In 1942, before Ronald Reagan became president, he starred in a movie that helped inspire ‘Star Wars’
George Lucas’s 1977 *Star Wars* offered audiences a sweeping space fantasy at a time when American cinema was dominated by darker, more cynical films. John Williams’s orchestral score helped give it the romantic, old-Hollywood feel Lucas wanted, and the film became a cultural phenomenon associated with a shift away from the pessimism of the 1970s.
Williams took inspiration for the film’s opening theme from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s score for *Kings Row*, a 1942 period drama starring Ronald Reagan. Both themes feature a grand brass swell and rising strings, with similarities in their notes and structure. Reagan later chose Korngold’s music for his 1981 presidential inauguration.
In short
- *Star Wars* aimed to revive old-Hollywood adventure.
- Williams drew on Korngold’s 1942 *Kings Row* score.
- Reagan’s inauguration featured the same music.
Explained simply
*Star Wars* is a 1977 space adventure film made by American director George Lucas. It arrived when many popular films had a darker, more cynical tone, and its sweeping story and orchestral music helped revive the style of earlier Hollywood adventures.
The music was written by John Williams, who drew on older film scores, including Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music for *Kings Row*. That 1942 drama starred Ronald Reagan, then an actor; he later became president of the United States. The connection shows how an earlier Hollywood score helped shape the sound of one of cinema’s best-known films.
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