“It’s not the years, honey. It’s the mileage.”
-Indiana Jones
Let us reflect on a time when the word cool was synonymous with the name Harrison Ford. Before poisonous dreck like "Six Days, Seven Nights", "Random Hearts", and "Hollywood Homicide" sent his career in the toilet; before the dark times, Ford was the coolest cat around inspiring kids everywhere to wear black vests and wear a toy gun on their hips.
Following his two previous outings as cooler than cool, Han Solo, Ford stuck another feather in his icon cap and emerged in the summer of 1981 with his best performance to date as the indomitable Dr. Indiana Jones. George Lucas and Spielberg teamed up for the first time to create a throwback to a simpler time. They set out to create the best damn B movie they could, but instead they created one of the best damn action films ever made. The movie’s creation began out of an idea Lucas and Spielberg had while on vacation in Hawaii, Memorial Day 1977. Hiding from the opening frenzy of “Star Wars” and the just completed “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, the two spent the week on the beach relaxing, building sand castles and plotting their next move. Lucas knew Spielberg wanted to direct a James Bond movie who even went so far as offering his directing services during Moore's tenure, but the Broccoli's declined. Lucas told his friend he had something better than Bond; right down to the superfluous opening sequence. It would be homage to the serials of the 1930 & 40's, taking place in that era with a cliff-hanger occurring every ten minutes while fate hung in the balance at least every fifteen. Taken from the mold of Humphrey Bogart in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", Indiana Smith would hearken back to the golden age of heroes when good and evil were far more easily defined. Spielberg loved the idea, but didn't like the name Smith. No problem. Lucas changed it to Jones. It's hard to imagine anyone else in the Jones role, but Tom Selleck of Magnum P.I. fame actually won the part, but his boss at CBS said no right before filming was to commence. His screen test can be seen on the extras of the DVD and he looks the part and could have pulled it off. Fate stepped in and forced his obligations to his soon-to-premiere television series be top priority. The bitter irony is that a writers strike happened right after he lost the role that forced a production delay on Selleck’s series, which would have allowed him plenty of time to make the movie. Ouch! That’s gotta sting! For their second choice, Spielberg is rumored to have said, "We need someone like Harrison Ford." The rest is cinema history.
Archeologist Dr. Indiana “Henry” Jones is contacted by government officials who want him to retrieve the once thought lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do. Reuniting in Nepal with old flame, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) who has an ancient artifact that reveals the location of the ark, it's off to Cairo where we meet Sallah, (John Ryes-Davies) who has information on a Nazi dig site, supervised by Indy's arch rival Rene Belloq. A race ensues with Indy winning only to have Belloq steal the prize leaving Indy trapped in a tomb full of hissing snakes. Indy hates snakes! After escaping Belloq's trap one of the greatest stunts ever filmed occurs with Indy being dragged behind a truck, crawling underneath and back over the top to beat the Nazi driver, most of it done with Ford, a few times with a double, but all of it without computer trickery. In the end, the Nazis get the ark, but are quickly turned into puddles of goo thanks to the wizardry of ILM. The final scene of the movie, a wink to "Citizen Kane", has the "Ark of the Covenant" put into a crate and filed away into a huge government warehouse presumably to be forgotten.
Not only is the action superb and the pacing perfect, but the performances are all wonderfully clever. Ford's everyman persona began here, a filed-down version of Han Solo, Ford is slightly more charming and noble than the space pirate, but his penchant for finding trouble is something the two characters have in common. His smooth, charismatic performance is the best part of the flick. Indy is tough, but not indestructible. He gets shot, beaten, bruised and it shows. He's macho, but not too much as he keeps the attention of Marion and doesn’t like to fight unless he has to, (see his reluctance with the German mechanic) we care about him and above all else, he’s a diligent professional. An Oscar should have been awarded. In going retro, Lucas and Spielberg created the mold for every action movie to follow; a formula that's still being adhered to today. The eternally cute Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, (Sean Young screen-tested) gives an equally strong performance and shows she's not a damsel waiting to be rescued. When thugs come into her bar, she throws down with plenty of spirit and spunk by trying to out-drink them. John Ryes-Davies as Sallah (originally offered to Danny Devito) is goofy and fun as Indy's sidekick. Paul Freeman as Belloq is Lucas' answer to a Bond villain. Cultured, venal and used to getting his way, but will no way do the dirty work. Ronald Lacey is effectively slimy as the Nazi Toht apparently conjuring up the spirit of Peter Lorre. He has one of the best gags in the film as he turns what appears at first to be a torture device into a hanger for his coat. One of the many instances of embracing, yet subverting audiences expectations in regards to action movie cliches. The film is fearless in its compulsion to entertaining. It's a hodge-podge of movie memories specifically drawing on their good will; Flash Gordon serials, Tarzan movies, WWII adventures and any western worth a damn is thrown into the mix. From the incredible truck chase to the gloriously witty shooting of the Cairo swordsman, which was an on-the-set improvisation born out of Ford’s bout with dysentery to which Spielberg said, “Why don’t we shoot the fucker?”- a throw-away gag that has become one of the most iconic moments of all time. One of the film’s most famous lines was ad-libbed as well, with Ford quipping “It’s not the years, honey, it's the mileage." This is a film that demands and deserves all of its public and critical accolades and damn them all to hell for not giving it Best Picture of the Year at the 1982 Oscar ceremonies.
A misunderstood fact that is often regarded as error is how Indiana managed to survive a journey across the Mediterranean by hanging onto the conning tower of a submarine from the outside. Because, Submarines DO NOT submerge unless they are going into battle. ‘Raiders’ is a perfect display of everyone working in top form. From a smart, inventive, romantic script by Lawrence Kasdan, who go on to greater fame as a Director of "Body Heat", "Silverado" and "Grand Canyon," gave life to the iconic characters created by George Lucas and Phillip Kaufman; inspired, brisk direction by Spielberg and a boisterous, heroic score by John Williams; with everyone cooking with gas, how could they not make a modern masterpiece? A classic in every sense of the word, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" shall forever remain a personal favorite.