meeting Karen Allen

indyclone25

Well-known member
well we (my son and i ) got to the grand opening of the hollywood palms theater at 4:30 pm. it was raining , but that was n't going to dampen my mood , i was going to see Ms.Karen Allen co star in the best indiana jones adventure ever Raiders of the lost ark. we got in to the theater and were given a loud clapping as the people that were there ahead of us saw my son and i dressed as Indiana Jones , we had pictures taken by the town of naperville for their website , and another for a raiod station that was there to cover the opening also , then we got ourselves a drink from the bar ,i had a o'douls and my son had a coke. we were then treated to a tour of the new theater and its seven screening rooms , the first one was the Egyptian room. all decked out in tombs and golden rods and totems and of course the wonderful ark of the covenant was there , the second room was the hollywood oscar room , decked out with the old flavor hollywood style , red curtians oscar statues and classic movie posters.the third room was the wizard of oz room , looking at a scene from the movie with life size characters of Dorothy and her friends. the fourth room was the chinese room with chinese stoned warriors and dragons , very impressive with Buhdda sitting up high, then the fifth room was the cartoon room with characters ranging from Bugs Bunny to E.T. to Spiderman and Batman. the sixth room was the Mayan temple room , it had temple carvings and gnarled vines letting you know that if you made the wrong step you could end up dead and up toward the right side of the screen placed on its altar was the temple idol from Raiders. the seventh and final room was the Under the sea room , with a shimmering flickering light that makes you feel underwater with sealife hanging from the rafters , after seeing all that we were very impressed with the theater. we waited in line to see Karen Allen after that , the wait was about forty-five minutes as she did a few interviews with loacl reporters and papers , and also the radio station that was there too. she then walked over to the awaiting table and saw my son and i dressed up and cried out to us "INDY!!!" and gave that warm , wonderful smile we all know and love . after waiting for the few people ahead of us to get their autographs and pictures it was our turn , she smiled and said " it's young and old Indy" 'well not old Indy if you know what i mean ." and she laughed . we said that we enjoyed her work in the movies but loved her in the Indiana Jones movies. we then got our autographs and picture and we were on our way , we made our way to the Mayan temple room were there were going to show Raiders. after ordering our meal Karen came in to answer some question and talk about the movie ---- i tried to video tape the Q&A but the room was way to dark to get a clear image ---- she told stories how the cast and crew were sick during most of the shoot. she also told us a story that during the shot of the well of the souls of how a boa constrictor snake tried to bite at a cobra and lost so the kept the dead boa in a container of ice and guess where the used it in the film , they dropped the dead thing onto her when Indy climbs up the statue, she said it was disgusting cause the snake had been dead for about five days before they dropped in on her and the skin was slick and fallen off , after a few questions she intrduced the movie and we watch a very nice copy of Raiders , it did have some small cuts and lines running through it but overall a great film .


well that was my meeting with Karen Allen
some pics of the night
hollywoodpalms--karenallen048.jpg


hollywoodpalms--karenallen049.jpg


hollywoodpalms--karenallen005.jpg
 

indyartist

New member
sounds like a great experience. was this hollywood, CA? and what date? The story about the dead snake is a good one. NEVER knew that was a dead snake being dropped on her in that scene. Now I do. Thanks a lot for sharing.
 

indyclone25

Well-known member
indyartist said:
sounds like a great experience. was this hollywood, CA? and what date? The story about the dead snake is a good one. NEVER knew that was a dead snake being dropped on her in that scene. Now I do. Thanks a lot for sharing.
the theater is in naperville illinois just west of chicago ----- they have a bunch of cool old movies coming soon http://www.hollywoodpalmscinema.com/
 

indyclone25

Well-known member
Mephisto said:
How large is that Ark of the Covenant? I might have to steal that.
it looked actual size to me !!!! as many of the props from the different movies that the had for each of the seven screening rooms they had at the theater
 

Robyn

New member
AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for sharing this! I'd always wondered about that snake thing... And you and your boy look great(y)
 

indyclone25

Well-known member
more pics from the friday night i met karen allen ----most are of the different rooms
the under the sea room
hollywoodpalms--karenallen035.jpg


the mayan room
hollywoodpalms--karenallen027.jpg


the cartoon room
hollywoodpalms--karenallen019.jpg

hollywoodpalms--karenallen016.jpg


the wall in the lobby before you can enter the theaters screening areas
hollywoodpalms--karenallen003.jpg
 

Adam McDaniel

New member
She's wonderful...

I met Ms. Allen at a charity benefit (NJ Shakespeare Festival) way back in April of 1991... She had just given birth to her son, and even showed me his baby pictures!

http://adammcdaniel.com/KarenAllen_and_Adam.jpg

This pic brings back memories... of a time when I was 60 pounds lighter and had a full head of hair. Sigh.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DocWhiskey

Well-known member
Adam McDaniel said:
This pic brings back memories... of a time when I was 60 pounds lighter and had a full head of hair. Sigh.

It's not the years, Adam, it's the mileage, right?

Great picture though.
 

indyartist

New member
Adam McDaniel said:
I met Ms. Allen at a charity benefit (NJ Shakespeare Festival) way back in April of 1991... She had just given birth to her son, and even showed me his baby pictures!


This pic brings back memories... of a time when I was 60 pounds lighter and had a full head of hair. Sigh.
I was gonna say, she looked much younger there. no wonder. 1991. almost 11 years after they filmed Raiders since it was filmed in summer of 1980.
 

indyclone25

Well-known member
sorry messed up before
here is the video
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indyartist

New member
indyclone25 said:
sorry messed up before
here is the video
that interviewer was so annoying and such a phoney. He ends with "I've been such a long time fan of yours for years in stage work and film" but yet he called her character "MaryAnn RavenSwood" with an "s" and then at the end says "MaryAnn" again. What a fraud.
 

DocWhiskey

Well-known member
That doesn't mean anything. Sure, it's funny to us the diehard fans, but I'm sure he's a big fan of RotLA. Karen's character is a major player in the Indy franchise, yet at the Q and A she didn't know Toht's name, and she said how the Indy films all went backwards. Did I think she was a "fraud"? Nope. Just human really. I'm a big baseball fan. I watch the Cubs lose down here in Chicago all the time, but i couldn't name more then 4 or 5 players.
 

UIMJ

New member
I was there for this event as well. It was a pleasure to meet you there, Indyclone!

The event itself was great, and the Palms is a great theater. I'd say that their ark replica in the Egyptian room is actually to scale!
 
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