50 Fun Facts About Raiders of the Lost Ark

In what year is Raiders of the Lost Ark set?

That places it three years before Last Crusade and a year after Temple of Doom, which was made second but set first.

What does Indiana Jones grab from the booby-trapped temple in the film's opening sequence?

The idol was modelled on a real Aztec-style birthing figure, and Belloq takes it off him minutes later.

The opening temple is in which country?

The jungle exteriors were actually shot on Kauai in Hawaii, with Kalalea Mountain standing in for the Andes.

Which rival archaeologist takes the idol from Indy and later opens the Ark for the Nazis?

Paul Freeman played him; during one scene a fly crawled onto his lip mid-line and he simply kept talking.

The Nazis are excavating for the Ark of the Covenant at which ancient Egyptian city?

The real Tanis was a Nile-delta capital; the film's version was built in the Tunisian desert.

In which country does Indy find Marion Ravenwood running a bar?

The bar was a set at Elstree Studios in England, and Karen Allen's drinking-contest introduction became her signature scene.

What does the Gestapo agent Toht end up with burned into the palm of his hand?

The Nazis build their Staff of Ra from that scorched half of the design and dig in the wrong place because of it.

The Ark's resting place beneath Tanis, crawling with snakes, is called what?

The production asked snake handlers around Europe for reptiles and ended up with thousands, plus one cobra kept behind glass.

What does the Nazis' French archaeologist find inside the Ark when he opens it on the island?

Then the spirits arrive; the puppets were shot suspended in a clouded water tank against blue screen.

How do Indy and Marion survive the opening of the Ark?

A 2013 Big Bang Theory episode argued this proves Indy is irrelevant to the plot: the Nazis would have died opening it anyway.

At the end, the Army Intelligence agents say the Ark is being studied by whom?

The final shot of the crate lost among thousands of others is one of the most parodied images in film.

Who directed Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Lucas came up with the story and produced; the beach conversation where he pitched it happened just after Star Wars opened.

Who wrote the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark?

He had been a professional screenwriter for about a month when Lucas hired him, and went straight on to The Empire Strikes Back.

When Lucas pitched the idea on a Hawaiian beach, what did Spielberg say he wanted to direct next?

Lucas's answer was that he had something better than Bond, and pitched The Adventures of Indiana Smith.

Lucas named his archaeologist hero after what?

The Alaskan Malamute also inspired Chewbacca; Last Crusade later worked the dog joke into the script.

What was the hero's surname before Spielberg objected to it?

Spielberg thought it sounded like a Steve McQueen character, so the three men settled on Jones.

Which writer-director, credited on the story, suggested making the Ark of the Covenant the film's goal?

He also stripped out Lucas's idea of the hero as a nightclub-hopping womaniser.

Which actor was originally cast as Indiana Jones but was tied to a TV series?

The pilot he had shot was picked up as Magnum, P.I., and Ford was hired only weeks before cameras rolled.

Why was Lucas hesitant to cast his eventual leading man?

Ford's eventual deal gave him a seven-figure fee, a slice of the gross and the right to rewrite his own dialogue.

Spielberg noticed Karen Allen for Marion because of her role in which 1978 comedy?

Sean Young, Barbara Hershey and Stephanie Zimbalist were also discussed, and Lucas wanted Debra Winger.

Which sitcom kept Danny DeVito from playing Sallah?

John Rhys-Davies took the part and returned for Last Crusade and Dial of Destiny.

Which notoriously volatile German actor turned down the role of Toht for a better-paying horror film?

He chose Venom instead; Ronald Lacey got the part and the gelatin face.

Which future Doctor Octopus made his film debut as Indy's treacherous guide Satipo?

The tarantulas on his back refused to move because they were placid males, so the wranglers swapped in a female to stir them.

Which actor plays museum curator Marcus Brody, Indy's loyal friend?

The character became comic relief in Last Crusade, getting lost in his own museum.

The Paramount studio logo dissolves into a real mountain at the start of the film. Where is that peak?

The match was Spielberg's on-set improvisation and became a running gag in every sequel.

Principal photography began in June 1980 in which French port, for the U-boat scenes?

The submarine was borrowed from the production of Das Boot on condition it never went into deep water.

Which country stood in for Egypt during filming?

The Cairo streets were shot in Kairouan, in heat that often topped 130°F, and over 150 crew caught amoebic dysentery.

Why was the elaborate whip-versus-sword fight in the Cairo market cut down to a single gunshot?

Stuntman Terry Richards had rehearsed for weeks; the shortcut became the most quoted moment in the film.

The rolling boulder was built from fibreglass, plaster and wood. How wide was the finished prop?

The original design called for 65 feet; even at a third of that, Ford outran it for ten takes.

Sound designer Ben Burtt made the boulder's rumble by recording what?

The snake slither was his hands in cheese casserole plus wet sponges dragged over grip tape.

Where did the sound of Indy's signature crack come from?

The punches, by contrast, were baseball bats hitting leather jackets.

During the fight beneath the Flying Wing, what happened to Ford?

The wheel kept going toward his knee before the brakes were hit; the brawl with Pat Roach was largely improvised.

Toht's melting face was made from layers of what, warmed by propane heaters?

Chris Walas built it over a heat-resistant stone skull; the effect helped push the film toward an R rating before flames were added over Belloq's death.

Which effects company, under Richard Edlund, handled the film's visual effects?

The Ark's spirits were small robed puppets suspended in a clouded water tank in front of a blue screen.

After treating Indy's fedora with Fuller's earth and oil, what did Deborah Nadoolman do to it?

The point was a silhouette you could recognise instantly, which the poster then leaned on.

Who composed the score, including "The Raiders March"?

He played Spielberg two candidate themes; Spielberg wanted both, so they became the march's main theme and its bridge.

The travel montages of a red line crossing a map were included mainly for what reason?

Spielberg, stung by going over budget on 1941, brought the film in under its self-imposed 73-day schedule.

Paramount demanded an 85-day shoot. How many days did the filmmakers actually take?

The studio had been wary because Spielberg's previous film, 1941, was over budget and a critical failure.

Which studio head accepted Lucas's unusual deal in exchange for the rights to any sequels?

Every other studio had passed, partly over the $20 million budget and partly over Lucas's terms.

What was the film's production budget?

It went on to earn roughly $390 million worldwide across its original run and re-releases.

Raiders was the highest-grossing film of 1981. Which other 1981 hit was its main summer rival?

Reports said audiences only considered other films once both were sold out.

How many Academy Awards did Raiders of the Lost Ark win?

Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects; it lost Best Picture to Chariots of Fire.

Which of these Oscar nominations did Raiders receive but NOT win?

Its four losing nominations were Picture, Director, Cinematography and Original Score.

Between 1982 and 1989 three children in Ocean Springs, Mississippi did what?

Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala and Jayson Lamb spent their adolescence on it, and Spielberg eventually congratulated them.

In what year was Raiders of the Lost Ark added to the US National Film Registry?

The AFI put it at number 60 on its 1997 list of the 100 greatest American films, and Empire readers once voted it seventh best of all time.

Which sequel, released in 1984, is actually a prequel set before Raiders?

Its Shanghai nightclub and mine-cart chase were ideas cut from the Raiders story conferences.

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Lucas's TV spin-off, aired in which years?

Sean Patrick Flanery played the young Indy and Harrison Ford cameoed once as the older one.

The fifth film in the series, released in June 2023, was subtitled what?

The Great Circle is a 2024 video game and Fate of Atlantis a 1992 one; Ford was 80 when the fifth film came out.

The U-boat used for the capture of the Bantu Wind was borrowed from which 1981 war film?

It was lent on condition that it was never taken into deep water, and real wartime U-boat pens at La Rochelle played the Nazi dock.

Spielberg cast Paul Freeman as Belloq after seeing his piercing eyes in which 1980 docudrama?

Giancarlo Giannini and the singer Jacques Dutronc were also considered for the sophisticated villain.