Indiana Jones and the Bullet Blog

by Julie Coulter Bellon

After spending last night and most of the early morning in the ER with one of my sons, this is going to be a bullet blog. (My son is going to be fine. It was just a really long night and I’m exhausted.)


All of the movie talk these days has me really excited to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this afternoon. In a behind the scenes peek, I have found some interesting trivia for you (thank you imdb) regarding this new release.

Did you know:

• Sean Connery was approached for a cameo appearance as Henry Jones Sr., Indiana's father, but he turned it down, finding retirement too enjoyable. George Lucas later stated that in retrospect it was good that Jones Sr. did not appear, as it would disappoint the audience when he would not come along for the adventure. Harrison Ford also joked that he was getting old enough to play his own father, so Sean wasn't needed anymore.
  
  
• Before ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ was chosen as the title, several other titles were considered and even registered with the MPAA in August 2007, including ‘The City of Gods’, ‘The Destroyer of Worlds’, ‘The Fourth Corner of the Earth’, ‘The Lost City of Gold’, and finally, ‘The Quest for the Covenant’.
  
  
• This is the first Indiana Jones film without Pat Roach, who had a role in the first three films. Roach died in 2004. (He played a sherpa, chief guard, and a Gestapo in the other three.)
  
  
• To reprise his role as the legendary explorer Indiana Jones, the 64-year-old Harrison Ford spent three hours a day at the gym, and subsisted on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables, thus building his body into a condition where he could perform his own stunts (he always kept himself fit anyway, as he hoped to complete all the five Indiana Jones films that were originally planned in the 1980s). Steven Spielberg later stated he was so impressed with Ford's form that he could not tell the difference between the shoots for the third and fourth films.
  
  
• When asked if Harrison Ford was too old to return as Indy, producer Frank Marshall quoted Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): "It's not the years, it's the mileage." He explained that it would be interesting to see Indy in a different decade, and deal with all kinds of new and interesting things. The age also adds to Indy as a fallible and therefore believable character.
  
  
• At a pre-production press conference at Yale, producer Frank Marshall said that Indy's fictional Marshall College is indeed named after him. He quipped, "If my last name was Yale, it would be Yale College."
  
  
  And here are some very interesting trivia facts about Harrison Ford himself.
  
  
  Did you know:
  
  
  
• Neither of Harrison Ford's two most famous roles (Han Solo and Indiana Jones) were offered to him first. Tom Selleck was the first choice to play Indiana Jones and Christopher Walken was the first choice to play Han Solo.
  
  
• Harrison scared director Steven Spielberg and the crew during Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) when, without warning, he ran out across the rope bridge used in the film's climax to test its safety.
  
  
• Has a species of Central American ant (Peidole harrisonfordi) and spider (Calponia Harrisonfordi) named after him in honor of his conservation work.
  
  
• Credited with "creating" what many believe to be the best scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) because he was suffering from a bout of dysentery at the time of filming: during the scene in Cairo with the swordsman in black, the script called for a much longer fight, but because of his condition, he quietly asked director Steven Spielberg if they could shorten the scene. Spielberg's reply was that the only way it could be done would be if Indy pulled out his gun and "just shot the guy." The rest of the crew, not aware of the change, laughed at this, and it remained in the final cut.
  
  
• Has a scar on his chin which he got when he tried to "buckle up" while already driving, and lost control of the car. The scar was explain in the introductory sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), when an inexperienced young Indy hits himself in the chin the first time he tries to use the whip;
  
  
  
• And my favorite trivia bit: Harrison Ford’s favorite record is "On the Edge," by his favorite artist, Patrick Rondat. And if I squint really hard it could say his favorite book is “On the Edge,” by Julie Coulter Bellon. What? A girl can dream can’t she?

I love little trivia facts and I hope that when The Nephite Who Loved Me is released, we will get all the backstage scoop from Rob. He is so amazing at getting the tough interviews isn’t he? He definitely makes those hard-hitting questions count. What would the entertainment world be without him?

Well, look at the time! I need to get to the theater early to get a good seat and maybe a teeny nap so I don't miss one second of the action. Wish me luck!