In 1971 George Lucas was pretty much a nobody. His first feature film, THX-1138, was being released and that was enough to earn him a lengthy interview on LA’s KCET television station. That interview has been essentially lost… until now. A site called The Binary Bonsai has found the footage and posted the entire hour long interview.
I haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but what I did see was fascinating. Part of the fascination comes from seeing Lucas as an angry young man, and part of it comes from comparing his 1971 words to his 2009 reality. ‘A toymaker that makes film’ is what Lucas calls himself in this interview, six years before he’d really get into the toy business with Star Wars.
I’ve embedded the interview below, but I strongly recommend hitting The Binary Bonsai for a wonderful bit of contextualization. It’s worth the read. And no matter what you think of Lucas’ work now, the man is a major cinematic influence, making this interview vital.
Thanks to Vivek for the link.