THX 1138
TCM, 12:00 a.m. ET
Here’s a rarely televised movie: From 1971, it’s a moody sci-fi parable, set centuries in the future, about a man who rebels against his regimented society. It’s the first movie by George Lucas, who wrote and directed it. It stars Robert Duvall, and is executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola, who must have liked what he saw of Duvall here. The following year, Coppola cast Duvall in The Godfather – and the year after that, in 1973, Coppola co-produced American Graffiti, the next film written and produced by Lucas. And then the next film Lucas wrote and directed was a little thing called Star Wars. It all started here, with his first, much darker futuristic fantasy. Co-stars include Donald Pleasance and, believe it or not, Marshall Efron.