most of the verbal borrowings are not that important—but it's nice to see another example of how the great Kurosawa influenced George while he was writing Star Wars.

 

When writing a synopsis for Star Wars, Lucas used the synopsis of The Hidden Fortress by Donald Richie from The Films of Akira Kurosawa (1965) and inserted/replaced some elements.

Richie:
It is the sixteenth century, a period of civil wars. A princess, with her family, her retainers, and the clan treasure is being pursued. If they can cross enemy territory and reach a friendly province they will be saved. The enemy knows this and posts a reward for the capture of the princess.

She is being guarded by one of her generals and it is he who leads her on the long and dangerous journey that follows. They take along with them the sixteen hundred pounds of gold and also two farmers whom the general has captured.

Lucas:
It is the thirty-third century, a period of civil wars in the galaxy. A rebel princess, with her family, her retainers, and the clan treasure, is being pursued. If they can cross territory controlled by the Empire and reach a friendly planet, they will be saved. The Sovereign knows this, and posts a reward for the capture of the princess.

She is being guarded by one of her generals, (Luke Skywalker) and it is he who leads her on the long and dangerous journey that follows. They take along with them two hundred pounds of the greatly treasured "aura spice", and also two Imperial bureaucrats, whom the general has captured.

 

Yes, phrases from the Yojimbo and Sanjuro chapters in Richie's book also appear in that 1973 Star Wars synopsis.

And one phrase from the Hidden Fortress chapter also turns up in this Rough Draft too:

DONALD RICHIE:
After the titles are over, and the men get a bit farther from the camera, we see that they are mere farmers and, further, not very happy ones. The leaden sky presses down on them, the dust rises. They are obviously lost, obviously hopeless.

STAR WARS ROUGH DRAFT:
A harsh gale blows across the bleak grey surface of the Fourth Moon. The leaden sky presses down on a lone figure, ANNIKIN STARKILLER, a tall, heavy-set boy of eighteen. He slowly makes his way across the canyon floor.

 

As a bonus, here's a few scattered line from Frank Herbert's Dune that made their way into the Rough Draft.

EXAMPLE ONE:

Dune:

"The main point," Piter said, "is this: since House Harkonnen is being used to do the Imperial dirty work, we've gained a true advantage. It's a dangerous advantage, to be sure, but if used cautiously, will bring House Harkonnen greater wealth than that of any other House in the Imperium."

Star Wars Rough Draft (Scene 12):

HOEDAACK
Success, I told you. We are no longer under the control of the Great Families…. We’ve gained a true advantage.

VANTOS COLL, a member of the Supreme Tribunal, and a man of the grossest dimensions, appears to be a little worried.

COLL
A rather dangerous advantage. You still have a System to conquer.

HOEDAACK
But this System will bring us more scientific wealth than that of any other House in the Tribunal.

EXAMPLE TWO:

Dune:

In the waiting silence, Paul studied the man, sensing the aura of power that radiated from him. He was a leader--a Fremen leader.

Star Wars Rough Draft (Scene 14):

It is GENERAL LUKE SKYWALKER, Commander of the Aquilaean Starforce. He is a large man, apparently in his early sixties, but actually much older. Everyone senses the aura of power that radiates from this great warrior. Here is a leader: a JEDI general.

EXAMPLE THREE:

Dune:

"You see, gentlemen," Leto said. "Is there anyone here so naive he believes the Harkonnens have quietly packed up and walked away from all this merely because the Emperor ordered it?"

Star Wars Rough Draft (Scene 14):

GENERAL
Is there anyone here so naive he believes the Empire would even bother negotiating if they were contemplating destruction of this System? Your Excellencies, this is more than a simple raid on your resources. You must reach a decision.

 

By the way, if you are interested in finding these sorts of textual parallels yourself, my two favourite resources are 1) the Internet Archive, where you can do an exact word search to see if any particular sentence turns up in any books; and 2) this German Text Comparison website where you can compare two texts to see if they share any common phrases.

 

"What a desolate place this is," is a direct quote from the second episode of the Buck Rogers serial.

 

I found it at 13:05 in the movie edit of the Buck Rogers serial, Planet Outlaws:

"My, what a desolate-looking place." .