"Look this is a B-movie. They used to make four of them a
week, at each studio, for fifteen
years from '30s into '40s,"
said Lucas. To draw inspiration
they watched all fifteen episodes
of Don
Winslow of the Navy and
came to the conclusion that
little things had managed to
stand the test of time. 1980s
audience had become more sophisticated
than it was forty years before
and would never eat this stuff.
What they would have to do was
use these serials as a starting
point and create something original.
Lucas suggested
that Spielberg should find a
writer of his choice, so he
set out to find the person who
would put their adventurous
ideas on paper. Spielberg proposed
Lawrence Kasdan whose script
on Continental
Divide had impressed
him and Lucas agreed.
Lawrence Kasdan |
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In January 1978
Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan
met at Jane Bay's house, Lucas'
secretary, in Los Angeles to
discuss in detail the film's
story. The film's main character
would be named Indiana Smith
after Lucas' beloved female
Alaskan Malamute dog, Indiana,
who used to sit with him during
writing sessions. Spielberg
didn't like the name Smith,
he was afraid it would remind
to audience Nevada
Smith, a character played
by Steve McQueen in a 1966 film.
Lucas then suggested the Jones
name. Another situation that
had to be dealt with was Indiana's
personality. Lucas imagined
him as a playboy who uses his
expeditions to fund his lifestyle.
Actually he had Kasdan write
a scene in which Marcus Brody
visits Indy at his home and
finds a tuxedo wearing Indy
while a beautiful Jean Harlow-type
blonde is glimpsed sipping champagne
in the living room. Spielberg
and Kasdan thought that the
two sides of Indy, professor
and adventurer, were complicated
enough. Adding a playboy side
would make things even more
complicated, something that
wasn't necessary. On the other
hand Spielberg had the idea
of making Indy an alcoholic,
kind like Fred C. Dobbs, Humphrey
Bogart's character from Treasure
of Sierra Madre. Lucas
disliked the idea because he
wanted him to be a role model
for children. "He has to
be a person we can look up to.
We're doing a role model for
little kids, so we have to be
careful. We need someone who's
honest and true and trusting."
So, they compromised and Indy
became neither playboy, nor
alcoholic.
Indiana Jones sketch. |
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After five consecutive
9-hour days the three men had
completed the story line. Lucas
had divided the story in 60
scenes, each two pages long,
and had outlined six cliffhangers.
A peril turned up every twenty
pages or so. Like in the old
serials the hero would get in
a deadly situation every ten
minutes, only that "this
time the audience wouldn't have
to wait a week to find out where
the escape hatch is hidden,"
as Richard Schickel wrote in
Time
magazine. The trick was that
the danger would be as real
as possible and would require
the hero's cleverness to surpass
it.
By August
1978 Kasdan had finished his
first draft and hand-delivered
it to Lucas. When they met Lucas
took the script, laid it aside,
told Kasdan that he would read
it later that night and offered
him to go for lunch. During
the lunch in the restaurant
Lucas offered to Kasdan to write
the script for The
Empire Strikes Back.
Unfortunately, Leigh Brackett,
the film's writer had passed
away right after delivering
her first draft and Lucas wanted
someone to make revisions. "Don't
you think you should read Raiders
first?" was Kasdan's reply.
"Well, I just get a feeling
about people. Of course if I
hate Raiders,
I'll take back this offer,"
said Lucas. The next morning
Lucas called Kasdan and told
him he was ecstatic about the
Raiders
script and he was very anxious
for him to work on Empire.
Indy vs. snake sketch. |
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Lawrence Kasdan's script satisfied both
Spielberg and Lucas. It was
a great story taking place in
various parts of the world,
including Peru, the United States,
Shanghai, Nepal, Egypt and Greece.
In his effort to find, and obtain
the Ark Indy would have to face
Nazis, booby traps, raging natives,
Arabian swordsmen, poison darts,
super-weapons, experimental
aircrafts, mystical powers and
snakes, lots of snakes.
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The
Killer Deal >>
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