What Would Movie Audiences of the 1930's and 40s have made of the Indiana Jones films?

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BAYLOR

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There were of course movie serials along somewhat similar lines but more often than not , they were produced on the cheap and the storytelling characterization and acting not always the best. What those audiences of thought of Raiders of the Lost Ark and films that followed . What would that they have thought of production values , effects and the direction and style filmmaking and story telling ,the character in the films ? What would they have liked and disliked about them?

Thoughts ? :)
 
My grandfather, who was a WW2 and Korean War veteran, loved them. He lived through the period and he didn’t make any negative remarks about them. He was not an easy man to please either.
 
I think the very fact that serials were popular and the Indy movies are an obvious homage to them would indicate that audiences of that time would have enjoyed them.

With regards to the better production of the Indy movies, I think they would have been rated alongside the likes of Cecil B. Demille movies.
 
Vince W said:
My grandfather, who was a WW2 and Korean War veteran, loved them. He lived through the period and he didn’t make any negative remarks about them. He was not an easy man to please either.
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Foxbat said:
I think the very fact that serials were popular and the Indy movies are an obvious homage to them would indicate that audiences of that time would have enjoyed them.

With regards to the better production of the Indy movies, I think they would have been rated alongside the likes of Cecil B. Demille movies.
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In Raiders of the Lost Ark , They would have certainly loved the opening in the Jungle temple and the boulder , they have laughed at the sword fight that never happened scene and thyey would have deftly loved Indiana jones chasing down the NAZI to get the get Ark back scene, that Car chase scene would have had the asuncece on the edge. The opening of the Ark and what filled would have certainly been shocker to audiences. :)
 
I think people would've love Indiana Jones as it's not too far removed from the adventure classics of the time.
 
Indy 1-3 were both a homage and a parody of the serials. I think that audiences of the time would have recognised this, and who wouldn't enjoy the soundtrack and the set piece action sequences. But the gore level would have seemed off the scale, and I'm not sure how they would have felt about incorporating religious artefacts into the storylines.
 
Foxbat said:
I think the sword fight that never happened was my all-time favourite Indy moment:)
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The story about how this came about about is interesting. Originally there was suppose to be an actual fight , sword vs Whip but, Harrison Ford had gotten sick and couldn't do the fight scene so instead , they had him shoot the Swordsman . It worked out because that scene has become iconic. I think the audiences of the 30's and 40s would loved that scene.:)
 
Foxbat said:
I think the very fact that serials were popular and the Indy movies are an obvious homage to them would indicate that audiences of that time would have enjoyed them.

With regards to the better production of the Indy movies, I think they would have been rated alongside the likes of Cecil B. Demille movies.
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Movie of that era that hd alot common with the films was Gunga Din ( great film and one of my favorites )in fact this filminfluenced Temple of Doom
 
BAYLOR said:
Movie of that era that hd alot common with the films was Gunga Din ( great film and one of my favorites )in fact this filminfluenced Temple of Doom
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A little off topic, but I was recently watching part of a WWII movie called 633 Squadron (which was an inspiration for Star Wars). With stirring music, genuine Mosquito aircraft and some wonderful effects using models (the part I watched) looked like a tremendously entertaining movie. Compare that with the best 'modern' movies like Dunkirk, and whilst that movie might be more realistic, it wasn't half as captivating to watch.

The Great Escape, Bridge over the River Kwai, Von Ryan's Express, Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, The Eagle has Landed etc etc. The genre of what is probably closer to 'comic book' 'boys own' WWII movies seem to have been replaced with much more realistic, more graphic, more 'war-is-hell' type of movies. And whilst we should ever lose sight of the fact that many of these movies are based on true events, and that people died for real and that it wasn't all a 'grand adventure' to entertain us in lightweight movies, there should still be a place for these type of films. For even those 'comic book' type WWII movies tended to honour and magnify the achievements of those brave men and women.
 
paranoid marvin said:
A little off topic, but I was recently watching part of a WWII movie called 633 Squadron (which was an inspiration for Star Wars). With stirring music, genuine Mosquito aircraft and some wonderful effects using models (the part I watched) looked like a tremendously entertaining movie. Compare that with the best 'modern' movies like Dunkirk, and whilst that movie might be more realistic, it wasn't half as captivating to watch.

The Great Escape, Bridge over the River Kwai, Von Ryan's Express, Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, The Eagle has Landed etc etc. The genre of what is probably closer to 'comic book' 'boys own' WWII movies seem to have been replaced with much more realistic, more graphic, more 'war-is-hell' type of movies. And whilst we should ever lose sight of the fact that many of these movies are based on true events, and that people died for real and that it wasn't all a 'grand adventure' to entertain us in lightweight movies, there should still be a place for these type of films. For even those 'comic book' type WWII movies tended to honour and magnify the achievements of those brave men and women.
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You can't beat classic.:)
 
The ending would have been scary and made people think of Fantasia.
Serial viewers would be amazed by the stunts but I think they would find Indiana Jones not very assertive like your average serial hero. Buster Crabbe etc. Indiana Jones is like Bruce Cabot but with the personality of Leslie Howard in Gone with the Wind.
How would people have reacted to the underage relationship? They might have considered IJ immoral and what about the depiction of the government as breaking their agreement?
Would that have survived the Hayes code?
 
Back in the 30s who would have been the villains? Would the Nazis' be shown as villains back then?
 
Vladd67 said:
Back in the 30s who would have been the villains? Would the Nazis' be shown as villains back then?
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Probably not in the 30s in the US.
I have a copy of The Adventures of Robin Hood [1938] it comes with British Pathe newsreels from '34, '36 and '38 [I may have the years wrong but not by much].
In the first Hitler is a joke and ridiculed as he takes a salute at Nuremburg.
By the last it is the ominous Nazi war machine being show of to the tyrant Hitler.
By the 40s the Nazis were everybody's villains. Even Sherlock Holmes.
 
Vladd67 said:
Back in the 30s who would have been the villains? Would the Nazis' be shown as villains back then?
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It is something of an anachronism to have the story set in 1936 because it suggests the US was secretly preparing for war with Germany when publicly they were not. Roosevelt promised that the US would not send soldiers into any war (Buck Privates suggests otherwise though).
There had been Hollywood movies which alluded to Hitler and fascism (The Petrified Forest critiques American fascist movement) before 1939 but very vaguely.
I believe The Adventures of Robin Hood and the Sea Hawk were making a reference to current events. They are pro-war stories. I think the latter ends with everyone cheering that they have money to fight a war with Spain.

I am wondering how the Ark of the Covenant would have been cited--when the movie came out I knew about Noah's Ark.
I don't think it got much reference in American culture in the 1930s--not unless it was backwater evangelicals and I am not even sure they would have been focusing on it.
Ben-Hur was heavily promoted in American theater but there's no reference to the Ark in that AFAIK.
 
KGeo777 said:
The ending would have been scary and made people think of Fantasia.
Serial viewers would be amazed by the stunts but I think they would find Indiana Jones not very assertive like your average serial hero. Buster Crabbe etc. Indiana Jones is like Bruce Cabot but with the personality of Leslie Howard in Gone with the Wind.
How would people have reacted to the underage relationship? They might have considered IJ immoral and what about the depiction of the government as breaking their agreement?
Would that have survived the Hayes code?
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The Ark scene with the meting Nazis and the exploding Belloque would have been a little much of audiences of that era.

The Hayes office would have found a few things about the film objectionable , for example , when Indie is at the bottom of well of Souls and swears like he did when he saw Bellow na company now has the Arks , that alone wouldn't had made it past the censors. The Hayes office didn't give any ground on swear words in movies till that famous by Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind.
 
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