'STAR WARS' AT 45: THE DUEL - PART ONE: DEADLY REUNION!

A specially posed publicity image of David Prowse as Darth Vader and an unhooded Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan, preparing to lightsaber duel. Note the non-airbrushed blades in the image. 

"Ben hurries along one of the tunnels leading to the hangar where the pirateship awaits. Just before he reaches the hangar, Darth Vader steps into view at the end of the tunnel, not ten feet away. Vader lights his saber. Ben also ignites his and steps slowly forward."

Star Wars screenplay, from The Art of Star Wars - 1979

Obi-Wan's access to the docking bay is blocked by a familiar foe...

"We meet again at last..."

Obi-Wan activates his lightsaber- seen here as the light reflective tape rod.

"Now I am the Master!"

"Only a master of evil, Darth!"

The duel begins!

Close-quarters duelling leads to Vader physically pushing Obi-Wan away for an attempted killer blow!

The lit reflective blades captured in this outtake footage.

Pushed to the wall before Vader's lightsaber strikes. Note the pyrotechnic charge embedded into the wall in this outtake image.

On the attack as Vader strikes a nearby panel. Un-rotoscoped lightsaber shot outtake.

Great image showing the explosive on set pyrotechnic and an un-rotoscoped original reflective tape lightsaber.

Rounding away from the threat of Vader.

"You should not have come back!"

Vader forces Kenobi down towards the hangar bay entrance shield door.

More great duelling images of the carbon rods and reflective tape rods.

Behind the scenes images of Sir Alec Guinness holding some kind of long stick, perhaps for support on the potentially slippery surface that was always being cleaned. The stick might be linked to one of the prop lightsaber blades, possibly some kind of overlength cast-off.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Around May 18th, 1976, the first batch of lightsaber choreography begins across a three-week period between Dave Prowse and Sir Alec Guinness, supervised and choreographed by the film's British Stunt Coordinator Peter Diamond (who has also given some prior individual training to the bulky Prowse at a North London sports arena). These rehearsals take place at varying times during the shooting of the movie at Elstree, often during breaks in set building, in one stage housing specific Death Star sets, or on parts of other soundstages where nothing had yet been built. 

Peter Diamond and Lucas watch the rehearsals at Elstree.

Image: Kurtz/Joiner Archive.

Originally, Diamond would try to get his experienced-with-actors fencing colleague and Olympic sportsman friend Bob Anderson to play Vader for the duelling scenes opposite the distinguished Guinness (and especially for the older man's stunt safety), but he proves unavailable for the period of filming needed. The rehearsed scenes would include duelling references to Kendo (Japanese swordplay) and past sword fights of classic Hollywood movies.

Working from Lucas's desire for the actors to have two locked hands holding their lightsaber during fighting, because it looked more powerful on screen, the actors would at first use what looked like fatter at the base, hard Styrofoam type prototypes of the blades in early rehearsals, of which posed images of the actors' sparring would be specially shot for promotional purposes, linked to the film's important promotion of the esteemed Guinness. 

Though many carbon fiber blades were constructed, so many got broken during the filming of the duel that Peter Diamond had to ultimately ask the actors to connect the blades on screen with less force!

Apart from what was already present in the script, there was very little information about either Obi-Wan Kenobi or Darth Vader to be gleaned by the actors, and, in between filming scenes and fight rehearsals, Prowse and Sir Guinness would have chats with each other about their special roles because neither were told anything by George Lucas (who'd also attend the duel rehearsals) about the Sith or Vader's background. 

Early lightsaber ideas testing at Elstree circa January-April,1976.

Note the technician on the left wearing glare eye protection with this testing.

Developed from Ralph McQuarrie’s original sketches, the handles of the finalized prop lightsabers would be seven inches long and one inch in diameter. An internal motor would be used to rotate the handle, with the two sides of the carbon fiber blade coated in a light reflective tape similar to the material used on motion picture screens, with one of the two sides being painted four sides higher than the other side, which, when spinning, would give the blade its flashing effect. To enhance the lightsaber blade effect, a device was specially created between UK Special Effects Coordinator John Stears and Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor to lock a light source on the camera allowing it to move freely and also be aligned with the blades reflection.

Unhappy with the finished practical lightsaber effects developed and filmed in the UK, Lucas, with a back-up plan already in mind by the later conclusion of principal photography, would enhance the effects with additional rotoscope animation (the previous two hands holding the lightsaber technique proving easier for the post production US animators at Van Der Veer Photo Effects to ultimately rotoscope the weapons' glow).