our original guess about the Italian cut is that Warner may have experimented their idea of putting the end of the movie at the beginning when they released it in Italy. The little success of the film also in Italy perhaps made them rethink the whole thing for the other European releases.

Lucas might have never known about the Italian cut or more likely he just ignored it so his story of success against the evil Warner could sound even more successful.

I wish I had managed to talk to the director of the Italian dubbing (now deceased) to know if the narration was in the print they received from Warner or if it was an adaptation choice that they decided locally. From the way the Italian cut is structured, my guess is that they did have a narration also in English. The question is: did Duval do it? Would he remember doing it? It's all so bizarre.