Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
Spain / Elstree Studios – 1988
I was thrilled and bemused in equal measure by the invitation to work on ‘Indy III’ as it was referred to, not only because I was a fan of the series but also as recalled in the introduction I was booted off 'Temple of Doom' after sneaking into Elstree Studios in 1983. The same production team had been corralled for Indy3, 1st Assistant Director David Tomblin, the man who collared me on the closed set of Temple of Doom, and Production Manager, Pat Carr, the person who had called security to unceremoniously eject me from Elstree Studios. But this time I was legitimate, driving on to the lot at Elstree Studios, being actually paid to stand on set and watch director, Steven Spielberg, Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe and of course Harrison Ford, as they played out the next installment of the iconic adventurer.
At this point I was still a camera assistant but things were to change during this film as the American director, Les Mayfield again, was not always in the UK and I was left to look after the sound and camera equipment. He encouraged me to shoot occasionally, and without permission I would sometimes use the camera on music videos, shooting additional angles or pick up shots for a friend.
London's docklands, long abandoned as working docks, stood in for the Venice docks where Indy beats a retreat in a motor launch. Harrison and Alison Doody were poised, ready in the boat moored on the quayside when the actor playing the driver pointed out the bracket he was to untie the boat from was hanging loose. So filming halted while someone called for 'standby props' – the person always on hand to resolve such hitches. So it was requested that all get out of the boat while the fix took place. Well, Harrison was having none of it and calmly requested he be handed the screwdriver. He then proceeded to fix the bracket himself, handed the screwdriver back and uttered the words: “OK, lets shoot”. I really can't imagine anyone else of his fame in the business so casually offering to get the show rolling like this, my hero!
And so it was back to Spain for three weeks to film the sequence where Indy tries to rescue his Father, played by Sean Connery, from the belly of a German tank. Filmed in the Tabernas Desert situated in the Province of Almeria. As with 'Empire' the shooting crew would travel to Almeria on a charter plane. So keen was Les Mayfield to showboat his directing bravura to Spielberg and producer Frank Marshall that no sooner had the wheels of the Boeing ceased rolling he had me clambering around in the belly of the plane locating the camera box. He wanted to film the landing of the private Warner Bros jet that was flying a couple of miles behind us, bringing Steven, Harrison, Sean, and producers Frank Marshall and Cathy Kennedy.
I had already loaded it with film stock before leaving London so just had to hustle to get a lens and battery on the Aaton camera and hand it to the (British) cameraman, Nigel Kirton. Well, we captured this unremarkable event, which never saw the light of day but Les no doubt won his gold star that morning.
VIC ARMSTRONG
There is an amazing and fairly unique stunt performed by the 'worlds greatest living stuntman', Vic Armstrong, doubling for Harrison. Harrison is a very accomplished horse rider but the stunt involved Indy riding on a ledge chasing the tank, standing up in the stirrups then leaping off the horse on to the tank! The build up was all shot with Harrison riding, and before filming Harrison jokingly went through the storyboards with his horse explaining what he had to do in the scene, wish all actors were this easy to work with, Vic did several dry runs to match the speed of the tank then nailed the stunt in one take.
SEAN CONNERY
Meeting Connery, an imposing six foot plus, no nonsense, Scotsman was a real thrill. My hand literally disappeared in his unusually gentle grip as we shook hands. The years had clearly buried some of the rakish charm of 007 but he was nevertheless a commanding figure who I think even Harrison was in admiration of his presence. The dusty, arid heat of the desert and Connery's no nonsense sensibility was clearly demonstrated during one scene with Harrison. Sean's costume was a thick tweed wool suit that was beginning to ramp up his irascible nature. He asked Spielberg how he was framing the 2-shot and when the response indicated just above the waist, Sean decided to remove his trousers and hand them to his wardrobe assistant. Well, not to be outdone or intimidated by this, Harrison dropped his khaki pants also, and the two of them continued to shoot the scene trouser-less.
ELSTREE STUDIOS
Interiors including the cave holding the Holy Grail at the end of the film were shot at Elstree Studios. The first time Harrison walked on set dressed in his adventurers uniform complete with Fedora and whip it was not like meeting the actor but you were really in the company of Indiana Jones such is the power of the iconic costume designed originally by Deborah Nadoolman.
Harrison wasn't one for retreating to his trailer in-between takes, he would sit by the open studio loading door reading an American newspaper, enjoying the unusual British summer sun. Of course this meant he was open to those working in the studio to approach for an autograph but Harrison would just briefly look up and refuse explaining he was working.
Les arranged for the costume designer Anthony Powell to do an interview about the genesis of the costume and this was a day we had no cameraman so I was doing everything, camera, lights and sound! - I set up a shot in the costume department, Anthony arrived, I rolled the camera and for 10 minutes (the length of a roll of 16mm) Anthony gave a wonderful definitive review of the process creating this iconic costume. Unfortunately as the film reached its end I turned to Les Mayfield and said I think we better do one more take as it was not so good for sound, Les said it would be fine, but I pointed surreptitiously down to the Nagra tape recorder and said: “No, Les, the sound 'quality' is the difference between this” (showing him the RECORD position on the machine) “and THIS” (showing him the STANDBY position) I had forgotten to turn standby to record. Les made excuses and Anthony perfectly revisited his own words.
The interior of the tank was an oversized set to accommodate Sean Connery, Denholm Elliot and a German Gunner, played by stuntman Tip Tipping. To simulate the mayhem of the exterior shots shot in Spain, artificial smoke was introduced to the set, unfortunately an over zealous FX operator pumped a blinding burst of smoke into the set. The actors disappeared, engulfed by the dense fog and a spluttering Connery emerged from the set absolutely livid, clearly not at all amused. Spielberg looked a little nervous not sure how to mollify the angry Scot, so he just joined in with some mock anger at the FX department. The culprit melted into the shadows and another member of the FX was put in charge of the smoke machine. Just a note, I never saw Spielberg ever really lose his temper, he sometimes would look frustrated or disappointed but I never heard him raise his voice in anger, saving the loudest shout for the word, “ACTION!”
ITALY & JORDAN
A reduced shooting unit travelled first to Venice, Italy then on to Petra in Jordan to record the ending scene of the movie. Only a couple of shots were filmed in Venice, one involved Harrison climbing out of a drain hole in the middle of St Mark's Square. The Venetians being clearly too cool to react to the sight of Indiana Jones emerging from the sewers carried on sipping their espresso's all but ignoring the scene.
After three days in Venice the circus as film crews are often referred to, flew on to Petra in Jordan. At that time, Petra only had one quality tourist hotel and the entire crew were housed in it. To reach the entrance to “The Treasury” which was supposed to be the entrance to the cave containing the Holy Grail we had to trek down a dark narrow gorge in the red sandstone rock, humping the bloody equipment. The actual cave interior was an enormous set back at Elstree Studios complete with a hydraulic floor that could break up for the final shots then be reset for another take.
On location in Petra, Jordan
Lunch was back at the hotel and as we just about taken over the hotel an enormous banqueting table was laid in the dining room so we could all eat together. King Hussain of Jordan's wife, his fourth, Queen Noor Lisa Najeeb Halaby was also to take lunch with us. A Washington Born Air Hostess who became the first American Queen of an Arab country. Most of the food was already on the table, a copious spread of mezze and Arabic breads, but as a courtesy we waited for her to arrive. As she entered the room we all stood, well I say all, Sean Connery sat firmly welded to his seat his plate already loaded tucking into the selection of fresh salads and Arabic dips. Queen Noor casually walked to her seat, slotted between Connery and Harrison Ford, smirking at Connery as she sat. Clearly her relaxed American heritage had not evaded her new position in Jordanian royalty.
We did Connery's interview on the Petra location, nestled in a nook set in the wall of the basin. He warmly greeted all of us and my puny hand literally disappeared into his prodigious palm. You never really get a sense of the size actor really are when you see them on screen but Connery was certainly from the strapping stable. He was, as you would expect, charming, accommodating and charismatic. It's always tempting to say he was the best Bond but I wisely kept that thought internal. We only stayed in Petra for three days then filming resumed at Elstree.
Elstree & the Rats!
The sequence where Indy and Elsa Schnieder (played by British Actress, Alison Doody) wade through water logged subterranean catacombs involved breeding over 3,000 rats to ensure they did not have any diseases. These were supplemented by mechanical versions and hundreds of rubber rats for dressing in the background. The live rats would be released into the set to crawl and swim around Harrison and Alison, mindful that cruelty to any animal on films is illegal Steven wanted proof that the rats could swim! The rat wrangler scooped up two volunteers and plopped them both into the murky waist deep waters of the set, they paddled manically in circles for a few moments, headed for the ledge around the set, jumped out and promptly scurried away never to be seen again. I suspect about 80% of the live rats never made it back to their holding pens. No doubt the survivors were sent to a rat sanctuary, what do you think? At one point I was shifting some false rocks outside the sound stage to prepare an area to interview Harrison and Vic Armstrong together and as I pulled the rock into position about twenty startled rats burst out from underneath bolting in every direction to find another hiding hole. They must have been all over the studio keeping the studio cat busy no doubt.
It's not surprising that given the iconic status of Indiana Jones the film attracted many celebrity set visits and one of the more interesting ones for me was the arrival of Michael Jackson. A few minutes before he arrived we were given strict instructions not to film anything of this visit, which I thought a bit unnecessary. Walking through the stage door followed by at least six or seven burly black guys who looked like security but may have been management; the crew fell silent. Jackson climbed the stairs to the raised set and walked past me towards Spielberg. Well, I got a front row view of his nose surgery and the scar tissue was clearly visible with a coating of brown makeup clearly pasted over his skin. His legs and arms spindly, when he spoke it was almost whispered, a reedy shy delivery. He sat with Harrison as Steven watched some playback during which he could not resist blurting out: “ooh, I'm bad!” which got a giggle out of Jackson. I'm not sure if it was about this time that Michael was hoping to be cast as Peter Pan. He wasn't, but clearly he was in his own mind?
Encouraged by Les Mayfield to shoot more often, this was to be the last job I did as camera assistant. I left the Guild, found a new diary service and began a new career as cameraman. It was also the last time I worked with Les although his company continued to hire me on many more films, as you will read later. Les went on to fulfill his Hollywood dream and impressed Frank Marshall and Spielberg enough to secure his first feature film as director. The Disney film, 'Encino Man' (Titled 'California Man' in UK) starring Brendan Fraser was a box office success and Les went on to direct, 'Flubber', 'Miracle on 34th Street’ and many other family oriented movies.
Production Budget $45 million (estimated)
Worldwide Box Office $475 million