Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (later shortened to just ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’) is the first in one of the biggest film franchises of all time. Made in 1981, it is considered one of Spielberg’s ‘rookie’ films as it was one of the first ones he made that has had such as big response.
Whilst working on Star Wars, George Lucas (a close friend of Spielberg’s) came up with the idea of ‘Indiana Smith’; an archaeologist with the same background inspiration as Star Wars – short serials from the 30’s (such as Flash Gordon). The name Indiana derived from the name of Lucas’ dog. Whilst on vacation, Spielberg admitted that he would like to do a James Bond film, to which Lucas replied that he had a character that was better than Bond. Spielberg didn’t like the name Smith, and suggested the name Jones instead, which stuck. When they first started production on the film, they coordinated with Lawrence Kasdan and wrote the plot and character outlines in just three days.
The film itself was rejected by many big Hollywood film companies as the plot being too over-the-top was a concern for them, however eventually Paramount agreed to finance the film. Shot at Elstree Studios, it was the first film that Spielberg shot in England. They wanted to separate the film from the technology and sci-fi tendencies that was already at work in Star Wars; most of the sets were built on a sound stage, and some of the sets were made to smaller scale, and created like a graphic novel from the 1930’s.
Other inspirations that came from those well-loved serials from the 30’s and 40’s included: the humour, Indy’s original characterisation and the costuming. Spielberg said that the humour created in the film (which is still found funny by some modern audiences) reminded him of the humour in the serials (very deliberate and bordering on ‘slapstick’). There was some disagreement over the characterisation of Indy, as Lucas wanted him to be a Bond-like playboy, whereas Spielberg and Kasdan thought that his intellect and adventurous nature was enough to make him an interesting character. Spielberg played around the idea of having a darker Jones and making him an alcoholic like Humphrey Bogart’s character from a 1940’s film, however this was left on the cutting room floor around the fourth or fifth draft (elements of this still is involved in the film, after he thinks that Marion has died). Comic book artist Jim Steranko created the concept art for the character, channelling the 30’s graphic novel style, and in doing so created the Indiana Jones ‘look’. His costume was inspired by the 30’s ‘adventure’ style shown in the 30’s serials. The costume designer, Deborah Nadoolman, said that the audience needed to buy the whole thing; and so the clothes had to look like an every-man outfit, however had to be individual to the character. She personally aged the jacket using Harrison Ford’s own Swiss Army knife and brush. The hat needed to be unique, designed by a small Australian designer. To look old and well-worn, she sat on the hat, and had Ford do the same.
Indiana Jones was originally going to be played by Tom Selleck, who did a screen test for the role and both Spielberg and Lucas loved him, however when they offered him the role, the CBS network intervened and claimed that Selleck had a commitment contract with them for his role in Magnum P.I. Spielberg’s next choice was Harrison Ford, who Lucas objected to at first, as he was in Star Wars and didn’t want him to become his “Bobby De Niro” (referencing the working relationship between Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese). It was three weeks prior to filming that Spielberg managed to convince Lucas to cast Harrison Ford.
A big reason why the film was so popular when first released in 1981 was very much to do with the success of Star Wars in past years. The fact that Lucas’ name was involved in this film, and that the actual production of the films are similar, would have made his already established fans want to go see it. However, as time has gone on and technology and the director himself have developed, the contextual importance behind why Raiders was such a popular film has faded, and eventually disappeared, which could be behind the reason why his latest Indiana Jones flick, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).
Sophie Niblett's Analysis' 