Lucky Lady is a 1975 American comedy-drama film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Liza Minnelli , Gene Hackman , Burt Reynolds and Robby Benson . Its story takes place in 1930 during Prohibition in the United States .
173-543: The film is notable for serving as a storefront for George Lucas and Gary Kurtz who were looking for crew to assist with the look of Star Wars . Both visited the set during production and were impressed with what they saw. Several of the predominantly British crew were effectively recruited during this visit. Late in the Prohibition era , Claire is an American living in Tijuana, Mexico. After her husband, who owned
346-483: A "special assignment" with the First Motion Picture Unit following basic training. The Washington Star reported that Gable took a physical examination at Bolling Field on June 19, preliminary to joining the service. "Mr. Gable, it was learned from a source outside the war department, conferred with Lieutenant General H. H. Arnold, head of the air forces yesterday." The Star continued, "It
519-529: A Catholic priest who knocks Gable down in a boxing ring. The film was a box office hit and remains the third-highest-grossing film of Gable's career. Their next film together was the Academy Award–nominated box office success Test Pilot (1938), with Myrna Loy, who made seven pictures with Gable. He plays Jim Lane, the test pilot of the title; Tracy is his sidekick mechanic, Gunner Morse. For their final film, 1940's Boom Town , Tracy would play
692-413: A Fox executive at the time, later recalled, "We previewed the movie nine times. The 2-hour, 30-minute version was wonderful. Burt Reynolds and Liza Minelli died at the end and everything was set up for them to die. But market research told us they shouldn't die, so we started chopping a bit here, a bit there. We took the seriousness out. The only good preview we had was when the film broke, and Stanley Donen,
865-453: A Pretty (how) Town , Filmmaker and 6-18-67 . He was passionate and interested in camerawork and editing, defining himself as a filmmaker as opposed to being a director, and he loved making abstract visual films that created emotions purely through non-narrative structures. In 1967, Lucas re-enrolled as a USC graduate student in film production. He began working under movie and logo designer Saul Bass and film editor Verna Fields for
1038-642: A Western with Jane Russell and Robert Ryan . Both were profitable, although only modest successes, earning Gable his first profit sharing royalties. In 1955, Gable would be 10th at the box office – the last time he was in the top ten. That same year, Gable married fifth wife Kay Spreckels (née Kathleen Williams). A former fashion model and actress, she had previously been married three times: first to Charles Capps (1937–39), then to Argentinian cattle tycoon Martín de Alzaga (1942–43), and to sugar-refining heir Adolph B. Spreckels Jr. (1945–52). Gable became stepfather to her son Bunker Spreckels , who went on to live
1211-688: A clique of film students known as The Dirty Dozen . He also became good friends with fellow acclaimed student filmmaker and future Indiana Jones collaborator, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese . A group of friends, which included Chris Lewis and Don Glut , started the Clean Cut Cinema Club. Lucas, Kleiser and Lewis then formed a short-lived production company called Sunrise Productions with offices on Sunset Boulevard. There they would make up stage names for themselves, Lucas calling himself Lucas Beaumont. Their only project would be
1384-412: A co-star from Test Pilot and Idiot's Delight , that newspapers reported might be the next Mrs. Gable. Professionally, Gable's first movie after World War II was Adventure (1946), with Greer Garson , by then the leading female star at MGM. Given the famous teaser tagline "Gable's back, and Garson's got him", the film was a commercial hit, earning over $ 6 million, but a critical failure. Gable
1557-613: A copy of the best-seller, which he refused to read. His total salary was $ 117,917 for the film ($ 2,582,890 in 2023 ). Butler's last line in Gone with the Wind , " Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn ", is one of the most famous lines in movie history. Gable was an almost immediate favorite for the role of Rhett with both the public and producer David O. Selznick . Since Selznick had no male stars under long-term contract, he needed to negotiate with another studio to borrow an actor. Gary Cooper
1730-471: A dive bar, dies, she wants to return to the United States. Walker Ellis, a loser with whom she has long been having an affair, agrees to help wind up her business in Tijuana, which includes smuggling a last truckload of illegal Mexican immigrants across the border; this does not go according to plan. Walker is forced to go into business rum running across the border with Kibby Womack, one of those he
1903-591: A donation to NYU through the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation to establish the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts . Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor. Often referred to as the "King of Hollywood", he had roles in more than 60 films in a variety of genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which
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#17327934014922076-483: A film about an illicit romantic affair, with Joan Crawford (who was then married to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ). Adela Rogers St. Johns later dubbed Gable and Crawford's real-life relationship as "the affair that nearly burned Hollywood down". Louis B. Mayer threatened to terminate both their contracts, and for a while, they kept apart when Gable shifted his attentions to Marion Davies as he costarred with her in Polly of
2249-426: A film career. Gable and Dillon traveled to Hollywood in 1924. Dillon became his manager and also his wife; she was 17 years his senior. He changed his stage name from W. C. Gable to Clark Gable and appeared as an extra in such silent films as Erich von Stroheim 's The Merry Widow (1925), The Plastic Age (1925) starring Clara Bow , and Forbidden Paradise (1924) starring Pola Negri . He appeared in
2422-804: A key supporter in the creation of the federal E-Rate program to provide broadband funding to schools and libraries, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art , a forthcoming art museum in Los Angeles developed with his wife, Mellody Hobson . Lucas was born and raised in Modesto, California , the son of Dorothy Ellinore Lucas (née Bomberger) and George Walton Lucas Sr., and is of German, Swiss-German, English, Scottish, and distant Dutch and French descent. His family attended Disneyland during its opening week in July 1955, and Lucas would remain enthusiastic about
2595-459: A larger role, with billing directly under Gable and above Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr . The picture, a lavish epic about two oil wildcatters who become partners then rivals, was a box office success, earning $ 5 million. Gable and Tracy were off-screen friends; Tracy was one of the few Hollywood industry luminaries who attended Lombard's private funeral. After Boom Town no more Gable-Tracy partnerships were possible; Tracy's success led to
2768-626: A leading role to do so. The film cost $ 2 million and grossed $ 4.5 million, making it one of the top moneymakers that decade. It used life-size replicas of the Bounty and Pandora , and was partly filmed in Catalina and French Polynesia . Gable made three pictures with Spencer Tracy , which boosted Tracy's career and permanently cemented them in the public mind as a team. San Francisco (1936), with Jeanette MacDonald , featured Tracy for only 17 minutes in an Oscar -nominated portrayal of
2941-444: A little class ... 'Lucky Lady' ... is likely to prove a resounding letdown. Despite all the big-time reputations involved, class is the last word that would spring to mind while one was watching the film." Donen said "on the whole I thought the movie was fun, and it was pretty to look at." The film grossed $ 2,265,103 in its opening weekend (Thursday to Sunday) from 213 cities. It went on to earn theatrical rentals of $ 12.1 million in
3114-554: A millionaire by the age of 30. He attended Modesto Junior College , where he studied anthropology , sociology, and literature, amongst other subjects. He also began shooting with an 8 mm camera, including filming car races. At this time, Lucas became interested in Canyon Cinema : screenings of underground , avant-garde 16 mm filmmakers like Jordan Belson , Stan Brakhage and Bruce Conner . Lucas and childhood friend John Plummer also saw classic European films of
3287-551: A new contract and both stars had conflicting stipulations requiring top billing in MGM movie credits and on promotional posters. Despite his reluctance to play the role, Gable is best known for his Oscar-nominated performance in the Academy Award-winning best picture Gone with the Wind (1939). Carole Lombard may have been the first to suggest that he play Rhett Butler (and she play Scarlett ) when she bought him
3460-410: A new ending. The ending consisted of the three characters in bed together ten years later. Huyck and Katz wrote the new ending, albeit reluctantly. "To us the original ending made a comment about the choices a woman has to make. But instead of making it the story of this woman, Stanley has made it a story of three people. That's valid. It's just different from what we originally intended." Garth Wigan,
3633-419: A newcomer whom MGM saw as a successor for both Crawford and the now-deceased Jean Harlow. Honky Tonk (1941) is a western where Gable's con-man/gambler character romances Turner, a prim, young judge's daughter. , Gable had been reluctant to act opposite the younger Turner in the required romantic scenes. But their chemistry served them well in this and three later films, with Honky Tonk finishing third at
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#17327934014923806-447: A notorious celebrity lifestyle in the late 1960s and early 1970s surfing scene, ultimately leading to his early death in 1977. Gable also formed Russ-Field-Gabco in 1955, a production company with Jane Russell and her husband Bob Waterfield , and they produced The King and Four Queens (1956), a film Gable thought would also star Russell to capitalize on The Tall Men 's moderate success. That role instead went to Jo Van Fleet . It
3979-488: A pioneer of the modern blockbuster . Despite this, he has remained an independent filmmaker away from Hollywood for most of his career. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas moved to San Francisco and co-founded American Zoetrope with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola . He wrote and directed THX 1138 (1971), based on his student short Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB , which
4152-464: A producer of the Indiana Jones films, had been appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd. It was reported that Kennedy would work alongside Lucas, who would remain chief executive and serve as co-chairman for at least one year, after which she would succeed him as the company's sole leader. With the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas is currently Disney's second-largest single shareholder, after
4325-432: A professional level. We had done it without him weeping several times and then we had one last try. I said, 'You can do it, I know you can do it, and you will be wonderful ...' Well, by heaven, just before the cameras rolled, you could see the tears come up at his eyes and he played the scene unforgettably well. He put his whole heart into it." The role was one of Gable's most layered performances and partially based on
4498-422: A record amount for an original screenplay. They were helped by the fact that American Graffiti had since come out and been a huge success. "Mike Gruskoff was incredible, just incredible at selling a script," said Katz. "He got it immediately to the heads of the studios and he sold it very, very fast." The producer paid the writers $ 100,000 of the $ 450,000. The writers wanted Steven Spielberg to direct and he
4671-589: A rubber plantation in Indochina . Gable portrayed a plantation manager involved with Harlow's wisecracking prostitute; however, upon her arrival, Gable's character started to pursue Mary Astor's prim, classy newlywed. While some critics thought Harlow stole the show, many agreed that Gable was a natural screen partner. Gable's "unshaven love-making" with braless Jean Harlow in Red Dust made him MGM's most important romantic leading man. With Gable established as
4844-468: A sensitive issue and new image for Gable. Gable and Harlow were then teamed in Hold Your Man (1933), China Seas (1935), in which the pair were billed above Wallace Beery, and Wife vs. Secretary (1936) with Myrna Loy costarring and supported by newcomer James Stewart . A popular combination on-screen and off, Gable and Harlow made six films together in five years. Their final film together
5017-536: A series of two-reel comedies called The Pacemakers and in Fox's The Johnstown Flood (1926). He also appeared as a bit player in a series of shorts. However, he was not offered any major film roles, so he returned to the stage in What Price Glory? (1925). He became lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore , who initially scolded Gable for what he deemed amateurish acting but nevertheless urged him to pursue
5190-763: A stage career. During the 1927–28 theater season, he acted with the Laskin Brothers Stock Company in Houston , Texas; while there, he played many roles, gained considerable experience, and became a local matinee idol. He then moved to New York City, where Dillon sought work for him on Broadway. He received good reviews in Machinal (1928), with one critic describing him as "young, vigorous, and brutally masculine". Gable and Dillon separated, filing for divorce in March 1929, while he began working on
5363-565: A star, MGM positioned him in the same manner as Harlow for Myrna Loy, a previously lesser billed actor in Night Flight , moving Loy to a costar role in Men in White , a movie filmed in 1933, though delayed in release due to pre-Code Legion of Decency cuts until 1934. The relationship of a doctor (Gable) and nurse ( Elizabeth Allan ) implied intimacy with a resulting complication of pregnancy,
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5536-605: A start in acting until he turned 21 and received his $ 300 inheritance (equivalent to $ 5,461 in 2023 ) from a Hershelman trust. After his stepmother died in 1920, his father moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma , going back into the oil business. He worked with his father for some time wildcatting and sludge removing in the oil fields of Oklahoma before traveling to the Pacific Northwest. Gable toured in second-class stock companies, finding work with traveling tent shows , lumber mills, and other odd jobs. He made his way across
5709-470: A success. Lucas then created his own company, Lucasfilm, Ltd. , and directed the successful American Graffiti (1973). Lucas then set his sights on adapting Flash Gordon , an adventure serial from his childhood that he fondly remembered. When he was unable to obtain the rights, he set out to write an original space adventure that would eventually become Star Wars . Despite his success with his previous film, all but one studio turned Star Wars down. It
5882-583: A supporting role again. He received extensive fan mail as a result of his performance; the studio took notice. The Hollywood Reporter wrote "A star in the making has been made, one that, to our reckoning, will outdraw every other star ... Never have we seen audiences work themselves into such enthusiasm as when Clark Gable walks on the screen." Gable co-starred in Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) with Greta Garbo , and in Possessed (1931),
6055-499: A three-cornered hat", one he had to be talked into by friend and producer Irving Thalberg , and of which Gable said "I stink in it" after filming. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) was a critical and commercial success, receiving eight Academy Award nominations. There were three Best Actor nominations for stars Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone , and the film won Best Picture , the second of three films in which Gable played
6228-542: A tree; Lucas's seatbelt had snapped, ejecting him and thereby saving his life. However, his lungs were bruised from severe hemorrhaging and he required emergency medical treatment. This incident caused him to lose interest in racing as a career, but also inspired him to pursue his other interests. Lucas's father owned a stationery store, and had wanted George to work for him when he turned 18. Lucas had been planning to go to art school, but his father said he wouldn't pay for it. Lucas declared upon leaving home that he would be
6401-586: A troubled production but was a surprise hit, becoming the highest-grossing film at the time , winning six Academy Awards and sparking a cultural phenomenon . Lucas produced and co-wrote the sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). With director Steven Spielberg , he created, produced, and co-wrote Indiana Jones films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom of
6574-668: A unit commander. (Prior to this, he and McIntyre were both first lieutenants.) Gable spent most of 1943 in England at RAF Polebrook with the 351st Bomb Group. Gable flew five combat missions, including one to Germany, as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23, 1943, earning the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. During one of
6747-439: A very big problem because one of the three stars was a woman. A lot of male actors didn't want to be in an ensemble piece or a piece with a woman as a strong character." The only two female stars considered "bankable" at the time were Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli . Minnelli was the first star cast, for a minimum of $ 350,000. Donen originally wanted Paul Newman , who also wanted Spielberg to direct, and Warren Beatty for
6920-482: A very good eye, and he thought visually," he recalled. At Plummer's recommendation, Lucas then transferred to the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts . USC was one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to motion picture film . During the years at USC, Lucas shared a dorm room with Randal Kleiser . Along with classmates such as Walter Murch , Caleb Deschanel , Hal Barwood , John Milius and Matthew Robbins , they became
7093-418: A villainous chauffeur who knocked Barbara Stanwyck 's character unconscious for trying to save two children whom he was methodically starving to death. The supporting role was originally slated for James Cagney until the release of The Public Enemy catapulted him to star status. "His ears are too big and he looks like an ape", said Warner Bros. executive Darryl F. Zanuck about Gable, after testing him for
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7266-600: A warehouse in Van Nuys, California . After seeing the map for the location was zoned as light industrial , Lucas named the group Industrial Light and Magic, which became the Special Visual Effects department on Star Wars . Alongside Dykstra, other leading members of the original ILM team were Ken Ralston , Richard Edlund , Dennis Muren , Robert Blalack , Joe Johnston , Phil Tippett , Steve Gawley , Lorne Peterson and Paul Huston. By June 2013, Lucas
7439-561: Is a movie so bad that it must be seen to be disbelieved." Next, he paired with Doris Day in Teacher's Pet (1958), shot in black and white at Paramount. He did Run Silent, Run Deep (also 1958), with co-star and producer Burt Lancaster , which featured his first on-screen death since 1937, and which garnered good reviews. Gable started to receive television offers, but rejected them outright. At 57, Gable finally acknowledged, "Now it's time I acted my age". His contracts began including
7612-480: Is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and founded Lucasfilm , LucasArts , Industrial Light & Magic and THX . He served as chairman of Lucasfilm before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012. Nominated for four Academy Awards , he is considered to be one of the most significant figures of the 20th-century New Hollywood movement, and
7785-411: Is on Gable and French Devil's Islands convicts in an escape from the penal colony, who on the way pick up a local entertainer (Crawford) whom Gable had met earlier in the movie. In their eighth and last film together, Gable and Crawford "again demonstrated their on-screen magic" and the film was among the top ten grossing films for the year. Gable then made his first film with 20-year old Lana Turner,
7958-596: Is other rum runners. While the small players generally leave each other alone, the East Coast mob has sent Christie McTeague to establish a foothold then a stranglehold on the entire West Coast Mexico–U.S. trade. Through it all, Claire has convinced Kibby and an initially reluctant Walker that their three partner business should extend into the bedroom. Katz and Huyck at the time were best known for writing American Graffiti . Before that film came out they were struggling writers, looking for an original project. While Huyck
8131-462: Is so coarsely conceived it obliterates any emotion, any art." Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called the film "strident, forced hokum. Stanley Donen's film caroms from one sequence to another with pointless abandon ... This is a major disappointment." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and stated, "There's an arrogance to this project I don't like. Apparently
8304-519: Is the U.S. Coast Guard , led by the irritatingly officious Captain Moseley, who patrols these waters. Moseley and the Coast Guard can do nothing against vessels in international waters unless there is a sign of illegal cargo or a sale of illegal merchandise. Instead, Moseley works to "starve" rum runners, who can only sail up and down the coast, blocked from entering a U.S. port. The second hazard
8477-406: The 351st Bomb Group to England as head of a six-man motion picture unit. In addition to McIntyre, he recruited the screenwriter John Lee Mahin , camera operators Sgts. Mario Toti and Robert Boles, and the sound man Lt. Howard Voss, to complete his crew. Gable was promoted to captain while he was with the 351st Bomb Group at Pueblo Army Air Base , Colorado, a rank commensurate with his position as
8650-442: The Distinguished Flying Cross , Air Medal , American Campaign Medal , European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , and World War II Victory Medal . He was a qualified aerial gunner having received his wings upon completion of flexible gunnery school at Tyndall field. Immediately after his discharge from the service, Gable returned to his ranch and rested. Personally, he resumed a pre-war relationship with Virginia Grey ,
8823-625: The Gone with the Wind premiere in segregated Atlanta , because African American actors Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen were not permitted to attend. He reportedly only went after McDaniel pleaded with him to go. They appeared in several more films, remaining life-long friends and he always attended her Hollywood parties. Gable did not want to shed tears for the scene after Rhett inadvertently causes Scarlett to miscarry their second child. Olivia de Havilland made him cry, later commenting, "Oh, he would not do it. He would not! Victor (Fleming) tried everything with him. He tried to attack him on
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#17327934014928996-466: The Indiana Jones television prequel spinoff The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–93). There were unsuccessful projects, however, including More American Graffiti (1979), Willard Huyck 's Howard the Duck (1986), which was the biggest flop of Lucas's career, Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and Radioland Murders (1994) directed by Mel Smith . The animation studio Pixar
9169-489: The Jack Lemmon kind of character I played, but there were times when I felt Stanley Donen was petrified and lost. Scared of the boats, scared of the explosions, of the gunshots. I'd look at him between takes and he'd be like this [crouching with hands over his head]. But the bedroom scene with the three of us was so beautifully done. I remember going to rushes and saying, "This is going to be a winner – it really works." It
9342-552: The Methodist church where his father was a Sunday School teacher. The dispute was resolved when his father agreed to allow him to spend time with his maternal uncle Charles Hershelman and his wife on their farm in Vernon Township, Pennsylvania . In April 1903, Gable's father married Jennie Dunlap (1874–1920). Gable's stepmother raised the tall, shy child with a loud voice to be well-dressed and well-groomed. She played
9515-528: The National Film Board of Canada like Arthur Lipsett 's 21-87 , cameraman Jean-Claude Labrecque 's cinéma vérité 60 Cycles , the work of Norman McLaren and the documentaries of Claude Jutra . Lucas fell madly in love with pure cinema and quickly became prolific at making 16 mm nonstory noncharacter visual tone poems and cinéma vérité with such titles as Look at Life , Herbie , 1:42.08 , The Emperor , Anyone Lived in
9688-808: The National Mall in Washington, D.C., to commemorate American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. On September 19, 2006, the University of Southern California announced that Lucas had donated $ 175–180 million to his alma mater to expand the film school. It is the largest single donation to USC and the largest gift to a film school anywhere. Previous donations led to the already-existing George Lucas Instructional Building and Marcia Lucas Post-Production building. In 2013, Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson donated $ 25 million to
9861-537: The San Francisco Bay Area and co-founded the studio American Zoetrope with Coppola, hoping to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood studio system . Coppola thought Lucas's Electronic Labyrinth could be adapted into his first full-length feature film, which was produced by American Zoetrope as THX 1138 , but was not
10034-620: The United States Air Force as an officer, but he was immediately turned down because of his numerous speeding tickets. He was later drafted by the United States Army for military service in Vietnam , but he was exempted from service after medical tests showed he had diabetes , the disease that killed his paternal grandfather. Lucas saw many inspiring films in class, particularly the visual films coming out of
10207-621: The United States House of Representatives subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet as the head of his Foundation to advocate for a free wireless broadband educational network. In 2012, Lucas sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company for a reported sum of $ 4.05 billion. It was widely reported at the time that Lucas intended to give the majority of the proceeds from the sale to charity. A spokesperson for Lucasfilm said: "George Lucas has expressed his intention, in
10380-513: The United States Information Agency , where he met his future wife Marcia Griffin . Working as a teaching instructor for a class of U.S. Navy students who were being taught documentary cinematography, Lucas directed the short film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB , which won first prize at the 1967–68 National Student film festival. Lucas was awarded a student scholarship by Warner Bros. to observe and work on
10553-832: The highest-grossing film of all time , displaced five years later by Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . After the success of American Graffiti and prior to the beginning of filming on Star Wars , Lucas was encouraged to renegotiate for a higher fee for writing and directing Star Wars than the US$ 150,000 agreed. He declined to do so, instead negotiating for advantage in some of the as-yet-unspecified parts of his contract with Fox, in particular, ownership of licensing and merchandising rights (for novelizations , clothing, toys, etc.) and contractual arrangements for sequels. Lucasfilm has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from licensed games, toys, and collectibles created for
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#173279340149210726-532: The sonnets . His father had financial difficulties in 1917 and decided to try his hand at farming, and moved the family to Palmyra Township , near Akron, Ohio . His father insisted that he work the farm, but Gable soon left to work in Akron for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company . Gable was inspired to become an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise at age 17, but he was unable to make
10899-425: The "Special Editions". The trilogy received further modifications and restorations for DVD releases in 2004, Blu-ray releases in 2011 and 4K releases released in 2019. Additionally, Lucas released a director's cut of THX 1138 in 2004, with the film re-cut and containing a number of CGI additions. The first Star Wars prequel was finished and released in 1999 as Episode I – The Phantom Menace , which would be
11072-452: The "secret sauce" of his movies. Lucas is the wealthiest film celebrity in the world. His personal net worth is estimated to be between $ 7.5–9.4 billion. Lucas has pledged to give half of his fortune to charity as part of an effort called The Giving Pledge led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to persuade America's richest individuals to donate their financial wealth to charities. In 1991, The George Lucas Educational Foundation
11245-628: The 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special for 20th Century Fox Television . That year, Lucas hired Los Angeles-based real-estate specialist Charles Weber to manage the company, telling him that he could keep the job as long as he made money. Lucas wanted the focus of the company to be making independent films, but the company gradually became enlarged from five employees to almost 100, increasing in middle management and running up costs. In 1980, after Weber asked Lucas for fifty million dollars to invest in other companies and suggested that they sell Skywalker Ranch to do so, Lucas fired Weber and had to let half of
11418-475: The CGI film Strange Magic , his first musical. The film was produced at Skywalker Ranch . Gary Rydstrom directed the movie. At the same time the sequel trilogy was announced, a fifth installment of the Indiana Jones series also entered pre-development phase with Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg set to return. Lucas originally did not specify whether the selling of Lucasfilm would affect his involvement with
11591-835: The Chicago-based not-for-profit After School Matters, of which Hobson is the chair. On April 15, 2016, it was reported that Lucas had donated between $ 501,000 and $ 1 million through the Lucas Family Foundation (now the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation) to the Obama Foundation , which is charged with overseeing the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side . In 2021, Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson made
11764-671: The Circus (1932). Gable was considered for the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man , but lost out to Johnny Weissmuller 's more imposing physique and superior swimming prowess. Gable then starred as the romantic lead in Strange Interlude (1932), again teaming with Shearer, the second of three films they would make together for MGM. Next, Gable starred with Jean Harlow in the romantic comedy-drama Red Dust (1932) set on
11937-585: The Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). He last collaborated on the CGI-animated movie and television series of the same name, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2014, 2020), the war film Red Tails (2012) and the CGI film Strange Magic (2015). Lucas is also known for his collaboration with composer John Williams , who was recommended to him by Spielberg, and with whom he has worked for all
12110-406: The Clones . The final prequel, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith , began production in 2002 and was released in 2005. Numerous older fans and critics at the time considered the prequels more mixed compared to the original trilogy, though they were box office successes and popular with younger fans. In 2004, Lucas reflected that his transition from independent to corporate filmmaker mirrored
12283-474: The Clones and Revenge of the Sith , and featured the last Star Wars stories in which Lucas was involved in a major way. In 2012, Lucas self-funded and served as executive producer for Red Tails , a war film based on the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II . He also took over directing of reshoots while director Anthony Hemingway worked on other projects. I'm moving away from
12456-535: The Crystal Skull (2008), and served as an executive producer, with a cursory involvement in pre and post-production, on The Dial of Destiny (2023). In 1997, Lucas re-released the original Star Wars trilogy as part of a Special Edition featuring several modifications; home media versions with further changes were released in 2004 and 2011. He returned to directing with a Star Wars prequel trilogy comprising The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of
12629-571: The Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark , Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ). After Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Williams stayed on board with the franchise, and continued to score the remaining three films of the " Skywalker Saga " ( The Force Awakens , The Last Jedi , and The Rise of Skywalker , for which he received a further three Oscar nominations), after which he announced his "retirement" from
12802-400: The Los Angeles staff go. By the same year, the corporate subsidiary had been discontinued and its business was absorbed into the various divisions of Lucasfilm. Lucas founded Industrial Light & Magic in 1975, he wanted his 1977 film Star Wars to include visual effects that had never been seen on film before. After discovering that the in-house effects department at 20th Century Fox
12975-554: The Los Angeles stage production of The Last Mile , Gable was offered a contract with Pathe Pictures . His only film for them and first role in a sound picture was as the unshaven villain in their low-budget William Boyd Western , The Painted Desert (1931). The studio experienced financial problems after the film's delayed release, so Gable left for work at Warner Bros . The same year in Night Nurse , Gable played
13148-611: The Main Title Theme, the Force Theme (less commonly referred to as Obi Wan Kenobi's Theme), the Rebel Alliance Theme and Princess Leia's Theme (all introduced in this film) repeatedly. Subsequent films also added to the catalog of themes for different characters, factions, and locations. The score was released to critical acclaim and won Williams his third Academy Award for Best Original Score . The score
13321-608: The Midwest to Portland, Oregon , where he worked as a necktie salesman in the Meier & Frank department store. Also working there was local stage actor Earle Larimore , (the nephew of Laura Hope Crews who portrayed Aunt Pittypat alongside Gable in Gone with the Wind ) who encouraged Gable to return to acting. Though Larimore didn't invite him to join his theater group The Red Lantern Players, he did introduce Gable to one of its members, Franz Dorfler, and they started dating. After
13494-467: The Sundance Kid and agreed to finance them writing it for $ 75,000 They worked on the script for six months. "It took us a long time to get our characters down," said Katz. "We tried it a lot of different ways. And we did a lot of research into the period and the language." When they handed the script in, Gruskoff sold the film within eighteen hours to 20th Century Fox for $ 450,000, which was then
13667-400: The United States and Canada. According to Donen the film made a profit. However the director says there's "no doubt" the film "hurt me professionally. It was looked on as a huge failure. And it hurt me personally because of some of the things Liza and Reynolds said to the media." The film went unreleased on DVD until February 1, 2011 via Shout! Factory . This film was also released under
13840-738: The Wind (1939). He received Golden Globe Award nominations for his comedic roles in Teacher's Pet (1958), and But Not for Me (1959). He also starred in Call of the Wild (1935), Key to the City (1950), and Mogambo (1953). His final on-screen role was as an aging cowboy in The Misfits (1961). Gable was one of the most consistent box-office performers in the history of Hollywood, appearing on Quigley Publishing's annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll sixteen times. He appeared opposite many of
14013-579: The Wind "hardly befitted a national idol" and began a career decline for Gable. On August 12, 1942, following Lombard's death and his completion of the film Somewhere I'll Find You , Gable joined the United States Army , under the Army Air Forces . Lombard had suggested that Gable enlist as part of the war effort, but MGM was reluctant to let him go. Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces Henry H. "Hap" Arnold offered Gable
14186-643: The World War II romantic intrigue film, Idiot's Delight (1939). He plays a nightclub singer that doesn't recognize former love (Shearer) while Nazis are closing in on guests at a hotel on the brink of war. The film is memorable for Gable's song and dance routine, "Puttin' on the Ritz" and an alternative ending. Gable also starred in Strange Cargo (1940), a romantic drama with Joan Crawford , costarring Peter Lorre and Ian Hunter . The film's focus
14359-451: The age difference". The publicity only helped ticket sales as the film finished No. 7 at the box office, grossing 8.2 million for the year, easily his most popular hit since he returned to MGM after the war. Despite the positive critical and public response to Mogambo , Gable became increasingly unhappy with what he considered mediocre roles offered by MGM, while the studio regarded his salary as excessive. Studio head Louis B. Mayer
14532-515: The box office that year. Since the couple had been popular with the public, Gable and Turner were quickly paired again in Somewhere I'll Find You (1941) as war correspondents who travel to the Pacific theatre and get caught up in a Japanese attack. The movie was another hit finishing No. 8 at the box office for 1942. Film historian David Thomson wrote the quality of his movies after Gone With
14705-404: The business ... From the company, from all this kind of stuff. —George Lucas on his future career plans In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large blockbuster films, and instead re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features. In June 2012, it was announced that producer Kathleen Kennedy , a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and
14878-576: The cadets with their commissions. Arnold then informed Gable of his special assignment: to make a recruiting film in combat with the Eighth Air Force to recruit aerial gunners. Gable and McIntyre were immediately sent to Flexible Gunnery School at Tyndall Field, Florida , followed by a photography course at Fort George Wright , Washington State and promoted to first lieutenants upon its completion. On January 27, 1943, Gable reported to Biggs Army Airfield , Texas to train with and accompany
15051-545: The characters further. " The writers said their inspiration for the lead characters were Jean Harlow , Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy . It took 18 months for Donen to cast the film. Donen says this was due to problems with billing, pay and the fact the woman's role was central made it difficult to find male stars to play opposite her. "We thought the idea of three stars was a terrific notion because it would make Lucky Lady very salable and very castable," said Katz. "Ironically, it made it salable, but casting turned out to be
15224-447: The company. The sale reflected Lucas's desire to stop the cash flow losses from his seven-year research projects associated with new entertainment technology tools, as well as his company's new focus on creating entertainment rather than tools. As of June 1983, Lucas was worth $ 60 million, but he met cash-flow difficulties following his divorce that year, concurrent with the sudden dropoff in revenues from Star Wars licenses following
15397-429: The couple's audition for The Astoria Players, Gable's lack of training was evident, but the theater group accepted him after cajoling from Larimore. Gable and Dorfler moved to Astoria, Oregon , touring with the group until its bankruptcy, and then moved back to Portland where Gable obtained a day job with Pacific Telephone and started receiving dramatic lessons in the evening. Gable's acting coach, Josephine Dillon ,
15570-639: The creative differences between him and the producers of The Force Awakens . Lucas went on to say that he needed to support the company and its employees who were going to suffer financially. Lucas described the previous six Star Wars films as his "children" and defended his vision for them, while criticizing The Force Awakens for having a "retro feel", saying: "I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships – you know, to make it new." Lucas also drew some criticism and subsequently apologized for his remark likening Disney to "white slavers". In 2015, Lucas wrote
15743-415: The creator and executive producer for a second Star Wars animated series on Cartoon Network, Star Wars: The Clone Wars which premiered with a feature film of the same name before airing its first episode. The supervising director for this animated series was Dave Filoni , who was chosen by Lucas and closely collaborated with him on its development. This series bridged the events between Attack of
15916-413: The director Frank Capra , Gable's character in the film closely resembled his real personality. Gable returned to MGM a bigger star than ever. From 1934 until 1942, when World War II interrupted his movie career, he was near the top of the box office money-makers lists. Gable's first movie role back at MGM was to portray reluctant leader of mutineers Fletcher Christian , an "Englishman in knickers and
16089-415: The director, did a dance for the audience while it was being spliced." It was decided that the new ending was not suitable, in part due to poor make up. So a third ending was used, which cut off the last ten minutes of the film. "We had four endings and none of them worked," said Donen later. Minnelli later criticized Donen for taking "out the part that made you feel like the three of us are in peril. I saw
16262-486: The end of the trilogy. The success of the first Star Wars film also resulted in more attention focused on Lucas, both positive and negative, attracting wealth and fame, but also many people who wanted Lucas's financial backing or just to threaten him. Following the release of the first Star Wars film, Lucas worked extensively as a writer and producer, including on the many Star Wars spinoffs made for film, television and other media. Lucas acted as executive producer for
16435-458: The estate of Steve Jobs . Lucas worked as a creative consultant on the Star Wars sequel trilogy 's first film, The Force Awakens . Lucas's involvement included attending early story meetings; according to Lucas, "I mostly say, 'You can't do this. You can do that.' You know, 'The cars don't have wheels. They fly with antigravity.' There's a million little pieces ... I know all that stuff." Lucas's son Jett told The Guardian that his father
16608-506: The event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors." Lucas also spoke on the matter: "For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company. As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy." In 2005, Lucas gave $ 1 million to help build the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on
16781-546: The film Combat America in September 1944, giving the narration himself and making use of numerous interviews with enlisted gunners as focus of the film. Because his motion picture production schedule made it impossible for him to fulfill reserve officer duties, he resigned his commission on September 26, 1947, a week after the Air Force became an independent service branch. Gable was awarded military honors for service:
16954-415: The film 2 stars out of 4 and called it "a big, expensive, good-looking flop of a movie; rarely is so much effort expended on a movie so inconsequential." Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "ridiculous without the compensation of being funny or fun. This is difficult to understand, considering the people who are involved." Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote, "This mercenaries' film
17127-403: The film series into a "Saga". In 1994, Lucas began work on the screenplay of the first prequel, tentatively titled Episode I: The Beginning . In 1997, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Wars , Lucas restored the original trilogy and made numerous modifications using newly available digital technology to bring them closer to his original vision. The films were re-released in theaters as
17300-548: The film. During this time Donen became concerned about the ending, feeling that the film had become much lighter than originally intended, and tried several different ones, including simply cutting off the final ten minutes. He eventually decided the film needed a happy ending and Fox agreed to finance a reshot scene. Because Minnelli was filming A Matter of Time in Rome, Donen, Hackman and Reynolds flew to Rome in November and shot
17473-512: The film. In October 2016, Lucas announced his decision to not be involved in the story of the film but would remain an executive producer. In 2016, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , the first film of a Star Wars anthology series was released. It told the story of the rebels who stole the plans for the Death Star featured in the original Star Wars film, and it was reported that Lucas liked it more than The Force Awakens . The Last Jedi ,
17646-569: The film." "I was seduced," said Hackman. Filming began in Guaymas , Mexico in February 1975 and finished in July of that year. It was an exceedingly difficult shoot, compounded by the isolation of the location, poor weather, and the fact so much of it was shot on water. "I remember water," said Minnelli later. "For days. And shrimp. That's all we ate – shrimp. We were stranded. There was no TV, no radio, no American papers. The only way we knew what
17819-612: The filmmakers believed that the public would be sufficiently impressed with the antics of Gene, Liza, and Burt that it wouldn't care if the story made sense." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times declared, "By squinting hard in the mind's eye, you can almost make out what it was that made 'Lucky Lady' seem worth doing. The movie we actually see is a cynical, vulgar, contrived, mismated, violent, uneven and uninteresting disaster." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "If you were looking forward to an entertainment with
17992-517: The films in both of these franchises. He also produced and wrote a variety of films and television series through Lucasfilm between the 1970s and the 2010s. Lucas is one of history's most financially successful filmmakers . He directed or wrote the story for ten of the 100 highest-grossing movies at the North American box office, adjusted for ticket-price inflation. Through his companies Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound , Lucas
18165-422: The finished picture and I never once was afraid for us. Most of the serious moments were removed too." Reynolds and Minnelli both criticized the new ending, requesting that the studio show the three different endings to the press. Donen refused and since he had final cut the studio backed him. Donen called Minnelli an "emotional child" for this criticism. The film opened on Christmas Day 1975. Roger Ebert gave
18338-437: The first film Lucas had directed in over two decades. Following the release of the first prequel, Lucas announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began working on Episode II . The first draft of Episode II was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales , a writer from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles , to polish it. It was completed and released in 2002 as Attack of
18511-465: The first four Indiana Jones films, which his colleague and good friend Steven Spielberg directed. Craig Barron , who worked at ILM as part of the matte painting department, told Star Wars Insider that Lucas liked to spend time with the department's painters and often spoke of what movies he wanted to make. According to Barron, Lucas had wanted to make a film about Alexander the Great , but this film
18684-429: The following titles: A month before the release of the film, Bantam Books issued a tie-in novelization of the screenplay by historical fiction writer Cecelia Holland under the pseudonym "Julia Rood." It achieved some minor notoriety at the time for retaining the original ending, which reflected the earlier draft script from which Holland worked. George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944)
18857-432: The franchise. The original Star Wars film went through a tumultuous production, and during editing, Lucas suffered chest pains initially feared to be a heart attack, but actually a fit of hypertension and exhaustion. The effort that Lucas exerted during post-production for the film, and its subsequent sequels, caused strains on his relationship with his wife Marcia Lucas, and was a contributing factor to their divorce at
19030-462: The high cost of the all-star cast. Variety said, "[Gable's] is a believable delivery, interpreting the brigadier-general who must send his men out to almost certain death with an understanding that bespeaks his sympathy with the soldier... ". A very public and brief romance with Paulette Goddard occurred after that. In 1949, Gable married Sylvia Ashley , a British model and actress previously married to Douglas Fairbanks Sr . The relationship
19203-455: The lead male roles with production scheduled to begin in October 1974. However the stars could not be locked down. Later, in November 1974, Burt Reynolds was signed along with George Segal . Huyck said Reynolds "didn't really like doing macho roles, he didn't want to play the tough guy role, he wanted the silly part." Reynolds' fee was reportedly $ 500,000, Segal's $ 750,000. Reynolds said it
19376-513: The lower-rank Columbia studio, for one film It Happened One Night , to teach Gable a lesson, but Columbia wanted him and had paid handsomely for it. The result was that Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his 1934 performance in the film. "Critics praised the fast-paced farce that would enter in a whole new romantic genre: the screwball comedy." Gable's career was revitalized by his whimsical, good-natured performance and to
19549-441: The making of a film of his choosing. The film he chose after finding the animation department closed down was Finian's Rainbow (1968) which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola , who was revered among film school students of the time as a cinema graduate who had "made it" in Hollywood. In 1969, Lucas was one of the camera operators on the classic Rolling Stones concert film Gimme Shelter . In 1969, Lucas moved back to
19722-453: The men he served with, such as former Tech. Sgt. Ralph Cowley, said Gable actually unofficially joined other missions and the above five were only a fraction of the total. Adolf Hitler favored Gable above all other actors. During World War II, Hitler offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and bring Gable to him unscathed. In November 1943, Gable returned to the United States to edit his film, on an old Warner's lot donated to
19895-502: The missions, Gable's aircraft was damaged by flak and attacked by fighters, which knocked out one of the engines and shot up the stabilizer. In the raid on Germany, one crewman was killed and two others were wounded, and flak went through Gable's boot and narrowly missed his head. When word of this reached MGM, studio executives began to badger the Army Air Forces to reassign its most valuable screen actor to noncombat duty. Many of
20068-462: The most popular actresses of their time. He frequently acted alongside Joan Crawford , Myrna Loy , Jean Harlow , Lana Turner , Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner . Gable died of a heart attack in 1960 at the age of 59. William Clark Gable was born on February 1, 1901, in Cadiz, Ohio , to William Henry "Will" Gable (1870–1948), an oil-well driller, and his wife Adeline ( née Hershelman). His father
20241-538: The museum in California. On January 17, 2017, Lucas announced that an eleven-acre campus with green space and the museum's five-story 300,000 square foot building will be constructed over what was a parking lot in Exposition Park , Los Angeles, California. It is due to be completed in 2025. Lucas was also heavily involved and invested in the scoring process for the original Star Wars soundtrack , which
20414-484: The never completed short "Five, Four, Three", a self-referential and self-deprecating mockumentary about the making of a satirical teen beach movie called "Orgy Beach Party". Lucas was deeply influenced by the Filmic Expression course taught at the school by filmmaker Lester Novros which concentrated on the non-narrative elements of Film Form like color, light, movement, space, and time. Another inspiration
20587-536: The next two Star Wars films, commissioning Irvin Kershner to direct The Empire Strikes Back and Richard Marquand to direct Return of the Jedi , while receiving a story credit on the former and sharing a screenwriting credit with Lawrence Kasdan on the latter. Lucas also gave away his screenwriting credit out of great respect for Leigh Brackett for The Empire Strikes Back after her death from cancer. He also acted as story writer and executive producer on
20760-437: The pair was recognized by studio executive Louis B. Mayer , who would not only put them in seven more films but also began reshooting Complete Surrender , replacing John Mack Brown as Crawford's leading man and retitling the film Laughing Sinners (1931). His fame and public visibility after A Free Soul (1931), in which he played a gangster who shoved the character played by Norma Shearer, ensured that Gable never played
20933-591: The park. He was interested in comics and science fiction, including television programs such as the Flash Gordon serials. Long before Lucas began making films, he yearned to be a racecar driver, and he spent most of his high school years racing on the underground circuit at fairgrounds and hanging out at garages. On June 12, 1962, a few days before his high school graduation, Lucas was driving his souped-up Autobianchi Bianchina when another driver broadsided him, flipping his car several times before it crashed into
21106-484: The part. He later conceded, "I think I know now how a fly must react after being caught in a spider's web." According to Lennie Bluett, an extra in the film, Gable almost walked off the set when he discovered the studio facilities were segregated and signage posted "White" and "Colored". Gable phoned the film's director Victor Fleming and told him, "If you don't get those signs down, you won't get your Rhett Butler." The signs were then taken down. Gable tried to boycott
21279-425: The personality of director and friend Fleming. Years later, Gable said that whenever his career would start to fade, a re-release of Gone with the Wind would soon revive his popularity, and he continued as a top leading actor for the rest of his life. One reissue publicized "Clark Gable never tires of holding Vivien Leigh". Between his marriage to Lombard and her death, Gable again costarred with Norma Shearer in
21452-464: The piano and gave him lessons at home. He later took up brass instruments, becoming the only boy in the Hopedale Men's town band at age 13. Gable was mechanically inclined and loved to repair cars with his father, who insisted that he engage in masculine activities such as hunting and hard physical work. Gable also loved literature; he would recite Shakespeare among trusted company, particularly
21625-566: The play Hawk Island in New York which ran for 24 performances. In April 1930, Gable's divorce became final, and a few days later he married Texas socialite Maria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham, nicknamed "Ria". After moving to California, they were married again in 1931, possibly due to differences in state legal requirements. In 1930, after his impressive appearance as the seething and desperate character Killer Mears in
21798-433: The role. Gable followed this up with Homecoming (1948), where he played a married doctor enlisting in World War II and meeting Lana Turner's army surgical nurse character with a romance unfolding in flashbacks. After that he made the war film Command Decision (1948), a psychological drama with Walter Pidgeon , Van Johnson , Brian Donlevy , and John Hodiak . It was a hit with audiences, but it lost MGM money due to
21971-465: The script were made. "Stanley wanted very much to play up the relationships, the menage-à-trois," said Huyck. "Which was fine with us. The script was probably overloaded with action since we wanted to sell it. Actually, action is boring to write. We have much more fun with dialogue." "Stanley's big emphasis to us is that you must love the characters," said Katz. "And any place he feels the characters are being lost, he wants us to put in something to develop
22144-421: The script, and at that point no one objected to the ending." "One of the first images in our minds when we began to work on the script was the ending," said Katz. "The idea of this woman remembering the two men she loved. We worked backwards from that. To us, the romance of the piece was in the idea of separation and loss. Because the film was booked in for a Christmas release, Donen only had three months to edit
22317-504: The second film in the sequel trilogy, was released in 2017; Lucas described the film as "beautifully made". Lucas has had cursory involvement with Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian , and the premiere of the eighth season of Game of Thrones . Lucas met with J. J. Abrams before the latter began writing the script to the sequel trilogy's final film, The Rise of Skywalker , which
22490-465: The second male lead in the studio's gangster drama Little Caesar (1931). After his failed screen test for Zanuck, Gable was signed in 1930 by MGM's Irving Thalberg for $ 650 per week (equivalent to approximately $ 13,023 in 2023 ). He hired the well-connected Minna Wallis, a sister of producer Hal Wallis , as his agent, whose clients included actresses Claudette Colbert , Myrna Loy and Norma Shearer . Gable's arrival in Hollywood occurred when MGM
22663-484: The series would be a tragic one, examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. Lucas also began to change the status of the prequels relative to the originals; at first, they were supposed to be a "filling-in" of history tangential to the originals, but now he saw that they could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning
22836-582: The series. Lucas was in attendance for a ceremony honoring Williams as the 44th recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award , the first composer to receive the honor, and gave a speech in praise of their relationship and his work. In interviews, and most famously at the 40th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration convention, Lucas has repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of Williams to the Star Wars saga, affectionately referring to him as
23009-569: The sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, while Lucasfilm Games, later renamed LucasArts , produces products for the gaming industry. Having lost much of his fortune in a divorce settlement in 1987, Lucas was hesitant on making additional Star Wars features. However, the prequels , which were still only a series of ideas partially pulled from his original drafts of "The Star Wars", continued to tantalize him with technical possibilities that would make it worthwhile to revisit his older material. When Star Wars became popular once again, in
23182-483: The story of Star Wars character Darth Vader in some ways, but concluded he was glad to be able to make his films the way he wanted to. Lucas collaborated with Jeff Nathanson as a writer of the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , directed by Steven Spielberg. Similar to the Star Wars prequels, the reception was mixed with fans and critics alike. From 2008 to 2014, Lucas also served as
23355-542: The theatrical run of Return of the Jedi . At this point, Lucas had no desire to return to Star Wars , and had unofficially canceled the sequel trilogy . Lucas, formerly a member of Writers Guild of America West , left and maintained financial core status in 1981. Also in 1983, Lucas and Tomlinson Holman founded the audio company THX . The company was formerly owned by Lucasfilm and contains equipment for stereo, digital, and theatrical sound for films, and music. Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic , are
23528-417: The time, including Jean-Luc Godard 's Breathless , François Truffaut 's Jules et Jim and Federico Fellini 's 8½ . "That's when George really started exploring," Plummer said. Through his interest in autocross racing, Lucas met renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler , another race enthusiast. Wexler, later to work with Lucas on several occasions, was impressed by Lucas's talent. "George had
23701-470: The wake of Dark Horse 's comic book line and Timothy Zahn 's trilogy of spin-off novels , Lucas realized that there was still a large audience. His children were older, and with the explosion of CGI technology he began to consider directing once again. By 1993, it was announced, in Variety among other sources, that Lucas would be making the prequels. He began penning more to the story, indicating that
23874-440: The war effort, assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit) at Culver City, California , where other stars contributed with any film equipment they had as well. In June 1944, Gable was promoted to major . While he hoped for another combat assignment, he had been placed on inactive duty and on June 12, 1944, his discharge papers were signed by Captain (later U.S. president) Ronald Reagan . Gable completed editing of
24047-524: Was Betrayed (1954), an espionage wartime drama with Turner and Victor Mature . Critic Paul Mavis wrote, "Gable and Turner just don't click the way they should here...poor plots and lines never stopped these two pros from turning in good performances in other films." In March 1954, Gable left MGM. His next two films were made for 20th Century Fox : Soldier of Fortune , an adventure story in Hong Kong with Susan Hayward , and The Tall Men (1955),
24220-416: Was Saratoga (1937), a bigger hit than their previous collaborations. Harlow died during its production. The film was ninety percent completed, and the remaining scenes were filmed with long shots or the use of doubles like Mary Dees ; Gable said he felt as if he were "in the arms of a ghost". When MGM head Louis B. Mayer decided that Gable was getting difficult and ungrateful, he loaned Gable out to
24393-416: Was "very important" the film was a success "since my last three films went down the tubes." Segal later dropped out of the project and was quickly replaced with Hackman. Gene Hackman initially did not want to do the film, but 20th Century Fox kept offering him more and more money. Finally, Fox offered him $ 1.25 million, and according to talent agent Sue Mengers , "it was almost obscene for him not to do
24566-544: Was "very torn" about having sold the rights to the franchise, despite having hand-picked Abrams to direct, and that his father was "there to guide" but that "he wants to let it go and become its new generation." Among the materials turned over to the production team were story treatments Lucas developed when he considered creating Episodes VII – IX himself; in January 2015, Lucas stated that Disney had discarded his story ideas. The Force Awakens , directed by J. J. Abrams ,
24739-621: Was Gable's only time as producer. He found producing and acting to be too much work and this Raoul Walsh western was the only film made. After turning down the lead role in Universal-International's Away All Boats , his next project was the Warner Bros. production Band of Angels (1957), co-starring Yvonne De Carlo and featuring relative newcomer Sidney Poitier ; it was not well received, despite Gable's role's similarities to Rhett Butler. Newsweek said, "Here
24912-551: Was Kelly in Astor's role, with both receiving Academy Award nominations, Gardner for Lead Actress and Kelly for Supporting Actress. While on location in Africa, reports of an affair between Gable and Kelly began to surface (the result of private dinners the stars were having), but their relationship was an intense friendship according to costar Gardner, with Kelly herself later commenting on the lack of any sexual aspect, "maybe because of
25085-454: Was Selznick's first choice. When Cooper turned down the role of Butler, he was quoted as saying, " Gone With the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I'm glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling flat on his nose, not me." By then, Selznick had become determined to hire Gable, and set about finding a way to borrow him from MGM. Gable was wary of potentially disappointing an audience that had decided that no one else could play
25258-624: Was a Protestant and his mother a Catholic. Gable was named William after his father, but he was almost always called Clark, and referred to as "the kid" by his father. Gable was six months old when he was baptized at a Roman Catholic church in Dennison, Ohio . When he was ten months old, his mother died. His father refused to raise him in the Catholic faith, which provoked criticism from the Hershelman family. Gable and his father were active in
25431-446: Was a beautifully mounted picture, but the last forty minutes, the battle, was not his kind of film. Nobody knew what was happening and you didn't care for the characters. In the original script, the two male leads were killed by government agents and the final scene happened ten years later with Liza Minnelli's character married to a boring businessman remembering the men she once loved. The writers said when they sold it, "The studio loved
25604-494: Was a critical success but a financial failure. His next work as a writer-director was American Graffiti (1973), inspired by his youth in early 1960s Modesto, California , and produced through the newly founded Lucasfilm. The film was critically and commercially successful and received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture . Lucas's next film, the epic space opera Star Wars (1977), later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope , had
25777-539: Was a favorite of Gable's, and he was very disappointed when her mental health problems caused her to be replaced in Mogambo by Grace Kelly . Mogambo (1953), directed by John Ford , was a somewhat sanitized and more action-oriented remake of Gable's hit pre-Code film Red Dust , with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor. Ava Gardner, in her third and final pairing with Gable, was well received in Harlow's leading lady role, as
25950-489: Was a theater manager in Portland. She paid to have his teeth fixed and his hair styled. She guided him in building up his chronically undernourished body, and taught him better body control and posture. He slowly managed to lower his naturally high-pitched voice, his speech habits improved, and his facial expressions became more natural and convincing. After a long period of her training, Dillon considered Gable ready to attempt
26123-472: Was acclaimed for his performance in The Hucksters (1947), a satire of post-war Madison Avenue corruption and immorality, which co-starred Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner . The film was popular with audiences, placing 11th at the box office, but both Variety and The New York Times reviewed it as a sanitized version of the novel with script issues, that was heavy on Gable screentime, who struggled in
26296-510: Was as a leading man . He was named the seventh greatest male movie star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute . Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the romantic comedy , It Happened One Night (1934). He was further Oscar-nominated for his roles as Fletcher Christian in the drama Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and Rhett Butler in the historical romance drama Gone with
26469-607: Was composed by John Williams , on the recommendation of his friend and colleague Steven Spielberg. Whilst initially wanting to use tracks and film music in a similar manner to 2001: A Space Odyssey , which served as the inspiration for the film, Williams advised against this and instead proposed a system of recurring themes (or leitmotifs ) to enhance the story in the style of classical composers Gustav Holst , William Walton , and Igor Stravinsky ; works that Lucas had used as " temp tracks " for Williams to gain inspiration from. The film, and subsequent sequels and prequels, make use of
26642-897: Was considering establishing a museum, the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, to be built on Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which would display his collection of illustrations and pop art, with an estimated value of more than $ 1 billion. Lucas offered to pay the estimated $ 300 million cost of constructing the museum, and would endow it with $ 400 million when it opened, eventually adding an additional $ 400 million to its endowment. After being unable to reach an agreement with The Presidio Trust , Lucas turned to Chicago. A potential lakefront site on Museum Campus in Chicago
26815-425: Was fired in 1951, amid slumping revenue and increased Hollywood production costs, due in large part to the rising popularity of television. The new studio head, former production chief Dore Schary , struggled to maintain profits for the studio. Many long-time MGM stars were fired, or their contracts were not renewed, including Greer Garson and Judy Garland . Gable refused to renew his contract. His last film at MGM
26988-590: Was founded as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. The foundation's content is available under the brand Edutopia , in an award-winning web site, social media and via documentary films. Lucas, through his foundation, was one of the leading proponents of the E-Rate program in the universal service fund , which was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 . On June 24, 2008, Lucas testified before
27161-612: Was founded in 1979 as the Graphics Group, one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm . Pixar's early computer graphics research resulted in a digital film The Adventures of André & Wally B. and groundbreaking effects in films such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Young Sherlock Holmes , and the group was purchased in 1986 by Steve Jobs shortly after he left Apple Computer . Jobs paid Lucas $ 5 million and put $ 5 million as capital into
27334-483: Was going on away from the location was by telephone." The film went over budget to nearly $ 13 million. Other estimates put it as high as $ 22 million. The artist Lilly Fenichel served as the film's art director. "I will never make another film on water," said Donen later. "I can't tell you how painful it is." "I'm going bananas," said Hackman during the shoot. "The work is not satisfying." Reynolds later recalled: I loved Liza Minnelli and Gene Hackman, and I loved
27507-600: Was in the Army reserves, Katz was in the UCLA library "looking for anything for an idea." She came across an article in American Mercury magazine about rumrunners operating off Ensenada during prohibition and, feeling that it had never been used for a film before, started researching the period. When Huyck got out of the army they brought the idea to Mike Gruskoff, a producer, who liked the similarities to Butch Cassidy and
27680-415: Was interested but had made a commitment to do Jaws . Eventually Stanley Donen signed. Donen's fee was $ 600,000, Grusskoff's was $ 400,000. Katz said, "our reaction was, Stanley Donen seems so bizarre for this kind of film! Then we realized he's the ideal director because he is really a romantic director, and he can do this kind of character stuff and the kind of humor that the film has." Some changes to
27853-494: Was involved in the production of, and financially benefited from, almost every big-budget film released in the U.S. from the late 1980s until the 2012 Disney sale. In addition to his career as a filmmaker, Lucas has founded and supported multiple philanthropic organizations and campaigns dedicated to education and the arts, including the George Lucas Educational Foundation , which has been noted as
28026-702: Was listed by the American Film Institute in 2005 as the greatest film score of all time . The professional relationship formed by Lucas and Williams extended through to Williams working on all of Lucas's blockbuster franchise movies: the remaining two films of the Star Wars original trilogy ; all three films of prequel trilogy developed over fifteen years later; and the five films of the Indiana Jones franchise, in which Williams reunited with his long-time collaborator Spielberg. In his collaborations with Lucas, Williams received six of his fifty-two Academy Award nominations ( Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of
28199-862: Was looking to expand its stable of male stars, and he fit the bill. He made two pictures in 1931 with Wallace Beery . In the first, he had a seventh-billed support role in The Secret Six , although his role was much larger than the billing would indicate, then he achieved second billing in a part almost as large as the film's star Beery in the naval aviation film Hell Divers . MGM's publicity manager Howard Strickling started developing Gable's studio image with Screenland magazine playing up his "lumberjack-in-evening-clothes" persona. To increasing popularity, MGM frequently paired him with well-established female stars. Joan Crawford asked for him to appear with her in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931). The electricity of
28372-503: Was no longer operational, Lucas approached Douglas Trumbull , best known for the effects on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Silent Running (1972). Trumbull declined as he was already committed to working on Steven Spielberg 's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), but suggested his assistant John Dykstra to Lucas. Dykstra brought together a small team of college students, artists, and engineers and set them up in
28545-418: Was only because Alan Ladd Jr. at 20th Century Fox liked American Graffiti that he forced through a production and distribution deal for the film, which ended up restoring Fox to financial stability after a number of flops. Star Wars was significantly influenced by samurai films of Akira Kurosawa , Spaghetti Westerns , as well as classic sword and sorcery fantasy stories. Star Wars quickly became
28718-533: Was profoundly unsuccessful; they divorced in 1952. Gable did a series of films with female co-stars: Any Number Can Play (1950) with Alexis Smith , Key to the City (1950) with Loretta Young , and To Please a Lady (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck . They were reasonably popular, but he had more success with two Westerns: Across the Wide Missouri (1951), and Lone Star (1952). He then made Never Let Me Go (1953) opposite Gene Tierney . Tierney
28891-577: Was proposed in May 2014. By June 2014, Chicago had been selected, pending approval of the Chicago Plan Commission , which was granted. The museum project was renamed the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art . On June 24, 2016, Lucas announced that he was abandoning his plans to locate the museum in Chicago, due to a lawsuit by a local preservation group, Friends of the Parks, and would instead build
29064-587: Was released in 2019. Lucas founded a film production company Lucasfilm in 1971, and incorporated as Lucasfilm Ltd. on September 12, 1977. In the mid-1970s, the company's offices were located on the Universal Studios Lot . Lucas founded the Star Wars Corporation, Inc. as a subsidiary to control various legal and financial aspects of Star Wars (1977), including copyright, and sequel and merchandising rights. It also produced
29237-399: Was released on December 18, 2015. Kathleen Kennedy produced the film and its sequels. The new sequel trilogy was jointly produced by Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company , which had acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. During an interview with talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose that aired on December 24, 2015, Lucas likened his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney to a divorce and outlined
29410-565: Was the Serbian montagist (and dean of the USC Film Department) Slavko Vorkapich , a film theoretician who made stunning montage sequences for Hollywood studio features at MGM , RKO , and Paramount . Vorkapich taught the autonomous nature of the cinematic art form, emphasizing the kinetic energy inherent in motion pictures. After graduating with a bachelor of fine arts in film in 1967, he tried joining
29583-416: Was trying to smuggle across the border (as Kibby is also in trouble with the U.S. government). Instead of moving the goods overland, Walker hires Billy Mason to captain a sailboat to transport the contraband via water. While Billy is wise to the ways of the sea, he is unwise to the ways of the world. As Walker, Claire, Kibby, and Billy navigate the waters on this venture, they find two inherent risks. The first
29756-519: Was ultimately never produced. Projects where Lucas was credited as executive producer and sometimes story writer in this period include Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980), John Korty 's Twice Upon a Time (1983), Ewoks: Caravan of Courage (1984), Ewoks: Battle for Endor (1985), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Jim Henson 's Labyrinth (1986), Ron Howard 's Willow (1988), Don Bluth 's The Land Before Time (1988), and
29929-834: Was understood that Mr. Gable, if he is commissioned, will make movies for the air forces. Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart , another actor in uniform, has been doing this." Gable had expressed an earlier interest in officer candidate school , with the intention of becoming an aerial gunner upon enlisting in bomber training school. MGM arranged for his studio friend, the cinematographer Andrew McIntyre, to enlist with him and accompany him through training. On August 17, 1942, shortly after his enlistment, he and McIntyre were sent to Miami Beach, Florida , where they entered USAAF OCS Class 42-E. Both completed training on October 28, 1942, and were commissioned as second lieutenants . His class of about 2,600 students (of which he ranked about 700th) selected Gable as its graduation speaker. General Arnold presented
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