'STAR WARS' AT 40: OUR INCONSPICUOUS HEROES!

So far avoiding Stormtroopers since escaping the Trash Compactor, and trying not to capture the attention of other Imperial officers, our heroes have made their way to a section of corridor above the Death Star hangar bay housing the captured Falcon, where Princess Leia delivers her finest insult yet to the ship's captain!

A similar BW image to the above shot has surfaced in magazines recently, but not this colour shot, which originally appeared on a 1977 TOPPS card. If anyone has this in better quality, please get in touch.

Also shot in this corridor was a deleted comedy moment where our dirty and dishevelled heroes (including an armed wookiee) try not to bring attention to themselves. The tail end of one of the takes made it into the finished film.

Jamie Harcourt with the clapperboard, as Jack Purvis plays the power droid.

The tail end of the scene, as it appears in the movie.

The comedy moment was also filmed on another Death Star corridor set, whose footage became part of an early assemblage cut (mid to late 1976) that would eventually be revealed to fans in the late nineties.

STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: DELETED SCENE: REBELS? WHAT REBELS?

CLASSIC IMAGE: OUT OF HIS SHELL!

With his friend and showbusiness partner Kenny Baker inside the slow moving shell of Artoo, that other member of the distinctive The Mini-Tones comedy entertainment duo, the ever-lively and consistently amusing Jack Purvis, was equally busy on STAR WARS right across its duration during filming at Tunisia and in London, playing a wide variety of roles that his smaller height made him the perfect fit for- from being the crafty Chief of the Jawas to inhabiting a wide variety of different shaped and sized background droids on Tatooine and the Death Star. Much liked by the cast and crew for his amiability in the face of often uncomfortable conditions, Purvis' contribution in helping create a believable filmic fantasy universe shouldn't be underestimated.

Mark Hamill's affectionate anecdote about Purvis (from around the six minute mark onwards): 'Star Wars': The Line Mark Hamill "Begged" George Lucas To Remove | Hollywood Reporter

CLASSIC IMAGE: SALUTING THE NINE BY '79!

Image: via the KENNER TOYS TWITTER page.

Their original line up of twelve characters may have been pretty darn late in arriving in toy stores (and I remember being disappointed at the time that there was no original Governor Tarkin figure!), but KENNER US and PALITOY UK's second line-up of nine STAR WARS action figures, featuring some of the more unusual and intriguing background aliens and droid characters from the first movie, certainly arrived with impeccable timing when the need for new STAR WARS products had, nay demanded, to be satiated during the long wait for the eventual STAR WARS II (as it was then being known). The Boba Fett figurine (a mysterious and weapons packed bounty hunter no less, to soon challenge our heroes!) and green Greedo (shot first by Han- now and forever more!) proved particularly welcome in my household afternoon playtimes!

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List of Kenner Star Wars action figures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This Nerd's Star Wars Toy Collection Is Worth $150,000 - All Day