Phoenix, Arizona in the time of Star Wars


Let's time-travel back to Phoenix in the time of Star Wars! No, I don't mean long ago in a galaxy far far away, I mean at the Cine Capri Theater in 1977.

I'm no fanatic of Star Wars, but I have a good friend who is just crazy-mad for it. I asked him about it, and this is what he recalled "Lines around the building for every showing for months. Showed there exclusively for a year. It blew my mind. I came home, 14 years old, got in our Doughboy pool that night and stared at the stars. It was definitely the most impactful film I’ve ever seen."

The summer of '77 is when I got to Phoenix, and I'd seen Star Wars back home in Minneapolis. I liked it a lot, thought that it was a fun movie, but that was about it. I was already 19, so I was too old to collect the toys, and the phenomenon just kinda went past me. My memories of 1977 were mostly trying to keep my little MG Midget running, and learning for the first time how hot Phoenix was (I moved there in August).

And I doubt whether I would have gone to see Star Wars in Phoenix. The description that my friend gives me is that there would have been long lines, and probably difficulty finding a convenient parking spot, so it wouldn't have been my thing. As near as I can figure, I saw it in Minneapolis before it really started being a hit. I don't recall any fanfare, or lines, or anything. It was just another science fiction movie.

It may seem strange to say, but what struck me the most about Star War was seeing the dirty and beat-up helmets. I guess it was suppose to show what a bunch of "rag-tag" rebels they were, but I'd never seen anything in a science fiction movie that wasn't absolutely pristine. Oh yeah, and the giant spaceship going over head, that just kept going, and going, and going. That was amazing.

James Earl Jones, who was the voice of Darth Vader

I was also old enough to recognize the voice of James Earl Jones, so when he later turned out to be the father of Luke Skywalker, it just didn't make any sense to me. I suppose for most people he was just a rumbling voice, but he was an actor that I was familiar with.

I wish that I could add more to it, but other than the fact that I was living in Phoenix, I have no recollection of the impact of Star Wars. Possibly I was just too old. I have found that just a few years can make a big difference to what people remember in their childhood, and what has just gone right past them.

But I've never met anyone who doesn't know what I mean when I mention Star Wars. And people in Phoenix who saw it at the Cine Capri remind me of the people who were at Woodstock, an important time and place.
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