The Empire Gives Back...

Blurry, but I was there, by golly! It's Billy Dee Williams,
Harrison Ford, and Peter Mayhew at the Arclight in LA!

One of the best things about having your birthday in May is you grow up thinking all those summer blockbuster movies are opening just so you can have a super cool birthday party. During my childhood, almost all those movies were made by the tinseltown twosome of Spielberg and Lucas. Jaws, ET, Indiana Jones, and, of course, the original Star Wars trilogy are all films that have become cultural benchmarks for most of us and, to say the very least, quite lucrative for their creators.

So, George Lucas is spreadin’ it around. For the rest of 2010, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the greatest (don’t start with me!) of the Star Wars oeuvre. Lucas is providing a GORGEOUS digitally restored copy of The Empire Strikes Back for screenings around the country to benefit various charities.

Last night the very worthy and appreciative beneficiary was the amazing St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. For those in the audience who were unfamiliar with their amazing work, they brought along a family who have benefited greatly from the Hospital’s $1.5 million a day spent on research costs. Daughter Elizabeth was sent home to die just after she was born, but her parents found a doctor at St. Jude’s willing to take on her case. They not only saved her life but now, 11 years later, doctors are about to perform a new type of gene therapy that could effectively cure Elizabeth. The Empire screening last night was generously sponsored by Junk Food, so 100% of the money went to the cause. $75-$175 ticket prices raised about $40,000 – nearly two minutes of research time at St. Jude’s. I like to think it will be two minutes when someone looks up from a microscope and smiles.

Elizabeth was definitely the star of the event, even though a few others were present. Like Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi)… and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and… Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and… wait for it… Harrison Ford!

After the screening, Los Angeles Times columnist Geoff Boucher hosted a Q&A with the reclusive Mr. Ford. Ford rarely attends such gatherings, but sat for a full half hour and answered questions from Boucher and the audience. In his hesitant, quiet, rumbley voice he told old stories (how he got the role while working as a carpenter for Francis Ford Coppola) and new (his kids weren’t that impressed by having Han Solo OR Indiana Jones as a dad). My favorite exchange came courtesy of a fan asking Ford when it was revealed to him that Darth Vadar was Luke’s father. “Well,” Ford stammered, “I read the whole script.” I guess BI (before Internet) keeping secrets in Hollywood didn’t require the same security it does today. Ford also made a point of saying how proud he was that George was using the film to support so many worthy causes.

It was, to say the least, a great night for this hard core Star Wars geek. There was even a goody bag! I scored cookie cutters shaped like Yoda’s head and an R2D2 toy. Happy birthday to me!