George Lucas was a 23 year old film student at USC when he made the short ELECTRIC LABYRINTH: THX 1138 4EB. This 15 minute highly stylized film won first prize at the National Student Film Festival, and Lucas was given an apprenticeship at Warner Brothers. With the help of his friend and USC alumni Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas expanded his short into the feature film THX-1138.
In the future, the masses are controlled by drugs that keep them in a state of sedation. No emotions allowed, especially sexual feelings. Everyone conforms to standard, with shaved heads and asexual jumpsuits. THX (Robert Duvall) works in a robot factory making android police, while his roommate LUH-3417 (Maggie McOmie) is a surveillance expert alongside SEN-5241 (Donald Pleasence). LUH begins switching THX’s meds, and the two discover the joy of sex. They’re found out and separated, and SEN tries to move in with THX, who reports him. Both men are sent to rehabilitation, and THX tries to find LUH and escape from his conformist life.
I saw THX-1138 when it first came out (I was a young teen) and found it boring. Upon rewatching, I feel the same way. It just doesn’t grab me emotionally or draw me into its world at all. The film is technically brilliant, with Walter Murch’s sound work playing an important part, and the great Donald Pleasence is engaging as SEN, but as a whole I just don’t enjoy it. Don’t expect to see any Jedi Knights or cute whirring androids here; it’s not that kind of sci-fi. The closest it comes to STAR WARS is the opening sequence featuring clips of the 30s serial BUCK ROGERS, and the scrolling credits. For me, the film needed more Buck Rogers and less pretentious talk.
THX-1138 didn’t do well at the box office, but it did show George Lucas as a filmmaker with a future. It’s too cold to be anything but a curio of Lucas’ early work, but his next film would show a different side of Lucas, one with more heart. Next time I’ll be looking at the smash 1973 hit AMERICAN GRAFFITI.
Meanwhile, for all you Lucasphiles out there, here’s the original 1967 short ELECTRIC LABYRINTH: THX 1138 4EB:
cracked rear viewer 
Reblogged this on Through the Shattered Lens.
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I enjoyed both the short and feature version of THX1138, especially the original short film. I had a very tenuous “connection” to the student film version. On one of the nights that Lucas and his small crew were filming the tunnel scenes in the Alameda/Oakland Tube, I had to wait at their makeshift – and apparently totally unauthorized – roadblock at one end of the Tube.
Both the short and long versions were very sparse and cold, in every aspect, which fit the storyline perfectly. And the ending (spoiler alert!) is even funnier and more meaningful today than it was back then. Stopping a project as soon as the budget-cap is reached is far more plausible today than it was four decades ago.
The other huge plus for the feature film version is the opportunity for an early look at Robert Duvall’s immense acting talent. He is simply perfect in his roll.
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I agree the coldness fits in with THX’s storyline, I think that’s precisely why I don’t like it as much as Lucas’ other films. To each his own, I guess. But thanks for the comment, I always appreciate other people’s views here.
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