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In Star Wars (A New Hope, if you must), there's a scene when Vader is talking to Grand Moff Tarkin.

Vader's voice stops, and then a second later Vader raises his hand and wags his finger at Tarkin.

Tarkin: "She lied. She lied to us."

Vader: "I told you she would never consciously betray the rebellion."

Vader awkwardly wags his finger at Tarkin after already having finished his line.

It's well known that Vader's voice was added later, performed by James Earl Jones.

Q1. But why didn't George Lucas cut this moment before the finger wag? Why leave the awkward silence? (Or add some cuts so the finger was raised at the right moment.)

Q2. I can only assume there was additional dialog there that got cut. Is there anything that tells what what was was said originally?

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  • 4
    I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. (In a stern voice)
    – cde
    Dec 14, 2016 at 3:52
  • I don't think he's "wagging his finger" so much as just gesturing. When you can't see the actor's face, hand movements are a common way to express emotion.
    – Omegacron
    Jun 9, 2017 at 4:05

1 Answer 1

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http://www.egosystem.com/starwars/anh/anh07.htm

SCENE: Darth and Tarkin are talking about Leia's deception over the rebel base allegedly being on Dantooine.

EVENT: During part of the exchange, Darth stops talking, but keeps gesturing as though he is saying something. Tarkin doesn't respond to his comment until after he stops gesturing. The reason Vader continues gesturing is that the original line of dialog was a bit longer, and was evidently shortened in post-production. According to the original screenplay, Vader's full lines were:

"I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion, unless she thought she could destroy us in the process."

In the final cut, they cut off the audio line after the word "Rebellion." David Prowse did speak the original lines during filming, hence the prolonged gesturing).

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  • BOOM. It speaks tons about Leia's anger issues and cunning too :)
    – cde
    Jan 1, 2017 at 0:36

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