I know what I saw, and I saw the missed throw. I saw (maybe) the
very same print over and over again at the same theater back in 77.
(@Tampa Bay Mall Cinemas, on Busch Blvd, Tampa, FL)
Im not saying that YOU are wrong, btw. I only know what I saw.
And I certainly believe that back in the olden days (77...), films were
spliced from many different sources before being sent out for copying,
for release to theaters. In fact, I kind of believe that I *didnt* see
STAR WARS during the first week it was released, because my family
was on a summer vacation right after school let out. So maybe, just
maybe, Fox was scrambling to cobble together more prints after the
first feedback came back, and they grabbed a snipped of film which
*did* include a first throw. I dunno. But I *do* know I saw it. And
so do many like me who are old enough to have seen it in 77.
About the interview with Donohue or whoever... I also know I saw
this, because it explained why the movie I had visually memorized had
changed, And I remember telling my friends (all of us sci fi geeks) what
Lucas had done (after seeing the interview), because many of my friends
had also noticed and commented about other differences too.
Additionally, I *do* believe that not every TV show (daily talk
shows more especially perhaps) has been archived like everything else
is today. Remember, this was all even before VCR tapes were common
in the US. I would love it if this snippet could be found. I was gobbling
up anything and everything STAR WARS related at the time. This movie
changed me.