Star Wars: A rare collection of letters relating to the 1978 Academy Awards®

Lucasfilm / Twentieth Century Fox, 1978, Qty

Lucasfilm / Twentieth Century Fox, 1978,
comprising; a hotel welcome note to John Mollo from Gary Kurt and George Lucas welcoming him to Hollywood and writing 'Let the Wookie win!', accompanied by free (and mostly unused) Disneyland tickets, carbon copies of 'thank you' notes from John Mollo to Gary Kurtz/George Lucas, Alan Ladd Jr. and unknown, and another letter from Howard W. Koch at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences regarding the notion of compiling a book 50 Golden Years of Oscar; together with a comprehensive letter from the Academy® dated 22nd March 1978 with details about the logistics and scheduling of the awards ceremony mentioning tips on how to receive your award, a letter dated 4th April 1978 from Jack Valenti President of the Motion Picture Association of America to John Mollo congratulating him on their win, a Board of Governor's Ball ticket and menu from 3rd April 1978 which lists Beluga caviar, lobster tails and anniversary cake, a regulations booklet, various Oscar® clippings and notes, as well as a letter that was included with John Mollo's BAFTA nomination certificate, and a BAFTA programme, (Qty)

During John Mollo's Academy Award® acceptance speech for 'Best Costume Design' in 1978, while surrounded by 'Darth Vader' and a couple of menacing looking 'Stormtrooper's' he said the costumes he had created for Star Wars were really ...not so much costumes, as a bit of plumbing and general automobile engineering. This is a typical bit of self-depreciation from the man who was able to visualise and produce some of the most iconic costumes in film history.

Provenance:
From The John Mollo Archive