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Long Live Lord Vader
Just two and a half hours. That’s all it took to make movie history. James Earl Jones, who passed away recently at the age of 93, spent that time recording lines for Darth Vader in the first Star Wars. By his own admission he didn’t think much of his work. He was paid a mere $7000 for his efforts. Jones asked that he not be credited, out of respect for David Prowse, the actor/bodybuilder who played Vader inside the suit. Yet it’s impossible to think of Darth Vader without that rich, deep, menacing voice. God gave Jones that voice, but the man worked tirelessly, overcoming a childhood stutter, to shape it into something special. He used his voice like Dizzy Gillespie played a trumpet, like Jimi Hendrix played a guitar, or Itzhak Perlman played the violin. Many people deserve credit for creating Darth Vader, of course starting with George Lucas himself. Ralph McQuarrie designed the suit and Brian Muir built it. Sound designer Ben Burtt developed the deep breathing. Prowse’s strength and physicality brought Vader to life. But Lucas still believed that the Dark Lord of the Sith needed something more. More powerful, more formidable. Lucas briefly considered Orson Welles, but wisely realized that hearing Welles’s distinctive voice would take audiences away from the character. It would be Darth Vader as voiced by Orson Welles. By contrast, Jones’s voice fit the heavy breathing, making Vader’s dialogue feel both mechanical and organic. That voice makes a strong first impression. In the initial sequence of the captured rebel ship, the ferocity of Vader asking “If this is a consular ship, then where is the ambassador?!!” sets the tone. Jones’s best moment in Star Wars may be Vader uttering “I find your lack of faith disturbing” as he uses the Force to choke a Death Star commander. Unlike the anger from some of the earlier scenes, Jones underplays this moment, making it almost casual. This choice makes Vader’s action that much more chilling. This man, who is ostensibly on the same side as Vader, means so little to him that he would kill him just for talking back. Later on the Death Star, hearing Jones and Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan Kenobi trade barbs is a delight. Jones injects “Your powers are weak old man,” with just a hint of pleasure, illustrating how personal Vader’s resentment toward his former mentor had become. Jones’s performance as Vader rises to a new level in The Empire Strikes Back. While in the first movie Vader took orders from Grand Moff Tarkin, this time he was in charge. No one can rein in Vader’s anger, most of which he directs to his poor subordinates. Vader becomes almost a God-like figure, able to kill people with just his thoughts. And when Vader proclaims “You have failed me for the last time!” as he kills Admiral Ozzel, Jones sounds like the wrath of God. But it’s not just fury. When Captain Needa attempts to apologize to Vader for losing the Millenium Falcon, Vader kills him anyway, with Jones imbuing “Apology accepted” with an air of amusement. Jones’s finest moments in the movie, and perhaps the whole original Star Wars trilogy, come in the first duel with Luke Skywalker. Starting with Vader’s pronouncing “The Force is with you young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet” with the authority of an expert putting a young upstart in his place. Later comes arguably the greatest twist in any movie, one that changes the whole trajectory of the series. Notice how hard Jones hits the “I” in “I am your father.” It comes down like a hammer. Jones’s magnificent voice gives that moment the gravity it needs to devastate Luke and become etched in our cinematic memories. For Return of the Jedi, Jones initially picks up where he left off, giving an extra kick to “The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am,” staying just a hair longer on “forgiving” so we can recall the underlings Vader killed in the last film. But later he shows some vulnerability making his excuse to Luke “It’s too late for me” heartbreaking. Jones excels as Vader and Luke wage a psychological battle, each trying to turn the other to their side. Vader gains the upper hand when he realizes that Luke has a “Sister.” Jones says that word slightly slower, as to underscore how big a revelation this is. When Vader taunts Luke, Jones uses that voice as a weapon, twisting the knife with “If you won’t turn to the dark side then perhaps ... she ... will,” lingering just a little on those last three words. At the end that voice that was so foreboding becomes an instrument for warmth and pride with “For once let me look on you with my own eyes.” Jones’s manner, along with that voice, could immediately project grandeur, which is why he shined so bright as any type of royalty, not just a Sith Lord. Coming to America did not need him for the comedy, but it did for the story. The instant you see Jones as the King of Zamunda, you accept that he casts a giant shadow over Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem, so much that Akeem has to go halfway around the world to be himself. When the King appears in New York, Akeem is scared . Keep in mind this is when Eddie Murphy was at the height of his fame. It could not be just anyone who could intimidate him onscreen. It had to be James Earl Jones. So a few years later when Disney made The Lion King, could anyone else have done the voice for King Mufasa? As Mufasa dies pretty early, Jones does not have much screen time. But, just as he did with Coming to America, Jones establishes the film’s greater reality. He sets the stage, as only he could, for all that follows. When Disney remade the film 25 years later, it recast all of the roles except one. No one could replace Jones, and Disney was smart enough not to try. Even when Jones did not play royalty, he lent a film that type of gravitas. In Field of Dreams, he played Terrence Mann, a J.D. Salinger type reclusive author. Just as with Murphy, not many people could be credible intimidating Kevin Costner, but Jones could. While Costner’s Ray Kinsella creates the ball field, Mann christens it. When he gives his famous speech about the power of baseball, you believe him in part because a true baseball fan wants to believe that the game means so much. But you also believe him because it’s James Earl Jones speaking those words. I’d be doing Jones a disservice without acknowledging that could also play ordinary men superbly. In the underrated Claudine, he was funny and touching as a garbage man smitten with his new love but afraid of the commitment needed. John Sayles, during a Q&A after his seminal organized labor film Matewan, mentioned wanting a “James Earl Jones type” for a coal miner who leads his African-American comrades into an alliance with striking white miners. Sayles had his reps make an offer to the real thing thinking it was a shot in the dark. He described then picking up the phone weeks later and “talking to Darth Vader.” Jones was the biggest star but blended in well with Sayles stalwarts, and future stars, such as Chris Cooper and David Strathairn. Regretfully I never saw Jones on stage, but he won raves for his work in “Fences” and “Driving Miss Daisy.” While understanding that a talent such as Jones can never be pigeonholed, for me he will always be Vader first and foremost. For a whole generation, Darth Vader defined evil. He was not a villain. He was, and still is, THE villain. Perhaps the biggest thrill in seeing Rogue One, was Jones returning to voice Vader 33 years after Return of the Jedi (not counting the Revenge of the Sith cameo). That character, and Jones’s contribution, have been passed down from one generation to the next. I have a three-year-old son who is now too young for the Star Wars films. But one day he won’t be, and I can’t wait to share the stories and the characters that have resonated with me so much. I hope and believe that he will be blown away by Darth Vader as I was. For nothing can stop the singular power of James Earl Jones’s marvelous voice. Not even death. Adam Spector October 1, 2024 Contact us: |
