Re: Alec Guiness's Thoughts on Appearing in STAR WARS

On 2025-03-19 8:39 PM, shawn wrote:

On Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:34:19 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
 

On 2025-03-19 8:20 PM, Your Name wrote:

On 2025-03-19 22:59:10 +0000, Blueshirt said:

BTR1701 wrote:

>
Prior to accepting the role of Obi-wan (Ben) Kenobi, Sir Alec
Guinness wrote the following to a friend:
>
[Snip]
>
"I shrivel up every time someone mentions
STAR WARS to me."

>
I kind of do that whenever I hear they are going to make a new
"Star Wars" movie...

>
That quote was made by Sir Alec Guinness *after* he had played the role
in the original "Star Wars" movie. Obi-Wan was meant to in the following
movies to train Luke, but Guinness hated the role and didn't want to do
any more, so they killed off the character (he only briefly appeared as
a Jedi ghost) and added Yoda instead. It was only in later years that he
mellowed, a little, towards what has arguably become his most famous role.
>

I certainly think HE would argue that it was far from his *best* role,
although he might admit more people saw him in Star Wars than in
anything else.
>
Mind you, Bridge on the River Kwai got seen by a lot of people in its
day and is *still* appreciated as a quality film whereas Star Wars
probably only merits being called a *popular* film.

 All true, but at least with STAR WARS you have a film that is popular
with people of all ages. I don't think the same is true with BRIDGE
OVER THE RIVER KWAI.

I submit that a young audience would find Star Wars very appealing but that seniors would be far less interested. The audience essentially reverses for Bridge Over the River Kwai and is going to primary be older people who remembered WWII and lived through it, plus some younger history buffs since it was essentially a true story, although the film certainly took some liberties with historical accuracy.
Of course I'm speaking primarily about the years when each film was released; nowadays, people who saw Star Wars when it came out may well be grandparents who want their grandkids to enjoy the film, just as they did themselves back in the day. There simply aren't that many people left who lived through WWII so the audience is probably down to history buffs, people who lost relatives at the hands of the Japanese, and film students.
Guinness apparently valued Star Wars almost solely for the paycheque and what it let him do with other projects that were far dearer to his heart. I'd be surprised if his reviews for Obi Wan Kenobi were nearly as glowing as for other roles; it just wasn't that big a part.
--
Rhino