When the blockbuster action-adventure filmRaiders of the Lost Arkwas released in 1981, there had never been another film like it, just as there has certainly never been another film like it since. Of the countless influences that George Lucas andSteven Spielbergbrought toRaiders of the Lost Ark, the most direct influence, in terms of proximity, is the 1975 adventure filmThe Man Who Would Be King, which starsSean Conneryand Michael Caine as former British soldiers turned adventurers and con-men who travel to the faraway land of Kafiristan, where the would-be conquerors install themselves as kings.
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s 1888 novella of the same name and directed by the legendary John Huston,The Man Who Would Be King, likeRaiders of the Lost Ark, features exotic locations, perilous obstacles, swashbuckling adventure, andthrilling action sequences. LikeRaiders of the Lost Ark,The Man Who Would Be Kinghas the rare ability to make viewers of all ages feel like childlike dreamers.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of John Huston
Raiders of the Lost Ark
BesidesThe Man Who Would Be King,Raiders of the Lost Arkcontains references to several other John Huston-directed films, including the 1951 adventure filmThe African Queen, the 1941 film noirThe Maltese Falcon, and the 1948 WesternThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre, all of which star Humphrey Bogart. The tempestuous relationshipbetween Indiana Jonesand Karen Allen’s Marion Ravenwood inRaiders of the Lost Arkresembles the spirited chemistry that exists between Bogart and Katharine Hepburn inThe African Queen, in which Bogart and Hepburn’s characters, Charlie and Rose, are pitted against an army of German soldiers amid Charlie and Rose’s quest to destroy a German gunboat.
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InThe Maltese Falcon, Bogart’s character, hard-boiled private detective Sam Spade, becomes immersed in a quest to gain custody of the film’s titularbejeweled MacGuffin prize, which drives its pursuers to madness and murder, much like what happens with the Ark of the Covenant inRaiders of the Lost Ark. This theme of obsession is magnified inThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre, in which Bogart’s character, Fred C. Dobbs, becomes obsessed with finding treasure at the film’s titular mountain location.
Like Indiana Jones inRaiders of the Lost Ark,the adventurers inThe Man Who Would Be Kingembark on a quest for immortalitythat exceeds their grasp and understanding. However, while Jones accepts the folly of playing god before it’s too late, Sean Connery’s Daniel Dravot and Michael Caine’s Peachy Carnehan are punished severely for their hubris. This is highlighted in a scene in which Dravot is forced to traverse a rope bridge over a deep gorge, a precursor to the climactic scene inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Man Who Would Be King Have Humphrey Bogart In Common
John Huston, who loved reading Rudyard Kipling’sThe Man Who Would Be Kingnovella as a child,first attempted to launch a feature film adaptation in 1951, whenHumphrey Bogart was castas Peachy Carnehan, Michael Caine’s role in the 1975 film, while Clark Gable was slated to play Daniel Dravot, Sean Connery’s eventual role. However, following Bogart’s death in 1957 and then Gable’s passing in 1960, the project floundered. Huston later approached Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, followed by Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole, and then Robert Redford and Paul Newman to play Carnehan and Dravot before Connery and Caine were cast.
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George Lucas and Steven Spielberg modeled the Indiana Jones character after Bogart, whose performance inThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre, in which Bogart wears a fedora and a weathered leather jacket, formed the basis of Lucas and Spielberg’sconceptualization of Indiana Jones.
Of course,Lucas and Spielberg found their Bogart inRaiders of the Lost Arkstar Harrison Ford, whose roguish masculinity and rugged handsomeness, combined with Ford’s ability to portray characters who are alternately flawed and heroic, elicited comparisons between Bogart and Ford from many critics in the 1980s and 1990s. Ford later directly modeled himself after Bogart in the 1995 filmSabrina, a remake of the 1954 romantic comedy-drama film of the same name, in which Bogart stars as Linus Larrabee, the role Ford plays in the remake.
Steven Spielberg Grew Up Idolizing Sean Connery
Before George Lucas and Steven Spielberg collaborated onRaiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg, who was a lifelongJames Bond and Sean Conneryfan, aspired to direct a James Bond film in the 1970s. While Spielberg was denied this opportunity by the overseers of the James Bond franchise, the James Bond influence is certainly present throughout theIndiana Jonesfilm series and factored heavily in Spielberg’s decision to have Sean Connery play Indiana Jones’ father, Henry Jones Sr., inIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the third installment in the film series.
However,Connery’s presence inIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadealso reflects the influence ofThe Man Who Would Be King, as the effortless chemistry that exists between Connery and Michael Caine inThe Man Who Would Be Kingis certainly present inIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadewith Connery and Harrison Ford. Indeed, while Ford had solid support from actresses Karen Allen and Kate Capshaw in the previous films, Connery and Ford seem like partners inIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade, much like Connery and Caine inThe Man Who Would Be King, in which Connery, who died in 2020 at the age of 90, and Caine have both listed as being their favorite of all the films they’ve appeared in.The Man Who Would Be Kingis streaming onTubi.Raiders of the Lost Arkis streaming onDisney+.
