Lucas loves old-timey things, so it’s not much of a surprise that he would mount an ambitious slapstick comedy based around radio serials (and partially influenced by an old Abbott and Costello movie). Originally conceived in the early ’70s, with Lucas directing from a script by frequent collaborators Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the script went through a number of revisions and alterations until Lucas felt that, with advancements made in computer generated imagery (by his company Industrial Light & Magic), he could make the movie for a relatively small budget. British television director Mel Smith stepped in for Lucas, with Brian Benben and Mary Stuart Masterson starring as a warring couple on the brink of divorce who are foced to deal with a series of murders at a radio station. This is actually one of the weirder Lucas projects that actually works, although you wouldn’t know it by the critical reaction or box office. There’s a manic energy to the movie that is positively infectious and the effects are pretty remarkable, especially for the time period.
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