DELETED SCENE: FIND THAT SHIP!

On the bridge of Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer, a group of Imperials of varying ranks, having watched the demise of Captain Needa, now find themselves under the Dark Lord's brutal scrutiny, before being discharged to continue searching for the escaped Millennium Falcon. A deleted scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Amongst the background players are British extras Trevor Butterfield and Tom Flood.

STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: DELETED SCENE: MISTER MOTIVATOR RETURNS!

DELETED SCENE: A GATHERING OF VILLAINY!

The time of the Emperor's arrival on the new Death Star has come.

Darth Vader's prior work at motivating the building teams of the Death Star II has yielded effective results. Now the Dark Lord gathers with his top Imperial officers for the newly arrived, fearsome Emperor, who is eager to see the space station and test its supreme firepower. 

A well-known deleted scene from Return of the Jedi cut for time and pacing reasons, and sadly one of only a very few sequences filmed showcasing Dave Prowse as Vader...

Imperial officers await Vader by the elevator entrance to the hangar bay as the Emperor makes his arrival.

Vader and Moff Jerjerrod (Michael Pennington) lead the assembled senior officers to the hangar bay.

A Stormtrooper (Gerry Sherard) keeps watch in the corridor.

'STAR WARS' AT 45: DEATH STAR ATTACKED!

Darth Vader confers with an Imperial officer (actor/stuntman Andy Bradford) about the X-wings attack.

Thirty rebels ships, so small and so fast at evading the Death Star's turbo lasers, are causing disruption and damage to the battle station, of which Lord Darth Vader initiates ship-to-ship combat. As alarm sirens blare, TIE fighter pilots scramble to their launch stations amidst the explosions and chaos around them.

Shot towards the near end of Star Wars filming at Elstree studios in the Summer of 1976, some unused footage of the pilots rushing the corridors would ultimately end up appearing in Return of the Jedi.

Alternate unused footage of Vader and TIE pilots rushing to their ships. B/W images from the Ben Ageros Collection.

Other action shots of interior explosions and chaos...

Explosions rattle key parts of the station.

More damage as Imperial officers recover from the fighter assault.

A rotating laser cannon station soon overloads and detonates. 

DELETED SCENE: MISTER MOTIVATOR RETURNS!

Angry that the Imperial war machine has once more failed to capture the elusive Millennium Falcon and its crew, Darth Vader administrates his orders to a group of diverse officers (including background artist Trevor Butterfield) for a deleted moment on the Star Destroyer Executor, set just after the Dark Lord has killed an apologetic Captain Needa, from The Empire Strikes Back.

Behind the scenes continuity Polaroid of the assembled British extras playing Imperials.

In this rehearsal/outtake image used for publicity, the extras can be seen behind Vader.

Irvin Kershner gets the scene ready for filming with Dave Prowse as Vader.

CLASSIC IMAGE: DOWN IN THE PIT!

Actor Mark Jones (far left, looking towards the technician at console) gets ready to film a scene in the bridge technical pit of the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger, for a classic moment from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. After filming of the Classic Trilogy, some of the larger consoles seen here were either sold or rented out to the BBC for use on the sci-fi series DOCTOR WHO, during the mid-eighties.

ROTJ AT 30: BACK ON TRACK...

Now arrived at the Death Star II, Darth Vader's iron grip will ensure that the battle station is completed on schedule, in this great image from RETURN OF THE JEDI taken at the top of the immense STAR WARS Stage in 1982.

CLASSIC IMAGE: 'OUR FIRST CATCH OF THE DAY!'

On the bridge of his Star Destroyer, Imperial Captain Lennox (John Dicks) is given vital news by an officer (Oliver Maguire) of approaching Rebel Transports trying to penetrate the Hoth blockade, in a classic scene from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

A 1979 KENNER reference image, via The Earth Collectible Toy Mall.

ROTJ AT 30: MOTIVATIONAL MASTER!

It's the moment that every high ranking Imperial officer dreads- an inspection arrival of Darth Vader, as gulped by Moff Jerjerrod (Michael Pennington), in the subtle opening of RETURN OF THE JEDI. Here is an angle not used in the completed film, instead it appeared briefly in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Special Edition, when Vader returns from Bespin to his Star Destroyer, after failing to convert Luke to his cause.

AFICIONADO CLASSIC BEHIND THE SCENES INFO - PART FOURTEEN

An Imperial Officer (Milton Johns) informs Darth Vader of Luke Skywalker's approaching X-wing. Image: KURTZ/JOINER Archive.

THE UK 'COLLECTORMANIA' EVENT - JULY 2010

A few new snippets of behind the scenes information on the making of the Classic Trilogy, compiled by Ian Trussler and Scott Weller.

ALAN FLYNG (STORMTROOPER and SNOWTROOPER- THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. EXECUTOR IMPERIAL BRIDGE OFFICER- RETURN OF THE JEDI)

A very happy and enthusiastic person, Alan worked for several weeks on EMPIRE as a Stormtrooper and was dubbed "the chubby trooper" on set. He recalled how dangerous the set was-so much so that one extra in Stormtrooper costume fell from it and was thankfully not seriously injured. Entrance to the set was via one way, normally blocked off by the camera crew when they were filming scenes. Sometimes, the Stormtrooper extras had to climb up ladders to get to the set. As a Snowtrooper he recalled the horrible fumes that came off the fake snow and ice built for the Hoth Rebel base sets. He was not originally hired for JEDI but the original actor cast as the Imperial Officer was sacked after filming commenced as he couldn't get the dialogue right. Alan was contacted by an assistant director he knew and bought in at very short notice. He was given a hand written contract to sign for one days work, but it actually ran to two days work. When he arrived at Elstree he was dressed in a black Imperial Officer uniform and sent to the set. When he got to the set he was promptly sent back to wardrobe and told to change into the Olive Green Imperial Uniform and return asap. He was not dubbed for his scene. He filmed no other scenes other than the one in the movie.

MILTON JOHNS (IMPERIAL OFFICER IN BESPIN CARBON FREEZING CHAMBER - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)

During Spring 1979 he contacted his agent to see if he had any work and was told of an offer for one weeks work with two line of dialogue on the new STAR WARS movie. Milton was not keen at all but was persuaded by the pay check. He hated working on the movie as it was so boring- what was meant to be one weeks work stretched to about 7 weeks, due to all the problems with the Carbon Freezing Chamber set. On his first day he arrived at 7.30am for wardrobe and make up and sat around all day and never got called to set. He has no idea why in the movie one of his lines is dubbed (he is seen in the above image talking to Vader) and the other is his own voice.The only thing that kept him going for the seven weeks was the good money he was earning.

DELETED SCENE: REBELS? WHAT REBELS?

A comedy moment that probably didn't play all that well-hence its deletion from the final version of STAR WARS: our heroes try to look as less like on the run Rebels as they can, whilst two practically oblivious Imperial officers walk by. The barest glimpse of the end of this scene can be found in the finished film, as Han looks back as the party rush to the observation viewing area above the Falcon.

HAPPY 35TH, 'STAR WARS'

Writer/ Director George Lucas certainly looks a glum chap on one of the Death Star sets housed within the confines of London's Elstree Studios, during the early summer of 1976. And he had good reason to be, what with his ambitious new film's malfunctioning props and robots, a crew that wouldn't work over time within a schedule with too many tea breaks, bemused actors and very few friends to rally to his cause. But by the following year, that fateful day today: May 25th, all those problems, disappointments and regrets in Lucas's psyche would be rewarded with the successful and all-defining news that the original, classic first STAR WARS (later to be EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE) would become a resounding worldwide hit-a true phenomenon- that would change his life, and ours, for the better... forever.

Happy 35th Anniversary, STAR WARS!

BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGE: REBEL SURPRISE!

On the blue screened Super Star Destroyer Bridge set, Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett (left) and one of his Star Destroyer Captains (played by UK actor Pip Miller: his voice in the final film was re-dubbed by a US actor (name unknown) in Post-Production. The character would later be given the EU name of Gherant), get ready to film their observations of the Imperial trap newly sprung on the Rebel Fleet above Endor, in a behind the scenes image from the shooting of REVENGE OF THE JEDI, somewhere between February and April 1982.

CLASSIC IMAGE: PIETT'S PROGRESS!

Playing one of the few senior officers luckily not strangled by Darth Vader, and despite being on the side of the baddies as an Imperial, popular British actor Kenneth Colley would have a memorable supporting role, enjoyed by STAR WARS fans worldwide, as Admiral Piett in both THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (posing for the above publicity and costume reference image) and RETURN OF THE JEDI-coming back for the latter film because Lucas realised just how popular he'd become as Piett with the fans three years earlier...

CLASSIC IMAGE: PETER DIAMOND - MULTI-PART STUNTMAN!

Here's a great shot of legendary stuntman/swordsman, the late Peter Diamond, in one of his many action packed supporting roles in the original STAR WARS. He was the Stormtrooper who fell down the chasm, the Tusken Raider who attacked Luke in the wilderness of the Jundland Wastes, and numerous other Stormtroopers and black uniformed commanders on the Death Star and Mos Eisley on Tatooine. In this autographed shot he's the doomed Imperial soldier Corporal Prescott, killed by Luke and the gang as they begin their rescue attempt for Princess Leia in Detention Block AA-23.

A much respected gentleman of the stunt industry, and a veteran of numerous films and TV series, his work on all three STAR WARS Classic Trilogy movies remains unforgettable.

Image from the KURTZ/JOINER ARCHIVE.