When the story of the original Star Wars trilogy took physical form, it was at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood near London and the long-awaited 197th issue of Star Wars Insider steps back in time to walk the halls and take in the cinematic history of one of films most iconic locations.
“Gary Kurtz told me Pinewood had been unwilling to turn over all of its stages to one production, so they had been looking at filming at a studio in Italy,” says Welsh. “Then someone said, ‘Why don’t you try Elstree? It’s in dire straits at the moment and standing virtually empty. They have 9 sound stages there.’ So, Kurtz came along and spoke to the managing director at the time, Andrew Mitchell, and they agreed Star Wars could take over the whole studio.”
In spite of the well-documented financial pressures that dogged production of A New Hope, when it came time to book studio space for the sequel, there was no competition.
“I think Lucas enjoyed the compactness of Elstree compared to somewhere like Universal Studios in Hollywood. That’s 600 acres, whereas Elstree was 24 acres,” says Welsh. “He could walk from the editing room to the set, and he had control over most of the facility. And because A New Hope was such a success, I think it became something of a lucky charm for him, which is why he shot the sequels here. People started calling it ‘Lucaswood’ instead of Borehamwood. It sort of became his hometown.”
The issue lands in the States tomorrow, 22nd September and in the UK in October and includes my interviews with Kenneth Colley, Brian Herring and Dave Chapman and Mark Lewis Jones,