Harrison Ford's FIFTH time as Indiana Jones

First of all, let me assure everyone that, contrary to appearances, Windmills is NOT becoming a "Spielberg blog." After my two recent posts Great Cinematic Speeches and Spielberg and the "Landscape of the Human Face" (both of which were inspired by the re-viewing of two of Steven's movies) I realize that I really need to start writing about something else or people might get the impression I don't think/care about the work of any other filmmaker.

I did want to say, however, that I am VERY pleased to hear the news that the fourth, and apparently final, Indiana Jones film will begin shooting later this year. It appears that a script has at last been written (by David Koepp no less) that Spielberg, Lucas and Ford are all satisfied with. They all sound very excited about it, so why shouldn't I be?

Nevertheless, I must correct one misunderstanding that the press seem to be perpetuating (and I am really demonstrating my hopeless "geekiness" with this observation). Several publications have referred to this movie as the fourth Indiana Jones film. This is true. Some articles, however, have said that this is Ford's fourth time playing the role. This is not true. Ford has actually portrayed the part four times previously. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and a made-for-TV movie entitled The Mystery of the Blues. Granted, the movie was essentially a two-hour episode of the Lucas-produced Young Indiana Jones Chronicles series and a bearded Ford (ostensibly because he was also filming The Fugitive at that time) appeared in the film all of five minutes to basically book-end the "flashback" story, but it still counts as a performance by Ford as the character.

For anybody out there who might not believe me, here is the ending to that movie:



In the end, it may be a rather embarassing moment for both Lucas and Ford (not to mention Indy), but when I was younger I actually remember quite liking the show and staying up one night to watch The Mystery of the Blues simply because it was a thrilling prospect to see "the man" back in the hat again. Here's hoping Harrison's FIFTH time playing the role is much better than his fourth. :)