First Films by Famous Directors: George Lucas

Before the mega-budgets and A-list talent, some of the biggest directors in Hollywood started out making little films with friends and family. Others made student films. But however the filmmaker started, these are the movies that launched their careers.

George Lucas
Unlike many filmmakers, George Lucas did not start out making films as a youth. Cars were his first love. However a tragic car accident just before his high school graduation changed the course of his life.

While recuperating Lucas pondered the direction of his life and felt he needed to change. Never a good student at Downey High School, he decided to enroll in Modesto Junior College before attending film school at the University of Southern California.

Lucas had found his calling. He was a star student at USC film school during the late 1960s. An experimental filmmaker, Lucas was interested in creating visual tone poems and non-narrative films that were more visual experiments than stories. The one film that combined his passion for visuals with non-linear narrative was the film that put him on the map. Electronic Labyrinth THX-1138 4EB was Lucas' Orwellian vision of the future. Ambitious for a student film, THX went on to win first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival. It also opened many doors for Lucas. He was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the only film shooting on the Warner's lot - Finian's Rainbow, which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The two became friends. Within four years Coppola would make The Godfather and use his newfound clout to found American Zoetrope. The first film to be made by Zoetrope was a feature length version of Lucas' award-winning short, THX 1138.

The theatrical version of THX was a commercial failure. American Zoetrope nearly lost everything. After the failure, Coppola urged his friend to make films that were more human, rather than the aloof, experimental films Lucas enjoyed. With the sting of failure, and just to show he could do it, Lucas put together American Graffiti. With its rock and roll soundtrack and nostalgic look back to a simpler time, Graffiti was a tremendous success. It led to a deal with Alan Ladd Jr. to make a film that would combine Lucas' love of science-fiction with the humanistic elements he learned as a result of Graffiti. The end result was Star Wars.

Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138: 4EB
While this isn't Lucas' first film, Electric Labyrinth THX-1138: 4EB was the student film that set his career in motion. It also sets the tone for many Lucas films to come. From its (purposely) gibberish dialogue to its powerful visuals, Lucas' style was already evident on the screen. But you don't have to take my word for it.

To watch Electronic Labyrinth THX-1138 for yourself, click HERE.

Other Student films by George Lucas.
Look at Life (1965)

Herbie (1966)

Freiheit (1966)

1:42:08: A Man and His Car (1966)

The Emperor (1967)

Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town (1967)