Wow-- I didn't realize there would be so much interest in these tapes. I was under the impression that the mono mix was the rarest of the three and that these cassettes were worthless. Good thing we kept them around

However, I did want to make sure that I got my facts straight before offering a transfer or maybe even the tapes themselves, just so no one ends up wasting their time on account of some misinformation on my part. I did a bit of online research and fact-checking with both my father and the theatre's other manager at the time and found some more information...

The transfer was done by patching only L and R into a Pioneer cassette deck (not battery powered). The transfer was spread out over multiple sessions since the soundtrack overlaps when a tape flip is made, however the ending credits music is indeed cut off by about 2 minutes or so. The boom tracks were not specifically mixed in but the transfer is pretty bass-y in places (such as certain sound effects and explosions).

I listened to part of the recording done by morgands1 and found some interesting comparisons between my version and his:
- During the shots immediately following Luke's "They're sandpeople all right, I can see one of them now," in the recording you can hear a more defined echo of the cries in the canyon. On my tapes this effect is less pronounced... perhaps the cries were also spread across center and surround channels?
- From SKot in the other 70mm thread:

Right after the Grand Moff Tarkin line that gets cut off, it cuts to the dead Jawa scene... and there is what sounds like a trumpet solo in the soundtrack. It sounded really odd to me, different from what I've heard before, kind of like if someone was playing 'Taps' much too loudly during the scene.

I noticed this as well on the tapes but again, it was less pronounced. Quite possible again that the music was mixed into the center channel.

Here's where everything may very well be a moot point: the theatre in question was the Stuart Theatre in Lincoln NE. My father swears that theatre had to have been equipped for 70mm because according to him, certain films only had so much of the curtains open up to reveal the screen whereas others would open the curtains all the way to reveal the entire screen. The other manager of the theatre claims that only 35mm films were ever shown at that particular theatre. This could mean that the mix I have may in fact not be of the 70mm but instead the 35mm stereo. Mind you, both of these recollections are from 30 years ago, so I can't confirm or deny this as I can't find much information about this theatre online nor is it listed as a theatre where Star Wars was played in 1977 despite its run at the Stuart starting late that year. I saw Episode I at this theatre before it closed down around 2000 and as I recall, the screen was about the same size, maybe only slightly smaller, than the local IMAX cinema near me. Any Lincoln NE natives here to offer input?

Morgands1's recording sounds *much* clearer than my tapes. I think if a transfer were to be made it would be best used as more or less a reference to perhaps recreate a surround mix based on the 35mm mix which we already have. Sort of like de-ANH'ing the film, but applied to the soundtrack?

I've made a transfer from cassette to CD by patching directly into an audio CD burner (best method I can do). I know this is far from the "best" possible transfer but if anyone seriously interested wants a sample to confirm whether or not it would be worth it to transfer the entire soundtrack (the tapes themselves are located in the Chicago area), shoot me a PM with specifics on what you're looking for.