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Prince Valiant (1954)
Was Prince Valiant the inspiration for Star Wars?
Let's face it. Whether you can buy into the luscious fantasy or not you can probably agree that the music should be played at full volume in public areas just to make people want to get up an go! Either sword fight or at least create something.
Such may have been the case for George Lucas. Let's consider how many similarities there are to Prince Valiant if you put Luke and Hans Solo together.
Althouh he doesn't know it, Luke is of royal blood, a prince
He is hidden away from the traitors who took over the empire,
Yoda mentors Luke the way Sir Gwain does, just without being hit on the head with a rock
The black knight is the ultimate traitor, Vader
The knights of the round are obviously Jedi
Sir Breck/aka The Black Knight, wants Valiant to come to his dark side albeit for different motives.
Hoth is discovered and sacked like Valiants family in hiding are found
Boltar is the old version of Chewie, big, loyal and a remarkable fighter
Hans falls for the princess, they argue, they are captured, they fight their way out including a swinging rope trick like Valiant out side of his cell.
The death star is Sligon's castle of course
There is obviously the final big sword/saber fight (Empire Strike Back)
The singing sword is of course.....The force
Luke uses the force to destroy the death star the same way Prince Valiant kills Sligon
The music is as good if not better than Star Wars.
As a kid, We had the privilege to have a 16mm print of Prince Valiant so I am quite attached to it. To see it recently on DVD and in wide screen was a real treat!
On Borrowed Time (1939)
A movie that heals
I have been searching for this film for some time. My dad had a poor copy of it and used to drag it out anytime we had a close relative pass away. It really has magical properties. I sometimes tear up just describing the film to people and laugh at the same time. There is so much comedy, fantasy and reality in this movie that the sadder parts are that much poignant and yet sad isn't quite the term. Hard to explain really. I also forgot how fast paced it was, not at all dull.
All I can add is that I was beat 3 out of 4 times on Ebay while bidding on used VHS tapes of this film and copies were going for as much as $30. That ought to say allot in a time when most people are dumping tapes to go to DVD.
Tonight I showed my 9 year old daughter. We laughed and cried together. It was worth it.