Announcing the 6th Annual Rule, Britannia Blogathon

I am proud to announce the 6th Annual Rule Britannia Blogathon, which will take place August 2, August 3, and August 4 2019. While many people think of Hollywood when they think of classic movies, the fact is that the United Kingdom made many significant contributions to film over the years. From the Gainsborough melodramas to Hammer Films to the British New Wave, cinema would be much poorer without the British.

Here are the ground rules for this year's blogathon:

1. Posts can be about any British film or any topic related to British films. For the sake of simplicity, I am using "British" here to refer to any film made by a company based in the United Kingdom or British Crown dependencies. If you want to write about a film made in Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man, then, you can do so. Also for the sake of simplicity, people can write about co-productions made with companies from outside the United Kingdom. For example, since 2001: A Space Odyssey is a British-American co-production, someone could write about it if they chose.

2. There is no limit on subject matter. You can write about any film in any genre you want. Posts can be on everything from the British New Wave to the Gainsborough bodice rippers to the Hammer Horrors. I am also making no limit on the format posts can take. You could review a classic British film, make an in-depth analysis of a series of British films, or even simply do a pictorial tribute to a film. That having been said, since this is a classic film blogathon,  I only ask that you write about films made before 2009. I generally don't think of a film as a classic until it has been around for thirty years, but to give bloggers more options I am setting the cut off point at ten years ago.

3. I am asking that there please be no duplicates. That having been said, if someone has already chosen to cover From Russia with Love (1963), someone else could write about the James Bond series as a whole.

4. I am not going to schedule days for individual posts. All I ask is that the posts be made on or between August 2, August 3, or August 4.

If you want to participate in the Rule Britannia Blogathon, you can simply comment below or get a hold of me on Twitter at mercurie80 or at my email:  mercurie80 at gmail.com.

Below is a roster of participants and the topics they are covering. Come August 2 I will make a post that will include all of the posts in the blogathon:

Caftan Woman: The Detective (1954)
The Stop Button: Gregory's Girl (1981)
Realweegiemidget Reviews: I Don't Want to Be Born (1975)
Crítica Retrô: The Queen of Spades (1949)
Cinematic Catharsis: The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Silver Screenings: Fire Over England (1937)
Cinematic Scribblings: The Entertainer (1960)
In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood: The films of Petula Clark
Pale Writer: Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Retromoviebuff:  Gaslight (1940)
MovieRob: The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), Robin and Marion (1976) and A Single Man (2009)
Cinema Essentials:  Hell is a City (1960)
Moon in Gemini: The L-Shaped Room (1961)
A Shroud of Thoughts: Genevieve (1953)
Cinema Essentials: The Iron Maiden (1962)
Silver Scenes: 20 Great Little-Known British Classics"

Below are several banners for participants in the blogathon to use (or you can always make your own):

The Late Great Leon Redbone

Leon Redbone, the legendary singer and songwriter who specialised in songs from vaudeville and Tin Pan Valley, died yesterday at the age of 127. No cause of death was given.

Very little is known about Leon Redbone's early life. According to an article in The Toronto Star from the Eighties, he was born Dickran Gobalian in Nicosia, Cyprus on August 26 1949. His family moved to London in 1961 and then to Toronto in 1965. He changed his name under Ontario’s Change of Name Act.

Leon Redbone began performing in Toronto clubs in the early Seventies.  It was in 1972 at the Mariposa Folk Festival that Mr. Redbone met Bob Dylan. Mr. Dylan had been so impressed by Leon Redbone that he referenced him in a 1974 interview with Rolling Stone. This led to Rolling Stone later doing a profile on Mr. Redbone. It was in 1975 that his first album, On the Track, was released by Warner Bros. In 1976 he made the first of several appearances on Saturday Night Live.

Ultimately Leon Redbone would release 12 studio albums and three live albums. Long Way from Home: Early Recordings, released in 2016, collected many of his early recordings. In addition to appearing multiple times on Saturday Night Live, Leon Redbone also appeared multiple times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and would later appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. He composed the theme song to the Eighties sitcom Mr. Belevedere and the theme song to the Nineties sitcom Harry and the Hendersons. He had a role in the movie Candy Mountain and provided the voice of Leon the Snowman in the movie Elf. He also appeared on television, making guest appearances on Life Goes On, Promised Land, and Sesame Street. His songs would appear in the soundtracks of movies from The Big Fix (1978) to The Film at Lot 15 (2018). He retired on May 19 2015, citing health concerns.

Because of his reticence to talk about his life, Leon Redbone was often described as "mysterious." In fact, very little is known about his early life or his private life. At the same time Leon Redbone used comedy a good deal in his performances. It was not unusual for him to claim to have written songs that existed well before he was born. Jokes about drunkenness were frequent in his performances. It is because of his tendency not to talk about his life and his flare for humour that in the official announcement of his death (of which there can be no doubt that it was written by Leon Redbone beforehand) that his age was given as "127."

That Leon Redbone incorporated comedy into his act should come as no surprise. In many respects he would been perfectly at home on the vaudeville stage over 100 years ago. He was in many ways a man who existed outside of time. At a time when blues and folk music were being revived, Mr. Redbone looked to music forms that had long been neglected: ragtime, early jazz, and songs from both vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley. His first album featured everything from Andy Razaf, Fats Waller, and Harry Brooks's "Ain't Misbehavin'" to Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's "Lazybones" to the 19th Century song "Polly Wolly Doodle." Years before the music, fads, and fashions of the past became trendy, Leon Redbone was performing songs that were often 100 years old or older. A very good argument can be made that Leon Redbone single-handedly revived ragtime and vaudeville music.

That Leon Redbone was able to re-popularise older song styles was due to a combination of both talent and marketing savvy. If he revealed very little about himself, it was perhaps to ensure that the focus always remained on the songs and not on him. If Leon Redbone incorporated humour into his act, it was perhaps not simply a continuation of vaudeville tradition, but a means of ensuring his performances were always entertaining. Making everything work was the fact that Leon Redbone was a very talented musician and singer. Few performers have ever been as unique as Leon Redbone.

Peggy Stewart Passes On

Peggy Stewart, who starred in a number of B-Westerns and made numerous guest appearances on television, died yesterday, May 29 2019, at the age of 95.

Peggy Stewart was born Margaret "Peggy" O'Rourke in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 5 1923. Her sister was Olympic swimmer Patricia O'Rourke. Her parents eventually divorced and her mother moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia. There she married lawyer John Stewart. Young Peggy took her stepfather's last name. It was in the Thirties that her family moved to California. There she met character actor Henry O'Neil. Mr. O'Neil brought her to the attention of Paramount executives who wanted a young actress to play Joel McCrea's daughter in the movie Wells Fargo (1937). In the film she played the role of Alice McKay.

In the late Thirties Miss Stewart appeared in such films as Little Tough Guy (1938), That Certain Age (1938), Little Tough Guys in Society (1938), Everybody's Hobby (1939), and All This, and Heaven Too (1940). In the early Forties she appeared in such films as Back Street (1941) and Girl in Chains (1943). It was in 1944 that Peggy Stewart signed a contract with Republic Pictures, who cast her in a number of B Westerns. She appeared in such films as Tuscon Raiders (1944), Silver City Kid (1944), Cheyenne Wildcat (1944), Code of the Prairie (1944), Utah (1945), The Vampire's Ghost (1945), Marshall of Laredo (1945), The Tiger Woman (1945), Alias Billy the Kid (1946), Red River Renegades (1946), The Invisible Informer (1946), Trail to San Antone (1947), Messenger of Peace (1947), Son of Zorro (1947), Tex Granger: Midnight Rider of the Plains (1948), Dead Man's Gold (1948), Ride, Ryder, Ride! (1949), The Fighting Redhead (1949), and Cody of the Pony Express (1950). She appeared in three "Red Ryder" movies alone. She made her television debut in 1950 in an episode of The Gene Autry Show.

As B-Westerns became a thing of the past, Peggy Stewart's film career slowed down. In the Fifties she only appeared in four films: The Pride of Maryland (1951), The Black Lash (1952), Kansas Territory (1952), and Montana Incident (1952). While her movie career slowed, Miss Stewart's television career prospered in the Fifties. She appeared in five episodes of The Cisco Kid alone. Miss Stewart guest starred on such shows as Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951), Gang Busters (1952), The Range Rider (1953), The Millionaire (1956), Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal (1956), The Silent Service, Peter Gunn, Yancy Derrigner, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Hotel de Paree, General Electric Theatre, Gunsmoke, and  Pony Express.

In the Sixties Peggy Stewart guest starred on such shows as The Rebel, Lassie, The Twilight Zone, National Velvet, Have Gun--Will Travel, The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, Hondo, The Mod Squad, and Ironside. She appeared in the films When the Clock Strikes (1961), Gun Street (1961), The Clown and the Kid (1961), The Way West (1967), and The Animals (1960).

In the Seventies Miss Stewart guest starred in such shows as Dan August, Sarge, The Smith Family, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Baretta, Emergency!, Taxi, and Quincy M.E. She appeared in the films Pickup on 101 (1972), Terror in the Wax Museum (1973), White House Madness (1975), Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976), Black Oak Conspiracy (1977), and Beyond Evil (1980).

In the Nineties Peggy Stewart guest starred on Seinfeld and Beverly Hills 90120. In the Naughts she had a recurring role on the TV show The Riches. She guest starred on such shows as The Norm Show; Popular; Yes, Dear; My Name is Earl; NCIS; Weeds; Flashforward; Justified; The Office; and Community. She appeared in the films Big Chuck, Little Chuck (2004) and The Runaways (2010). In the Teens Miss Stewart guest starred on the TV show Getting On. She appeared in the films Dadgum, Texas and That's My Boy.

Peggy Stewart was always a delight to see on screen. In her many B Westerns she usually did not play the passive damsel in distress in constant need of rescue, but instead the tough, strong-willed, and hot-tempered heroine who could hold her own with any outlaw. It was a role she would sometimes repeat on television, in Westerns from The Cisco Kid to Have Gun--Will Travel. Of course, Miss Stewart could play other types of roles. In the Twilight Zone she played Grace Stockton, the wife of Dr. Bill Stockton, who is quite naturally nervous about an imminent nuclear war. As she grew older she was often cast in the role of sweet old ladies. Peggy Stewart will always be remembered as strong heroines in B Westerns, but she played all of her various roles very well.

RC Cola and Nancy Sinatra

Yesterday I wrote about how Royal Crown Cola, also known as "RC Cola," used movie stars in their advertising in the Forties. While Royal Crown Cola used more celebrities in their ads in the Forties than any other decade, they would continue to use celebrities in advertising in both the Fifties and the Sixties. Among those celebrities was Nancy Sinatra.

RC Cola sponsored Nancy Sinatra's television special Movin' with Nancy, which aired on December 11 1967. Miss Sinatra appeared in two out of the five RC Cola commercials that aired during the special. What is more, she was not the only celebrity to appear in RC Cola commercials during the special. Art Linkletter, who had been associated with RC Cola for several years, introduced the first spot featuring Miss Sinatra. Robie Porter appeared in a commercial shot in Spain, while Dino, Desi & Billy appeared in one shot at the Hollywood Bowl.

Below are the two commercials featuring Nancy Sinatra.

Royal Crown Cola and Movie Stars

Today Royal Crown Cola, also known as "RC Cola," lags far behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi in sales. In fact, I rather suspect that there are some younger people who might never have even heard of RC Cola. While RC Cola might be an also-ran now, from the Forties to the Sixties Royal Crown Cola was a serious competitor to both Coke and Pepsi. In fact, some of the biggest names in Hollywood would appear in advertisements for Royal Crown Cola during the Forties. While both Coca-Cola and Pepsi would use celebrity spokespeople from time to time, neither of them used as many different movie stars as Royal Crown Cola would during that decade. RC Cola would continue to use celebrities in ads during the Fifties and Sixties, but never to the extent that they did in the Forties. What is more, Royal Crown Cola didn't just use celebrities in their magazine ads, but also on calendars and promotional signs as well.

Here I have to point out that Royal Crown's advertisements featuring movie stars promoted more than the cola itself. In every single ad there would also be a plug for the particular movie star's latest film. Below are only a few of the ads for Royal Crown Cola featuring movie stars from the Forties.

This is a Royal Crown ad from 1941 featuring Gary Cooper, who was also promoting his film Ball of Fire (1941).

 This ad from 1942 features Dorothy Lamour promoting Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942).

It was in 1942 that Royal Crown Cola ads began having the stars in the ads announce that Royal Crown was the best (or some variation thereof).  This is one of the earlier versions of those ads, featuring Claudette Colbert who was also promoting The Palm Beach Story (1942).

For the most part Royal Crown Cola seems to have favoured actresses in their advertising during the Forties, but a few actors appeared as well. Here is singer, actor, and radio star Bing Crosby and his horse promoting Road to Utopia (1945).

 

In this ad from 1945 Linda Darnell is promoting her film Fallen Angel (1945).

 Here is another ad from 1945, this one with Gene Tierney promoting A Bell for Adano (1945).

In this ad from 1946 Lizabeth Scott is promoting The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Barbara Stanwyck appeared in more than one ad for Royal Crown Cola. In this one from 1946 she is promoting her film My Reputation (1946).

So far I have done the various Royal Crown Cola ads by year. These next two are then slightly out of order, but that is because I wanted to save the best for last. Even people who aren't that familiar with classic movies know about Joan Crawford's strong ties to Pepsi. In 1955 she married PepsiCo executive Alfred Steele and afterwards she became Pepsi's fiercest promoter. Miss Crawford would even demand product placement for Pepsi in her movies! It might then come as a surprise to some that in the Forties Joan Crawford was one of the many movie stars who appeared in ads for Royal Crown Cola! What is more, she did it more than once. Here is an ad in which Joan Crawford is promoting Hollywood Canteen (1944).

And here is another ad from 1946 in which Joan Crawford is promoting Humoresque (1946).  I have to think that if Bette Davis had known about the ads Joan Crawford had done for Royal Crown Cola in the Forties, she would have taped them to the Pepsi machine Joan had installed on the set of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)!

This is only a small sampling of Royal Crown Cola's advertisements featuring movie stars from the Forties. They did many, many more. And as mentioned earlier, some stars would appear in multiple ads. RC Cola continued to use celebrities in advertisements in the Fifties and Sixties. Rhonda Fleming and game show host Robert Q. Lewis appeared in advertising for Royal Crown Cola in the Fifties. In the Sixties RC Cola ads featured Petticoat Junction star Meredith MacRae and singer Nancy Sinatra. While RC Cola would continue to use celebrities in the Fifties and Sixties, it would never be to the extent that they did in the Forties.

"The St, Louis Blues March" by Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Orchestra

 "America means freedom and there's no expression of freedom quite so sincere as music." Major Glenn Miller, United States Army

During World War II we lost many great men. The majority were ordinary men doing extraordinary things who died in combat. Among those who died in service of the United States during World War II was a music superstar. Trombonist and bandleader Glenn Miller had more top ten hit singles than either Elvis Presley or The Beatles. In 1942 he was making anywhere from $15,000 a week (that would be $233,728.71 today) to $20,000 a week (that would be $311,638.28 today).

That having been said, Glenn Miller wasn't merely a great musician. In 1942 he could have easily continued recording and performing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and reaping a good deal of success in doing so. Instead he wanted to serve his country in the war effort. At 38 Mr. Miller was too old to be drafted. He then volunteered for the United States Navy. They told them that they had no need of him. Fortunately the Navy's loss would be the Army's gain. He convinced the United States Army to take him so that he could "...be placed in charge of a modernized Army band."

Glenn Miller entered the United States Army with the rank of Captain. Eventually he would form the 50-piece Army Air Force Band. He would also be promoted to the rank of Major. It was then in 1944 that Major Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Band were sent to England. There they not only gave several performances, but they also made propaganda recordings for the Office of War Information at Abbey Road Studios in London. Glenn Miller's music would be broadcast on the Armed Forces Network, which used the BBC's facilities. Major Miller's contributions to the war effort should not be underestimated, as they helped the troop's morale as well as countered any German propaganda. No less than General Jimmy Doolittle of the United States Army Air Force told Glenn Miller, "Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller, your organization is the greatest morale builder in the European Theatre of Operations."

Sadly, Glenn Miller's life would end all too soon. It was on December 15 1944 that Glenn Miller left RAF Twinwood Farm in Clapham for Paris in order to make arrangements to bring the Army Air Force Orchestra to the troops in France. The plane on which he flew was a single-engine UC-64 Norseman. Unfortunately, it disappeared over the English Channel. To this day Major Miller's disappearance remains a mystery. While there have been plenty of conspiracy theories (none of which are worth considering), given the weather that day and the type of plane in which Major Miller was flying, the most likely explanation is that the fuel intakes simply froze, leading to the plane's crash.

In honour of Major Glenn Miller and all the others who sacrificed their lives during World War II, on this day I would like to share "The St. Louis Blues March" by Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Orchestra.

The Power of the Dark Side: Darth Vader

(This post is part of the Great Villain Blogathon hosted by Shadows and Satin, Speakeasy, and Silver Screenings)

"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny." (Darth Vader, Return of the Jedi)

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes." (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Revenge of the Sith)

It was 42 years ago today that Star Wars (1977), later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, was released. Forty two years later the film's villain, Darth Vader, remains not only one of the most famous movie villains of all time, but one of the most iconic as well. While other villains would appear in the Star Wars franchise, Darth Vader would remain the primary antagonist in the original Star Wars trilogy, the protagonist in the first two movies of the prequel trilogy and an antagonist in the last movie of the prequel trilogy, and has appeared as the villain in assorted Star Wars comic books, novels, video games, the animated TV series Rebels, and even the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special. If Darth Vader has had such an impact on popular culture, it is perhaps because of the character's complexity. Unlike many big screen villains, Darth Vader is not purely evil.

After failing to get the film rights to Flash Gordon, George Lucas began writing his own space opera in January 1973. Of course, every space opera has to have a villain.  For the villain's name George Lucas tried out various names based on the phrase "dark water," eventually coming up with the name "Darth Vader." It would be following the release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) that Mr. Lucas would claim the name was based on homonyms in German and Dutch (German vater and Dutch vader) meaning "father", so that the name "Darth Vader" could be interpreted as meaning "Dark Father." That having been said, there are some good reasons for this explanation of the name to be doubted (see below).

Regardless, Darth Vader in the original script for Star Wars was very close to the character in the final film. As he would be in the film itself, Darth Vader was not only a Sith Lord, but a Dark Lord of the Sith. As originally conceived, the Sith would have been an organisation that serve the Emperor in much the same way that the Schutzstaffel (the "SS") served Adolph Hitler. It would be with The Empire Strikes Back that Mr. Lucas's conception of the Sith would change, becoming what we understand them to be today. Quite simply, the Sith Order is a group dedicated to the Dark Side of the Force, the polar opposite of the Jedi Knights. 

It was not only the conception of the Sith that would change with The Empire Strikes Back, but the conception of Darth Vader as well. Initially George Lucas hired Leigh Brackett, the legendary science fiction writer who had written the screenplays of such movies as Rio Bravo (1959) and El Dorado (1966), to write a screenplay based upon his story outline for The Empire Strikes Back. While George Lucas was disappointed with Miss Brackett's screenplay, she died of cancer before he could discuss revisions with her. Mr. Lucas then wrote the next draft himself. This draft would contain a major change in the character of Darth Vader. Quite simply, he claimed to be the father of Luke Skywalker.

There is no evidence prior to 1978 that Darth Vader was one and the same as Luke's father, and it does not seem to have been something that was even considered. In fact, in Leigh Brackett's draft of the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker appear as completely separate characters. In the screenplay, even as Darth Vader is alive and terrorising the galaxy, Anakin's ghost appears to Luke. At the time of the release of The Empire Strikes Back, the revelation that Darth Vader was indeed the father of Luke Skywalker would go down in history as one of the most shocking plot twists in the history of cinema, alongside the plot twists in Psycho (1960) and Planet of the Apes (1968). It would also mark profound changes in the character of Darth Vader. He would go from a malevolent and formidable servant of the Emperor to an altogether tragic figure.

Of course, bringing Darth Vader to the screen would be much more complicated than other characters in the original Star Wars trilogy. In the original trilogy it was bodybuilder David Prowse who played the character in the suit in everything except for the lightsabre duels, when stuntman Bob Anderson wore the suit. While George Lucas originally wanted Orson Welles to voice the character, he ultimately decided that Mr. Welles's voice would be too recognisable and went with actor James Earl Jones instead. For Return of the Jedi Sebastian Shaw portrayed the Force spirit of Anakin Skywalker. Hayden Christensen played Anakin in the prequel trilogy, and would even don the iconic Darth Vader suit after Anakin's body was seriously damaged in his climactic fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yet others have provided the voice of Darth Vader in animated projects and video games.

Darth Vader would make his first appearance in the classic Star Wars in 1977. Seen today it is surprising how little Darth Vader actually appears in the movie. We learn that he had been a student of Obi-Wan Kenobi who had turned to the Dark Side. It is Darth Vader who captures and interrogates Princess Leia, who we would learn in later movies was his own daughter. We get to see Darth Vader display quite a bit of the power of the Dark Side, most notably when he uses the Force to choke Admiral Motti for being insolent towards him. 

Of course, it was with The Empire Strikes Back that we learn Darth Vader is indeed Anakin Skywalker.  What is more, we learn that Darth Vader has his own ideas quite separate from those of his master Emperor Palpatine. It is in the lightsabre duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader at the climax to The Empire Strikes Back that Vader reveals to Luke that he is indeed his father. What is more, he tries to tempt Luke over to the Dark Side. He tells Luke that he can destroy the Emperor and together they could rule the galaxy as father and son. It is in The Empire Strikes Back that we get the first indications that Vader's love of his family may be greater than his loyalty to the Emperor. 

While many in the audience might have doubted Darth Vader's claim to Luke's paternity in The Empire Strikes Back, it is Yoda himself who reveals that Vader is indeed Luke's father in Return of the Jedi. It is the Force spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi who further reveals that Leia is Luke's twin sister and also Anakin Skywalker's daughter. Luke also learns that he must once more confront Darth Vader and put an end to the Empire. To this end, Luke surrenders to Imperial troops so that he will be taken to Darth Vader. While Darth Vader is still plotting to lure Luke over to the Dark Side and takes him to Emperor Palpatine in hopes of accomplishing just that, things do not quite go according to his plan. Luke himself senses the conflict within Darth Vader, not only informing him that he senses the good in him, but that Vader cannot bring himself to kill him. As it turns out, Luke is right. Not only is Darth Vader unable to bring himself to kill his son, but when the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning it is Darth Vader who kills the Emperor, sacrificing himself for his son. In the end, Emperor Palpatine not only overestimated the power of the Dark Side, but he underestimated the love that Darth Vader had for his family.

It is with the prequel trilogy that we see Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader. In The Phantom Menace (1999) we see how Anakin was a nine year-old slave who is brought into the Jedi Order to be given training as a Jedi. Attack of the Clones (2002) sees Anakin being trained as a Jedi, as well as falling in love with Padmé Amidala and marrying her in secret (the Jedi are not supposed to form attachments). It is also in Attack of the Clones that we see the groundwork laid for Anakin's fall from grace. In The Empire Strikes Back Yoda notes that there is much anger in Luke, like his father. Anakin's anger is on full display at times in Attack of the Clones. Anakin learns that Tusken Raiders had abducted his mother only to have her die in his arms when he finds her. He then proceeds to wipe out every single Tusken Raider there. 

This brings us to Revenge of the Sith (2005). Anakin begins to have visions that indicate Padmé will die in childbirth. Unfortunately, the Jedi Council assigns Anakin to keep an eye on Chancellor Palpatine. It is then that Palpatine begins tempting Anakin with the power of the Dark Side, claiming that it can even overcome death. Eventually Palpatine reveals to Anakin that he is a Sith Lord and that he can save Padmé. It is because of his love for Padmé and his fear of losing her that Anakin eventually turns to the Dark Side. Sadly, when Anakin, whom Palaptine has dubbed "Darth Vader" turned to the Dark Side, he really turned to the Dark Side. He massacres the entire Jedi Temple, including the younglings. He then went to the planet Mustafar to murder the Separatist leaders there. Worse yet, when Padmé tries to bring Darth Vader to his senses, he Force chokes her. Following this is Obi-Wan's climactic lightsabre duel with Darth Vader, in which he severs his former pupil's limbs and leaves him to die on the bank of a lava flow. Of course, Vader is rescued by the Empire and rebuilt as the cyborg familiar from the first trilogy. The transformation from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader is then complete.

Upon his debut in Star Wars (1977) Darth Vader was already an impressive villain. Clad in black armour and speaking in the ominous voice of James Earl Jones, he would have remained memorable even if  there had never again been another Star Wars movie. It is with The Empire Strikes Back that Darth Vader truly became an iconic villain. Quite simply, Darth Vader became a tragic figure. Unlike many villains he was not  motivated purely by a desire for power, nor was he mentally unbalanced or evil simply for the sake of being evil. Instead Darth Vader was initially motivated by something that the average person can easily understand.

Quite simply, much of the impetus for Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace was the same as Darth Vader's saving grace. It was love. To a large degree Anakin's destiny was determined the moment that he fell in love with Padmé. It was because he feared her death that Palpatine was able to lure him to the Dark Side. Even before Anakin was completely lured to the Dark Side, it was clear that he loved deeply and completely. It was because of his love of his mother that he committed what can be considered a most evil act prior to becoming a Sith: the massacre of an entire Tusken tribe. While anyone with any decency would condemn many of Anakin's actions, at the same time we can sympathise with him. After all, only the strongest of us would be able to resist doing anything, even if it was immoral or unethical, to save those we love. 

Of course, there were other factors beyond love that led to Anakin's fall from grace. As Yoda observed, there was much anger in him. One can even see Anakin's temper flare during the various lightsabre duels in which he engages prior to falling to the Dark Side, particularly his fight with Count Dooku. Sadly, Anakin's anger is never greater than when someone he loves is involved. The catalyst for Anakin slaughtering an entire group of Tuskin Raiders was his mother's death. It is certainly true that some Jedi have displayed anger from time to time. Mace Windu displayed something of a temper when he fought Palpatine. Even Obi-Wan Kenobi, known for being level headed, displayed anger in his battle with Darth Maul. Unfortunately, while other Jedi might have occasional bouts of anger and try to keep their tempers under control, all too often Anakin gives into his anger, as well as fear, and lets it take him over. As Yoda said in The Phantom Menace, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

While it was a combination of love, fear, and anger that would ultimately lead to Anakin's downfall, it would be love that would lead to his redemption. In the original Star Wars trilogy Darth Vader can never bring himself to kill Luke Skywalker. He is even willing to defy the Emperor to keep his son alive. When push comes to shove, Darth Vader ultimately decides to sacrifice himself in order to save his son from Emperor Palpatine. For all that Darth Vader claims in Return of the Jedi that the name "Anakin Skywalker" no longer has any meaning for him, he is still Anakin Skywalker and the love he has for his family remained far greater motivation for him than a desire for power or loyalty to the Emperor.

Ultimately Darth Vader remains one of cinema's greatest villains because he is a tragic figure. He was an essentially good person who simply turned evil for reasons that the average person can somewhat understand. Tempted by the power of the Dark Side to save the woman he loves, at the same time it would be Anakin Skywalker's love for his son that would redeem him in the end. It would seem Palpatine was able to lure Anakin to the Dark Side, but in the end he was never able to corrupt him completely.