Remembering Marcia Lucas: American Graffiti (1973 George Lucas)

There are four people who helped make this film as great as it is, though most people won't know the names. The first two are the film's editors, Verna Fields (who the studio wanted for her experience) and Marcia Lucas, neither of whom are mentioned at all in the 'Making of' feature. Oscar-winning cameraman Haskell Wexler is credited as 'Visual Consultant' and helped immeasurably to get the night photography as good as it is. And Walter Murch, who does an amazing job of the sound mix, artfully weaving bits of Wolfman Jack's radio show in and around the action. More jottings this way.

Marcia Lucas died May 29. She was a major force behind the shaping of Star Wars, for which she shared the Oscar with Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. She'd worked on The Rain People for Coppola and assisted Verna on Medium Cool, cut Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More for Marty and is credited as the supervising editor on Taxi Driver (that I did not know) and New York, New York.