When did Flash Light start being used?

FedoraHead

New member
Maybe not the right place to ask but it hit me watch KOTCS. This is the only time we see Indy bring a flashlight with him. Did people not have them in the 30s? I believe the first one come out in the late 1800s but Indy didn't take one to the cave in Raiders or at all looking for the Ark. You think in his bag, he would have one. However maybe they were real BIG back in the 30s? To much trouble? The one in KOTCS is big so I guess in the 30's it was a lot better. Not sure why I never even wonder why he didn't have a flashlight.
 

Indy's brother

New member
I don't have an answer, but I'd guess that his use of flame has more of an "Adventurey" look to it. Stoo could probably give us a dozen examples of torches being used in the old adventure films that inspired Indy and his onscreen exploits. Perhaps the flashlight was just one more example of Indy living in more modern times? Honestly, I think the flashlight could be used for some interesting visuals in any further big-screen Indy adventures to come! He did use a torch in KOTCS too, of course.
 

inky_skin

Active member
The interesting history of the modern flashlight is outlined here here.

I think, in terms of Indy, it's a question of what's appropriate to the environment. If you're on an expedition carrying limited supplies, I think you'd want to conserve the batteries in your flashlight when other alternative light sources (eg, torches) exist. From a practical standpoint, torches may also have an advantage in some situations where you want to scare away animals, insects or reptiles or burn through cobwebs etc (Raiders, Temple). Conversely, in the cemetary scenes of Crystal Skull, Indy is intially in a windy location and then an enclosed space - both unsuitable for naked flames and naturally favouring a flashlight. Towards the end of the film he does use a traditional torch, but only after a drenching in the river - which may have rendered his battery torch unusable.

However, the most important aspect of this discussion is how each looks on-screen - in which case, I believe torch beats flashlight every time :D

Indy's Brother - you make an interesting point about the flashlight as an indicator of the "modernisation" of Indy. While in reality it's anachronistic (having been invented nearly 75 years earlier), I'm certain it was a deliberate attempt to update his equipment to reflect the technological advances of the era and root him in the 1950s.
 
Last edited:

Stoo

Well-known member
Indy's brother said:
I don't have an answer, but I'd guess that his use of flame has more of an "Adventurey" look to it. Stoo could probably give us a dozen examples of torches being used in the old adventure films that inspired Indy and his onscreen exploits.
There are loads of examples of torches in earlier, similar films...so common that they are "de rigueur" but there are some with flashlights, too. Torches were used in "Raiders" because the creators wanted to see some in the film and, you're right, they're more "adventurey".
inky_skin said:
Indy's Brother - you make an interesting point about the flashlight as an indicator of the "modernisation" of Indy. While in reality it's anachronistic (having been invented nearly 75 years earlier), I'm certain it was a deliberate attempt to update his equipment to reflect the technological advances of the era and root him in the 1950s.
The use of the flashlight bears, yet again, another resemblance to "Secret of the Incas". When the first publicity shots for "Skull" were released and I saw the one with Indy holding a flashlight, I immediately thought he looks more like Harry Steele than ever before (even though Chuck isn't wearing the hat in this screengrab).

HarrySteele_Flashlight_1.jpg


Now, I'm trying to remember if Indy uses a flashlight in any of the comics or books...:confused:

There's also this thread: The Flashlight...
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
inky_skin said:
However, the most important aspect of this discussion is how each looks on-screen - in which case, I believe torch beats flashlight every time

I don't know, Spielberg rocked the flashlight effect in E.T. if I remember it pretty well...
 

inky_skin

Active member
Stoo said:
Now, I'm trying to remember if Indy uses a flashlight in any of the comics or books...:confused:

A flashlight is used in Issue 14 of Marvel's "The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones: Demons", but not by Indy. However, this does acknowledge that they existed in the timeframe of Indy's pre-WWII adventures. That's all I got ;)
 

inky_skin

Active member
Actually, further investigation reveals that Indy uses a flashlight in the opening scenes of the Dark Horse comic "Indiana Jones and the Golden Fleece".

Pale Horse said:
I don't know, Spielberg rocked the flashlight effect in E.T. if I remember it pretty well...
Didn't he turn the flashlights into lightsabers around the same time he revised the guns into radios ?
 

-ND-

New member
*Ahem*
Indy uses a clip on flashlight in The Secret of the Sphinx novel.
He clips it to his fedora and runs the cord down and under his shirt. At the end, it attaches to a battery that's clipped to his belt. The novel takes place in the '30s I'm sure.
 
Top