Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always sort of known that the Indy movies were a pastiche or homage to a certain type of old film or story - but what? What original should I check out if I want the “indiana effect”?
Indie’s an homage to the old adventure serials of the 30s and 40s. I’m afraid I’m more familiar with the Sci-fi serials, I can’t really give a paricular title to look for.
They’re certainly made in imitation, as Tengu noted, of the old adventure serials, with all the cliffhangers in place. The difference is, you don’t have to wait until next week for the resolution. Spielberg and Lucas gave you immdiate payoff in the films.
As for which serials, I’m not familiar with them, but more than one writer has claimed that he Perils of Nyoka was a direct inspiration.
Of curse, there’s another source of Indiana JOnes. Read my Teemings piece Only the Penitent Duck Shall Pass:
Only the Penitent Duck Shall Pass (Teemings #5 June/July 2001) – http://www.teemings.com/issue05/penitent.html
In any civilized society…
Apart from the single-reel/three-reeler adventure films, there are plenty of borrowings from radio serials as well, particularly stuff like I Love A Mystery, Adventures by Morse, I Love Adventure, Alllen Quartermain etc.
There are also plenty of references to feature films in the adventure and noir genres, notably Green Hell, The Secret Service on the Dark Continent, and stuff from later films like Nevada Smith (Natch!)
You will also recognize the attractive Macguffin (also used to great effect by Tarantino in Pulp Fiction) borrowed from the Mike Hammer flick Kiss Me Deadly.
Amongst many, many other references, of course. I’ve had bitter, bitter arguments amongst fellow film nerds about which film contains more adventure film references – Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark. I think your perception comes down to which subgenre you are more familiar with. If you’ve seen more sci-fi/fantasy films, you’ll catch more of the references in Star Wars. If you like action/adventure films, you’ll pick up on more of the Indiana Jones stuff.
Both of them are high art, as far as I’m concerned. 
Something I found very interesting on the making-of DVD was that the movies are such an homage that they got the Indy outfit down in one shot. The very first piece of concept art has a generic muscly guy (because the part hadn’t been cast yet) wearing the leather jacket, unbuttoned shirt, fedora and brandishing a whip and revolver.
I don’t see any similarity.
Doc Savage!
Uh… you are kidding, right?
I’m not saying that Raiders of the Lost Ark is substantially similar to a revenge flick like Nevada Smith, but… really…
You don’t see one (or perhaps two) rather obvious points of isomorphism?
Nevada Smith is after revenge for those who killed his parents. He has to learn how to be a gunfighter.
Jones is after an object and is skilled in fighting at the start.
As a sign of the fact that it’s taken from Saturday serial, note that Raiders breaks into twelve separate set-pieces, just like the serials.
Cal, I’ve been a Duck fan all my life, and have a closet full of Gold Key, Gladstone, etc comics, but I’d never associated The Prize of Pizarro or The Ghost of the Grotto with the Indiana Jones series. Thanks for your great analysis – now I want to dig through the piles of comics to find and reread those.
The Indiana Jones character is a wholesale theft of H. Ryder Haggard’s literary hero, Alan Quatermain. Of primary interest is “King Solomon’s Mines”, but he also wrote “Alan Quatermain” and “She”.
Without the anti-semitism.
Milt Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates (which also become a radio and television series).
Has anyone else wondered whether the name Indiana Jones is a play on the name of Inigo Jones?
I can’t see Quartermain shooting the sword fighter; Indy would have ravished She right off the bat.
Well the story goes that the script called for a big sword vs. whip fight. Only the day of shooting Ford was so sick he could barely stand so he said “Why don’t I just pull out my gun and shoot the guy?” Everyone on the set laughed so they shot it that way…
Interesting. Bondage fans fondly remember the series because the female lead had several scenes where she did some truly awesome writhing while tied up by bad guys. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that…)
Take a look at the classic Uncle Scrooge adventure “The Seven Cities of Cibola” (Uncle Scrooge #7) and you will find a story where an idol is booby-trapped, such that removing the idol causes the surrounding structure to fall apart and a giant boulder to come crashing down.
Cal, I’m pretty sure Spielberg has acknowledged the Barks influence. (I’m sure I recall reading that somewhere.) And I agree with you that Uncle Scrooge’s various archaeological adventures may be the biggest influence on the Indiana Jones series.
Aah! You’re right! I just found a scanned version of it online and it all came rushing back. As soon as I read the first few pages, I remembered the giant emerald statue that the Beagle Boys try to steal which triggers the collapse of the Seven Cities.
Damnit, how could I have missed those references all these years?
Here’s a hint:
Nevada Smith. Indiana Jones.