It’s a shame Alec Guinness never had appreciation

[Stephen of Borg 2]

I’ve known about this for a while, but did you know that Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan in the original trilogy) despised Star Wars? I never understood why. The fact of the matter is that Star Wars helped expose him to another generation and gave him more publicity, he has many movies, but Star Wars is the only I have watched with him in it.

 

He hated working on Star Wars so much, he said that Obi-Wan's death was his idea as a means to limit his involvement in the film. He also said he would throw away all Star Wars related fan mail without even opening it.

 

Here’s what he had to say about it

 

[Guinness discussing how much he disliked working on Star Wars (1977) and his attempts to encourage George Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi] "And he agreed with me. What I didn't tell him was that I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo."

 

"I shrivel up every time someone mentions Star Wars to me."

 

"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"

 

"The only really disappointing performance was Tony Daniels as the robot - fidgety and over-elaborately spoken. Not that any of the cast can stand up to the mechanical things around them"

 

with all of that said, Obi-Wan was and still is my favorite character in both trilogies. He killing his character and returning as a ghost made the story only better!

[Kor37 9]

This is typical with many classically trained Shakespearean actors. They feel that things like Star Wars is beneath them and they only do it for the money.

 

On the Star Trek side, Robert Beltram has also publically stated that he has always hated science fiction and mainly did Trek for the money. I believe he also said that he has never watched an entire episode of Voyager. He just came in, read his lines, went home and forgot about it. Keep that in mind if you ever see him at a con. Know that hes only there smiling at you for the money.

[sea trooper 0]

I always heard that Alec was shocked to find out that he was being killed off halfway into the movie.

[Takara_Soong 4]

He certainly is correct about the dialogue. George Lucas certainly isn't a "word man".

[Angela 1]

I agree aso with Sir Alec Guiness, It was banal. But I guess when you have great visuals dialogue is a secondary consideration.

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

Alec Guinness is easily one of (if not the) best actor of all time. When you consider some of the films that he has been in then I think it is easier to understand his comments. Star Wars is a good film for its genre but when compared to Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Ladykillers, The Man in the White Suit, The Lavender Hill Mob.....

[deadmeatsecurityguy 0]

His body of work definitely speaks for its self. He was easily the most talented actor in the film. Who else though could pull off Obi Wan kenobi with the trite dialogue and melodrama, and do it so smoothly?

[Stephen of Borg 2]

you got to remember that Star Wars is as big as Star Trek, if not bigger. I'm a Trek fan so don't get me wrong when I say this but I can go find more Star Wars fans than Trek fans. In other words, Star Wars was his biggest role. It's what he's best known for. I don't know if I would have even known about him if not for Star Wars. I'm 22 and I haven't seen any of the other movies, I've heard of them, just never sat down and watched.

 

I should have asked if there were any star wars fans here first.

[Takara_Soong 4]

There are a lot of Star Wars fans here. I'm a fan of Episodes IV-VI myself. We weren't saying Star Wars is bad - just that the dialogue isn't great. George Lucas isn't known for his sparkling dialogue or for getting the best performances from his actors. He's known for special effects and storytelling.

 

As for Alec Guiness, Star Wars was his most well known role to certain generations. He was a very well known and respected actor long before Star Wars came along. In fact he was in SW because of his name recognition. They needed some big names in Star Wars to satisfy the studio so they got Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin).

Edited May 11, 2005 by Takara_Soong

[Kor37 9]

A similar situation happened on an episode of Frasier. For some reason, Frasier went to a sci-fi convention. There was an actor at a table signing autographs that Frasier recognized as a great Shakespearean actor. He was at the con signing autographs because he played a robot in a movie or TV series of some sort and that was all he was recognized for. He was very bitter about it. Sounds just like Alec.

[Stephen of Borg 2]

sadly, it happens all the time. Just like Patrick Stewart will probably always be best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

I should have asked if there were any star wars fans here first.

323537[/snapback]

 

I think I can safely say that I am a very big fan of Star Wars (can hardly wait for the next film!) but at the end of the day I can recognise that it does not touch some of AG's other film parts. Star Wars is good at what it does, it is an update of the early B-movie serials and utilises different aspects from different genres to create a thrilling ride, but for me it is not in the same league as the films of David Lean or Guinness' work in the Ealing films.

 

If you want to see some of AG's work I would absolutely recomment Lawrence of Arabia (although he is not the main character here), Bridge on the River Kwai, The Ladykillers, The Man in the White Suit, The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts and Coronets (where he plays the majority of the parts and it is very funny!), Great Expectations, Our Man in Havana. And if you want TV then look at Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - absolutely fantastic.

 

Sorry you can tell he is my favourite actor!

[ussacclaim 0]

sadly, it happens all the time. Just like Patrick Stewart will probably always be best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

323585[/snapback]

 

Man, I would love to be recognized for that! But, I guess I would since I never really did.