George Lucas is best known for creating one of the biggest franchises of all time in Star Wars. Along with Steven Spielberg, he also created the Indiana Jones franchise while simultaniously founding Industrial Light & Magic on his own, a company that would go on to create visual effects for numerous iconic movies.
While he may be known for such huge achievements, Lucas had humble beginnings that date back to his directorial debut, the social sci-fi cult classic THX 1138. This was the movie that laid the foundation for everything that Lucas would go on to create.
The Movie Is Based On Lucas' Student Short Film
Hardcore fans of George Lucas' work probably know that THX 1138 didn't actually come out of nowhere. In fact, it was based on the director's student short film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB.
Lucas directed the short in 1967 while studying at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. The short went on to win first place in the Dramatic category at the National Student Film Festival. Moreover, Steven Spielberg saw the short at the festival, which was his first acquaintance with Lucas and his work.
Lucas Named The Movie After His Telephone Number
The first thing that any viewer will notice is the strange title of the movie, which refers to the lead character—but what's even more interesting is its backstory.
According to Cinema by the Bay, Lucas named the short film and then the feature using his college telephone number (849-1138 where "849" corresponds to the letters "THX" on the keyboard). However, screenwriter Walter Murch who co-wrote the feature's script with Lucas said in the commentary to the THX 1138 DVD that he believed Lucas meant for character names to correspond with words ("THX" for "sex," "LUH" for "love," and "SEN" for "sin").
Lucas Used Recovering Drug Users As Extras
In the movie, almost all the characters had to have completely shaved heads, either being bald or having buzz cuts. Obviously, not many actors would agree to do this, but Lucas came up with an interesting solution.
Some actors were filmed in unusual locations while their heads were shaved, which was a part of a publicity stunt. The recordings were used in the promotional featurette Bald: The Making of THX 1138. According to Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, the bald and shaved extras for the movie were hired from the Synanon drug rehabilitation facility where recovering drug users were required to be shaved bald as part of the program.
Interestingly, Synanon became known as the Church of Synanon in the 1970s and eventually disbanded in 1991 because of the criminal activities in it. Synanon was known as one of the most dangerous cults in America.
Lucas Used A Theater Group For Overhead Dialogue In The Movie
Overhead dialogue is present throughout the movie, but it wasn't actually scripted as many viewers might think. In fact, it was improvised by the members of a San Francisco-based theater group called The Committee.
Allegedly, the term "wookiee" even originated back when THX 1138 was made. In one of the climactic scenes in the movie, actor Terry McGovern from The Committee improvised the line, "I think I ran over a Wookiee back there." McGovern's friend was named Ralph Wooky, which is where the word came from.
Lucas Got The Original Idea From A Fellow USC Student
Another little-known fact about the origin of the movie is that the original short film wasn't entirely Lucas' idea. Rather, the director reworked an idea from his fellow USC students.
According to Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, the director liked the concept of making a futuristic movie using the things he already had because he believed people already lived in the future. The DVD commentary for the movie reveals that USC students Matthew Robbins and Walter Murch had a similar idea to that of Lucas'. Robbins then developed a treatment, but the two lost interest, while Lucas decided to work on it further. As mentioned earlier, Murch would co-write the screenplay for the feature film with Lucas.
Francis Ford Coppola Made The Movie Possible
Another filmmaker who saw Lucas' short at the festival was Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola formed American Zoetrope with Lucas and then secured a deal with Warner Bros. to finance seven movies.
The first of these movies was the feature version of THX 1138, but, once the picture was complete, Warner Bros. hated it and reworked it, cutting out more than four minutes.
Lucas Has A Special Connection To The Car Chase Scenes In The Movie
Before turning to filmmaking, Lucas was actually an aspiring racecar driver in his high school years. When Lucas was eighteen, right before graduation, he got into a terrible accident while driving his car.
Though Lucas was saved, he was still severely injured, which prompted him to reevaluate his life choices. As a result, Lucas decided to pursue filmmaking, but his love of cars is still evident in his work. While American Graffiti reflects Lucas' youth, the car chase scenes in THX 1138 highlight his passion for cars and racing even more.
The Movie Was A Flop And Didn't Become A Cult Classic Until Many Years Later
Though THX 1138 is currently considered a cult classic, it actually opened to mixed critic reviews and underperformed at the box office. That being said, the movie did receive a nomination in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival.
After the success of Lucas' Star Wars, the movie was reevaluated by critics and audiences alike and has since developed a loyal follower base.
Lucas Referenced The Movie In His Later Works
Many directors like to reference their previous works in the pictures they make later on in their careers, and Lucas is no different. In American Graffiti, a license plate on a car says "THX 1138," while Star Wars makes a reference to "prison cell 1138."
In The Phantom Menace, one of the battle droid's number is also "1138." Moreover, the face of the robot THX 1138 is working on in the movie looks similar to the droid C-3PO's design in Star Wars.
The Movie Got A Director's Cut From Lucas In 2004
As mentioned earlier, because Warner Bros. wasn't pleased with the result, the studio cut out four minutes from Lucas' movie. Luckily, the director managed to get his own director's cut that was released in 2004.
In 1977, the movie was re-released with the deleted footage due to the success of Star Wars, but this cut didn't get much recognition. Only years later, when Lucas was an acclaimed director with a lengthy career, he supervised the movie's restoration and a new, director's cut was released.