posted 06-15-2011 10:20 AM                    

quote: Vic Armstrong

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In “Raiders” there’s that famous scene where Indy meets this hulking great Arab swordsman and simply shoots him dead. Originally there was an elaborate fight sequence planned and a stunt team went up to the coast for two weeks working it out. They really drew the easy ticket – we heard all this talk about fabulous beaches and topless tourists, and there we were stuck down in bloody Nefta with the dysentery mob. When the main crew finished with us they flew up to the coast to join Peter Diamond, who showed Steven the fight routine. Big Terry Richards played the Arab and he swished his sword about and then the fight carried on through the whole of the Casbah.

Steven watched and said, “Look, I’m going to shoot whatever I can until three o’clock because then I’m getting out of here.” Peter Diamond was dumbstruck: “You can’t do that, it’s gonna take four days to film this fight. It’s a huge fight and the guys have been rehearsing it for weeks.’ Steven said, ‘I’ve got a plane coming at three, I’m out of here, I’ve got enough, I don’t need any more here.’ Tomblin butted in, ‘For Christ’s sake Steven, you’ve got to do this.’ But Steven was standing firm, “No, I’m out at three.” Tomblin said, “Well, it’s stupid doing this whole routine, you might as well just shoot the guy with a gun.” “Don’t be facetious Dave.” Then Steven paused. “I’ll tell you what, let’s try that. Yes, let’s try just shooting him.” And the rest is history.

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quote: "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films" (Laurent Bouzereau & J.W. Rinzler, Ballantine, 2008)

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Spielberg and Lucas had one ongoing discussion about how a particular scene should play. The final decision came late on May 9, 1981, but the story, told by [co-executive producer] Howard Kazanjian, begins with the first cut:

"So Steven Spielberg brings the film up for us to see. He's cut the film and George and I are looking at the film, and the version Steven has shown us is the one where Harrison takes out his gun and shoots the Arab. The lights come on and it's quiet for a minute, and then George's comment is something like, 'Very good. It works. But what happened to the scene where Harrison fights the Arab?' And Steven says, 'Well, I thought this worked better, this is funnier.' George says, 'I don't know.' Now, Steven goes back to Hollywood and leaves his editor, Michael Kahn, for George to do his version. Two weeks later, Steven comes back up and sees George's version.

"So we look at the film and in this version we have the full fight. Lights come back up and Steven says, 'Boy, you really tightened up the film.' Dead quiet. 'I like it. But, George, I think it works best with Harrison shooting the Arab.' And George says, 'Well, we're gonna test it with an audience. We'll test it two ways.'

"And what George has always done with his films is to test-screen them when they're finished, usually down at the Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco. He just gets different classifications of people into the theater, older people and whatnot, and then you get a reaction from them. Well, when we ran Raiders, we ran the Spielberg version of Harrison shooting the Arab - and the audience went crazy. It was the biggest laugh in the movie. George says, 'Well, I guess that works.' And that's the story of how Indiana Jones shoots the guy instead of fighting him."

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posted 06-21-2011 10:47 AM                    

quote: Bobby Henderson

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I first watched Raiders of the Lost Ark during its original release at a theater in New Orleans. I forget the name of the place; it was near Oakwood Mall on the West Bank not far from where my family lived in Gretna.

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quote: Bobby Henderson

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I don't know if any movie theaters in New Orleans showed Raiders in 70mm. I didn't know enough about the tech side of theaters and film prints at that time to search for theaters that did show it in 70mm.

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quote: Robert Throop

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I'm certain that Sangertown didn't have any Dolby processors at this point. They had Eprad Starlets and advertised Dolby.

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quote: Victor Liorentas

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Sorry Michael! I love all your stuff going way back to Widescreen Review!

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Thank you, but you guys don't need to kiss my ass. It's nice, of course, but in a way makes me uncomfortable. I think too often people mistakenly assume I'm fishing for compliments. What I had asked for earlier were comments, not compliments, meaning whatever crossed your mind as you read the thing. I thought I'd at least get Richard Hamilton to chime in and mention the article was too long.

And, lastly, on the subject of the shooting of the swordsman thing, I just want to mention that at last week's 30th anniversary event at the Academy, during the intro to the screening, the host mentioned how the movie's most popular scene had been improvised and that "200 people took credit for it"!

posted 06-22-2011 05:14 AM                    

quote:

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at last week's 30th anniversary event at the Academy, during the intro to the screening, the host mentioned how the movie's most popular scene had been improvised and that "200 people took credit for it"!

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