By Kelley Atherton
Not a lot of people can say they've worked on a movie especially one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
But a handful of local residents can.
For a few weeks in 1982, a couple hundred Del Norters were part of a secret operation near Smith River, called "Blue Harvest" at the time, that went on to become the finale of the "Star Wars" saga, "Episode VI: Return of the Jedi."
Among them were an extra, wardrobe helpers and a Harrison Ford stand-in who watched the action as it unfolded for about a month out past Morrison Creek Road. In between shooting, they rubbed elbows with the stars and hung out with the crew.
Everyone involved the filming had to sign an agreement not to tell anyone what movie they were working. It was obviously a "Star Wars" movie, however you could tell that from the costumes alone.
"They told me it was "Blue Harvest," said Linda Yuvan, a long-time resident who helped the little people get into their Ewok costumes to portray furry good guys on a faraway planet.
She asked crew members point blank whether the movie was part of the "Star Wars" series, and didn't get a response.
"When they didn't respond, then you knew this was the thing," she said.
To help keep the ruse going, Yuvan silk-screened "Blue Harvest" onto rainwear for the crew.
Forever on film
Michael Brown was just playing music at Ship Ashore one night and landed a role in "Jedi" when he overheard casting directors talking.
"They said, We need to hire another guy.' I was a little bold so I said, I'll do it.'
"They looked me up and down and said, You'll have to shave your mustache.' That was the only time I shaved my mustache."
Brown got to be two types of bad guys, an Imperial officer and a stormtrooper. For a long time, he carried around a Polaroid of himself in the stormtrooper uniform.
As an Imperial officer his face is clearly visible. He even has a line: "They went that way," as the Battle of Endor breaks out.
He recounted the long-told story of the crew clearing out the natural habitat and putting in fake greenery for the Imperial bunker. This was to get the same vegetation in each shot, Brown said.
"There were 200 idiots trampling all these bushes," he said, recalling the numerous takes. "They would call for the grounds crew to come back and put in the exact same bushes."
Having "been raised here," Brown helped scout the location for an early scene in "Jedi" when Princess Leia meets the Ewok Wicket after crashing her speeder bike.
The speeder bike chase scene was the only time Brown remembered seeing actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the set. The crew set up mini railroad tracks through the redwoods. A truck pulled Luke Skywalker on the bike along the tracks, he said.
"The first time I saw the speeder bike scenes, I was just like, Wow, that brings back memories.'"
Brown was probably the closest to the major stars, Carrie Fisher, Ford, and Hamill. Brown recalled being shot in the forehead with a blank by Fisher when he and other Imperial officers tried to arrest Princess Leia and Han Solo.
Most locals said the movie stars were friendly with one notable exception.
Fisher has been forthright about her drug use while filming "Star Wars." The locals on set during "Jedi" said they were witness to her bad attitude, a result of her cocaine habit. However, no one wanted to talk in detail about it.
Rubbing elbows
Joe Gillespie, a science teacher at Crescent Elk Middle School, was hired to be the stand-in for Ford, who played Han Solo. Gillespie got the gig by having the right height and right hair color, he said.
He only had one "Hollywood" moment with Ford.
"I said to him, "Hey, I'm your stand-in,'" Gillespie said. "He just looked at me and looked away."
At the end of shooting, Ford eventually apologized for the snub and bought Gillespie a drink.
Gillespie also spoke about the excitement of watching the filming, hanging out in between standing in for the famous actor.
"I was always there watching the action," he said, and occasionally helping out.
During the attack on the Imperial bunker on Endor, Gillespie and others had to throw handfuls of arrows to achieve the look of hundreds of Ewoks shooting off arrows at stormtroopers.
A lot of the stunts seemed really simple, he said. To film an actor flying off one of the speeder bikes, Gillespie said, crews members had two guys facing each other on a swing set. They would build up momentum and then one would let go and "go "flying through the air."
If it wasn't for his broad shoulders, Gillespie could have became C-3PO for a day. The actor playing the android, Anthony Daniels, wasn't on set and the crew needed someone to put the costume on and stand there.
"That was really cool," Gillespie said.
The whole cast was always hanging around. Gillespie even knocked elbows literally with some of the little people dancing at a bar in Brookings. Gillespie also said that for the most part the famous actors were friendly, but he "wasn't too excited about movie stars."
However, when series creator George Lucas was in town, Gillespie walked right up to him and gave him a letter describing his friend's dream, which the friend thought might make a good movie plot.
"I handed it to him and he read it," Gillespie said, laughing. "He said, We already did that.'"
Getting the actors dressed
Linda Yuvan mainly worked with the male little people, who she said "had a tremendous amount of energy and were always up to something." A lot of them were children.
They were so mischievous that when they got upset at an assistant director, they set up huge garbage cans filled with water balloons to get revenge.
"What ensued was a huge water balloon fight," she said laughing at the memory of 30-40 little people slinging water balloons.
It wasn't all fun though, Yuvan said. Workers had to be on set for 12-14 "grueling" hours every day a lot of which was just sitting around.
"They'd say, Hurry up, hurry up!' Yuvan said. "Then we wait around for hours. Movie making is one of the most wasteful industries."
Part of that waste is film lot of which is left on the cutting room floor. Yuvan remembered watching the "dailies" (uncut footage) with some of the crew and seeing an up-close shot of Ford as Han Solo scratching his crotch, not knowing a camera was pointed right at him.
Some of those who worked on "Jedi" found it more exciting to see how the film was made than the famous actors.
"I watched all the filming," said Barbara Tryon, who also helped dress the Ewok actors. "It was very interesting, I learned a lot."
She recalled one instance when the crew from Hollywood was having a difficult time weaving huts to bring Lucas' vision of a primitive society to life.
"They couldn't figure it out," Tryon said, adding that a local basket weaver came up with the design. "She showed them how to do it and saved their lives. They had no clue what they were doing."
It was a chance of a lifetime experience that she remembers every time she happens to watch "Jedi" it brings back a lot of memories and made her a "cool mom."
From a distance
Clyde Eller, who owns Fort Dick Market, didn't go on set or meet the actors, but he did get to know some of the production crew members when they came into his store as they were getting the set ready for filming.
He doesn't have the same memories, but did get to keep a fake rock the Ewoks used to crush stormtroopers with.
The rock was given to him as a souvenir. It's made of something "tougher than styrofoam," Eller said, and painted a light brown.
Eller said he remembered how exciting it was knowing a movie set was being prepared only a few miles away. He probably knew before most that it was a "Star Wars" film.
"Over the first couple of weeks, as the intensity grew, we realized the magnitude of what was going on," said eller, who admits he's not a huge fan of "Star Wars."
The Ewok rock is on display at the market and brings back memories of a unique event that occurred 26 years ago, Eller said. Other movies may be filmed here, but there won't be another "Jedi."
"It's a significant attachment to a large event that happened here," he said.
It had to end sometime, however, like the circus coming to town and then suddenly disappearing.
Eller won't part with his rock, even though plenty of people have offered to buy it.
He's afraid he'd end up with seller's remorse:
"You've got my rock, I've spent your money and then I have nothing."
