CREDITS THX 1138, 1970 dir: George Lucas Robert Duvall Donald Pleasence Maggie McOmie

“THX 1138 will be taken into custody at a minimal monetary expenditure. Total operation cost: six thousand credits under budget. Congratulations. Be efficient. Be happy. ”

George Lucas’ first feature film, before he went on to American Graffiti and the phenomenally successful Star Wars, is a self-consciously film-student art movie.

Set in a clinically dystopian future, the film utilised a number of real Californian locations. The claustrophobic underground environment is the (uncompleted) tunnel system of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART).

Other locations include the Lawrence Hall of Science, 1 Centennial Drive, in the hills above the main University of California campus at Berkeley.

The clinical world of the future used Frank Lloyd Wright's magnificent 1950s extravaganza, the Marin County Civic Center, Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, north of San Francisco. The same setting was used as the 'Gattaca Corporation' in Andrew Niccol's underrated 1997 sci-fi Gattaca with Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law.

HARD COPY: For the details of the filming locations of 1,600 of your favourite movies, check out The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. 464 pages of fascinating facts, illustrated with over 1,000 original photographs.