Alec Guiness's Thoughts on Appearing in STAR WARS

Prior to accepting the role of Obi-wan (Ben) Kenobi, Sir Alec Guinness wrote
the following to a friend:

     I have been offered a movie (20th Cent. Fox) which
     I may accept, if they come up with proper money.
     London and N. Africa, starting in mid-March. Science
     fiction – which gives me pause – but is to be directed
     by Paul [sic] Lucas who did AMERICAN GRAFFITI,
     which makes me feel I should. Big part. Fairy-tale
     rubbish but could be interesting perhaps.

After he arrived on set, he did not change his opinion that the movie was
"rubbish":

     ...new rubbish dialogue reaches me every
     other day on wadges of pink paper – and none of
     it makes my character clear or even bearable. I
     just think, thankfully, of the lovely bread, which
     will help me keep going until next April even if
     YAHOO [a play in which Guinness played satirist
     Jonathan Swift] collapses in a week ... I must off
     to studio and work with a dwarf (very sweet – and
     he has to wash in a bidet) and your fellow countrymen
     Mark Hamill and Tennyson (that can't be
     right) Ford. Ellison (? – No!) – well, a rangy, languid
     young man who is probably intelligent and amusing.
     But oh, God, they make me feel ninety – and treat
     me as if I was 106. – Oh, Harrison Ford – ever
     heard of him?

Later on in the filming, Guinness wrote:

     "Apart from the money, I regret having embarked
     on the film. I like them well enough, but it's not an
     acting job, the dialogue - which is lamentable - keeps
     being changed and only slightly improved, and I find
     myself old and out of touch with the young"

He did have some nice things to say about the completed film:

     "It's a pretty staggering film as spectacle, and
     technically brilliant. Exciting, very noisy and warm-
     hearted. The battle scenes at the end go on for
     five minutes too long, I feel, and some of the dialogue
     is excruciating and much of it is lost in noise, but
     it remains a vivid experience"

However, it was not an experience he liked to talk about afterwards:

     "I shrivel up every time someone mentions
     STAR WARS to me."