'AN EMPIRE' AT 45: FROM FINSE WITH LOVE!

UK art technician Alan Tomkins with the Tauntaun prop outside the Finse 1222 hotel in Norway. Image: Pamela Mann.

Filming of the desert realms of Tatooine, in Tunisia, for the original Star Wars back during March/April 1976, had brought its own unique problems that had to be overcome by the film crew, but those were nothing in comparison to the location work at Norway for the opening act of The Empire Strikes Back set on the ice planet of Hoth. Heavy ice, snowstorms, avalanches and 'white-outs' were constant, in the worst weather that the chosen location, Finse, had seen for decades. In such conditions it was a marvel that the main first unit, headed by Irvin Kershner, a frost-bitten Gary Kurtz, stalwart David Tomblin, and others, were able to accomplish so much. And thankfully, some material could even be shot literally outside the hotel! 

But the worsening weather would go on to heavily affect the second unit's eventual filming of the ground snow battle scenes against the AT-AT's going into April, 1979...

Gary Kurtz and Irvin Kershner brave the elements.

Mark Hamill gets sun sun and rest atop one of the special Empire snow vehicles.

Peter Mayhew and crew enjoy a warming meal on at one the location camp bases.

Filming Chewbacca's one and only scene on location.

Continuity Polaroid of Mayhew with Pamela Mann.

"That was fairly horrendous. It was cold and the wind was blowing. It was just a bit unpleasant, but the filming of that scene was only half a day."

Peter Mayhew - Star Wars Insider - Issue 28

Quickly abandoning filming as a dreaded 'white-out' arrives at the site.

Inside one of the two location camp huts, Irvin Kershner rehearses a scene with Mark Hamill atop the primary Tauntaun prop, watched and recorded by Michel Parbot and his documentary team.

Posing atop the full scale prop for publicity images.

Filming reaction shots with the head prop, also built by Stuart Freeborn and his team in London.

Some of the crew assemble at a base camp with the prop Tauntaun. Image: Pamela Mann.

Crewman Des Webb wears the heavy stilts whilst playing the Wampa snow monster.

The snow vehicles continue on throughout the location filming.

Lifted by helicopter (likely piloted by film-making veteran Marc Wolfe), Colin Skeaping doubles as Luke for his descent from the damaged Walker.

UK Script Supervisor and Continuity talent Pamela Mann enjoys the location.

Pamela even enjoys her own igloo as part of the location camraderie.

Harrison Ford, Kershner and crew prepare for the next Tauntaun sequence.

Moving the damaged Snowspeeder prop into location positioning.

Filming Luke's swift escape from the wrecked Snowspeeder.

Filming the Probot prop at varying sites on location.

The half Probot prop and tracks outside the Finse 1222 hotel.

A NEW LOOK BEHIND THE CAMERAS ON 'THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK'!

The official Fortieth Anniversary celebrations of The Empire Strikes Back conclude this month with a real treat for fans, as a special behind the scenes compilation featurette aired earlier this week on the Disney Owned ABC channel's Good Morning America show, and which is now online. 

I'm assuming that this featurette was originally created to tribute the first sequel's 40th at the cancelled Celebration 2020 event States-side. Also interesting was the superb remastering of the majority of the behind the scenes 1979 footage filmed by documentarian Michel Parbot -perhaps for some kind of future 4K/online release? And, of special interest to deleted scenes aficionados, there's a fun glimpse of a Han and Leia inside the Echo Base hangar, too.

UPDATED: 17/12/2020. More great BTS on Empire below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xngN4xf2Qlk

BACK TO THE "LOST" EMPIRE DOCUMENTARY!

A relaxed Carrie Fisher is interviewed in the STAR WARS production office at ELSTREE during 1979 filming of TESB. I can't confirm for sure but this could be French documentarian Michel Parbot seated opposite her.

Today, via a heads up from the JEDINEWS and MINTINBOX sites, more information and screengrabs have become available on the rarely seen French cameraman/director Michel Parbot's 1979/80 documentary charting the making of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, of which certain portions of his footage would go on to appear in other ESB related programmes of the time, like the BBC's STAR WARS: MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS (aired the weekend leading up to the films London theatrical release) and the later Mark Hamill starring SPFX: THE MAKING OF THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Though not commercially released on VHS or DVD, and only shown a couple of times on overseas TV originally, the programme does exist in several private STAR WARS collectors hands, but in varying picture and sound quality. A few years back, Steve Sansweet confirmed that LUCASFILM also have a copy of the complete Parbot documentary on tape but not in great condition (and they do have portions of Parbot's raw footage, if not all of it, in good quality, as seen in various clips within the 2004 EMPIRE OF DREAMS DVD documentary). Gary Kurtz also has a copy in his collection, as well as the dedicated fan who heads the now relatively quiet STAR WARS ARCHIVES (of which portions of it have been tantalisingly put on his website from time to time as a taster of the shows wealth of behind the scenes material: The Star Wars Archives (the source who gave him a copy, however, did not ultimately want the full programme uploaded for viewing)). Several well-known fans would also contact the hard to find film-maker directly over the years to get their own copies, but either Parbot or his estate/management apparently asked for a small fortune every time!

With the excellent info and grabs put up on the MINTINBOX site (at this link: MintInBox.net - "The Making of The Empire Strikes Back" par Michel Parbot), I think this is the best we're going to get as a visual representation - for the time being - until it one day gets a release-another disappointing example of a major lost opportunity by LUCASFILM that could, and should, have made last years Blu-rays!

Carrie Fisher interview clip: ▶ Carrie Fisher - The Empire Strikes Back interview - YouTube