Behind the scenes: the Indiana Jones films

Fantastic production photos of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and the cast at work on all four Indiana Jones films.

23 May 2014

The 33-year-old Steven Spielberg gets down on the floor to survey a miniature desert base during the model work on Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Spielberg chats with his star, Harrison Ford, while a decomposed friend looks on
More subterranean ghoulishness, with Spielberg lining up a shot of Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) in peril
Looking the part for a Boy’s Own adventure in the desert, Spielberg gives direction to actor John Rhys-Davies. Davies plays Indy’s friend Sallah, ‘the best digger in Cairo’
Karen Allen gets an unexpected ride in the back of a hay cart during a chase through the streets of Cairo
Filming the scene of a fight on the Nazi plane
Actor Paul Freeman sits in the makeup chair, ready to have his face transformed for a heated moment as the villainous French archaeologist Belloq
Adding the finishing touches to the special makeup effects for the opening scene in which one of Belloq’s greedy stooges gets his comeuppance
In cinematographer Douglas Slocombe’s chair, Spielberg enjoys a moment in between takes with 12-year-old actor Ke Huy Quan (who plays Indy’s sidekick Short Round) on location in India for the second film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Spielberg oversees the scene in which nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) is locked into a cage by members of the Thuggee cult and offered as a sacrifice to the goddess Kali. Spielberg and Capshaw later tied the knot
Spielberg with actors Kate Capshaw and Ke Huy Quan in the mining cart used for the breathless chase sequence towards the end of the film
Spielberg and writer-producer George Lucas tread the treacherous rope bridge used in the finale of Indiana Jones and the Temple. The rope bridge set was constructed at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire
A dinner-jacketed Harrison Ford readies to film the Shanghai nightclub scene that begins ‘Indy II’
Spielberg frames a shot during the nightclub sequence after Indy’s friend Wu Han is shot
Getting down on the dancefloor: Spielberg with Kate Capshaw
On a camera crane, Spielberg films a deadly skirmish on the remains of the rope bridge, hanging down the cliff edge
Lucas readies a scene with Sean Connery and John Rhys-Davies on horseback in the canyon in Petra, Jordan for the 3rd film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Connery plays Prof Henry Jones. He is kidnapped by the Nazis in search for the Holy Grail
Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are bound together in a mechanical, revolving fireplace in the German castle sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Spielberg takes a moment to put his feet up and have a script read through
Lucas and Spielberg on location for the third Indy adventure
Here’s Lucas and Allen sharing a moment between takes in production on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Spielberg and Lucas filming together again, on location in the deserts of the American southwest for the final film in the series
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