Star Wars (1977)

An original 1977 20th Century-Fox Publicity Still #SW-K-6, unframed.

C-3PO and R2-D2 alone in the vast dunes of Tatooine, searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi. The studio caption in the lower margin describes them trudging across the desert.

George Lucas famously opened his space epic not with the heroes but with two bickering robots, a comedy double act borrowed from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. The Tunisian shoot was a trial: a rare desert storm damaged the sets early on, and the radio-controlled R2 units kept veering off across the sand. Luke's home planet even borrowed its name from Tataouine, a town in the south of the country. This wonderfully composed image, tiny droids against an endless desert, sums up the sense of scale that made audiences queue round the block in 1977.

• Year: 1977
• Type: Original Publicity Still
• Condition: Unframed
• Size: 8 x 10 inches
• Product Code: T7129