The Flynn-Inspired Masterpiece was released Forty Years Ago Today
“[George] Lucas described Star Wars [to 20th Century Fox executive Alan Ladd Jr.] as an amalgam of Buck Rogers, Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, two Errol Flynn swashbucklers. Ladd [who had been greatly impressed by American Graffiti] had grown up with the people who starred in and made these movies and was willing to take a chance on Lucas.” Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, page 136.
— Tim