'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' trivia and fun facts

Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill did not use doubles for the scene in which Luke and Leia swing to safety, they filmed themselves the scene in just one take.

George Lucas was so sure that the film would be a failure that, instead of going to the premiere, he went on vacation to Hawaii with his friend Steven Spielberg. It was there where they got the idea for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

George Lucas decided to accept a lower salary in exchange for keeping the merchandising rights of the film.

''Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope'' is the only film in the series in which Darth Vader's Imperial March it is not heard at any time, as the theme had not yet been written.

In early drafts of the script, R2-D2 was speaking standard English, although his vocabulary was rather foul. Finally his dialogues were eliminated, while most of the reactions of C-3PO were left in.

After the trash-compactor scene there was no way to remove the smell of Chewbacca's suit.

George Lucas showed one of the first cuts of the film to several directors, including Brian De Palma, who thought it was the "worst movie ever" and Steven Spielberg, who predicted it would be a blockbuster.

While George Lucas was shooting scenes for ''Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope'' in Tunisia, the country's government had to ask him to move the sandcrawler far from the border, as in Libya were beginning to worry that it could be a military vehicle.

According to Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and himself only managed to behave when Alec Guinness was on set.

This is the only film in the 'Star Wars' saga that has been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, plus the first science fiction film in achieving the nomination.