For those old enough to remember the arrival of Raiders of the Lost Ark, its arrival on 12th June 1981 (30th July in the UK) was the biggest thing to happen to cinema since the arrival of Star Wars just over four years before. Incredibly Raiders, arguably the greatest action movie in motion picture history which brought in $389.9 million off a frugal $18 million budget, is now forty years old and Karen Allen sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to look back at those early days of adventure and a scene which the actress added great value to.
“A scene I really didn’t like was where I am captured and in the tent and Paul Freeman as [René] Belloq comes in and brings a dress,” Allen begins. “The scene as it was originally written was much more about me trying to seduce Belloq in order to escape. And from the very beginning, I thought, ‘No. If we really think that even for a moment she really would sleep with him in order to escape, then the love story between her and Indiana really didn’t have much power.’ The way the scene was written, she didn’t have that strength of purpose.”
Allen took her concerns to Spielberg, who for the most part wanted to stick to the script. However, he said if Allen could come up with something better, then that is what they would shoot. “Paul Freeman and I at lunch would improvise. And out of that came that scene in which I try to drink Belloq under the table. The seduction part then is only a ruse. The little piece I also added is she puts the dress on in order to hide the knife under her clothing. It gave the character a kind of integrity and a real sense of loyalty and love to Indiana Jones. I always felt that at the heart of it is this young girl who fell madly in love with him and has never been able to get over him.”
Allen also spoke with UPROXX about the film and the contentious issue of Marions age when she fell in love with Indiana.
“I think I say I was 16. I don’t know. That’s always what I imagined is she was 16, he was 26. And he was her father’s student. And it’s left very mysterious”
“So we don’t even know what it is. I mean, they could have kissed a few times, and she was just completely bowled over, and he could have just not wanted to get involved with someone so young.”
“And maybe my father would have been furious at him. I mean, what’s great about it is we don’t know what the circumstances are. So she obviously cared deeply for him. He may have cared for her, too. But, in the end, decided it was a dangerous situation and he didn’t want to be involved.”
“I mean, I guess, when something is as vague as that, you can colour it any way you want to colour it. I’ve tended to colour it, sort of, that it was quite innocent. When she says, ‘It was wrong and you knew it.’ I mean, I think maybe he led her on in some way. But when she says she was a child, I think she meant she was 16. Something like that.”
- Hardcover Book
- Scott, Cavan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 448 Pages - 06/29/2021 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
