In Praise of Innovative and Influential Film Editor Marcia Griffin Lucas ( 10/4/1945 - 5/29/2026 )

[GreatGazoo]

2. She said in an interview that she 'has a gift for story telling' (and laughed 'I killed Obi Wan!')

Certainly seems that way. She is credited with the decision to have Obi Wan sacrifice himself in the first film. Huge twist. Moves him from mentor to martyr and sets up the "Use the force Luke" bit in the finale. Many other changes. She forced them to shoot a pick up scene during post production. She was right on all her choices. George Lucas treated her as the person he trusted most on story telling choices -- he was right.

Btw, from the beginning of film, women have been better story tellers. Muybridge and Edison saw only the potential for motion study. Motion pictures were either a cold technology or a novelty. It was women like Alice Guy who fully embraced all the ways that film could improve upon the kind of story telling that had been done on stage. Guy is credited with innovations like cross cutting between simultaneous action and split screen. Marion Davies, Mary Pickford and Lois Weber each made a fortune off of their story telling abilities.