George Lucas may be Public Enemy #1 around these parts right now, but there's no question in my mind that we all hold his older work in the highest esteem. And in that light, I'm wondering - suppose Lucas hadn't had creative control in the mid 70s? Suppose the studios had just paid Lucas his little fee and did Star Wars their way - what would have happened?

1) Who would have starred? Who plays Luke and Han? Leia and Obi-Wan? Tarkin? What actors were big at the time?

2) Where would it have been filmed?

3) What do the sets look like? What do the vehicles and droids look like? What about Vader, Chewbacca, the fighters, the Star Destroyers? And the Death Star?

4) How good or bad would the effects have looked? Would the Lightsaber be what it is today without Ben Burtt and ILM?

5) Would John Williams have scored the movie? Would the studio have opted for a futuristic score, the exact opposite of Lucas' instinct on this matter?

6) Would Star Wars have endured to the extent that it has today without Lucas' creative control? Would Star Wars have endured at all?

I have no particular insight into this topic, just a curiosity.