From NYT, May 1989
''I don't think any of us have any intention of doing any more Indiana Jones films,'' says Mr. Lucas, who produced and co-wrote the story for ''The Last Crusade.'' ''Of course, if I should stumble on a really brilliant idea, I'm sure I could talk to Steven and Harrison. But three is a nice number.''
Mr. Lucas initially opposed the choice of Sean Connery to play the role of a bookish professor who has devoted his scholarly research to locating the Grail. ''I thought he was too formidable a figure for the character as he was written,'' he said. ''He was supposed to be a much older, completely out-of-his-element kind of guy, a scholar - like Joe Campbell. Seeing Sean in the part put a different twist on the character. We decided to make him a tough Victorian schoolteacher. You always turned in your papers on time to this man.''
Mr. Spielberg insisted on Sean Connery not only because of nostalgia; he also wanted to challenge Harrison Ford to work against a strong actor, something that hadn't been previously required of him in his roles as Indiana Jones. ''I think George saw the role played by an anonymous, English character actor,'' says Mr. Spielberg. ''I wanted another star. He thought Sean was too powerful. I said that Harrison would wipe the floor with him, or that they'd wipe the floor with each other. And I loved the idea of this character back-seat driving throughout the film.''
''Indiana has never been a particularly moral person,'' says Mr. Lucas. ''He has a very nefarious side to him that's alluded to in the earlier films. Most people have different ideals when they're young. They see things as black and white, good and evil. It's when you get old that you start to face life and begin to turn gray.'' Mr. Lucas is himself, at the age of 44, turning gray around the temples.
''Indiana Jones has always loved adventure,'' he adds, ''and at some point, in college or whenever, that side took over. It's obvious that it had to have been a rebellion against his father.'' The peculiar moral code that guides Indiana Jones - he pursues treasure for his own gain but keeps it out of the hands of villains - is similarly mixed in the new film.
As an archeologist, he destroys the past more often than he preserves it. ''Indiana does have a certain moral standard,'' says Mr. Lucas. ''He will only go so far. There's a certain greed factor. But he will only sell his work to museums, and museums have obviously been a part of this game. That's the system, and he plays along. We tried to make him a slightly more complex character than, say, Hopalong Cassidy.''
Indiana Jones's rival in his pursuit of the Grail - actually a race to recover a notebook kept by Indiana's father, who has unraveled the legend - is a female archeologist in league with Nazis. Played by Alison Doody, Elsa is supposed to be a lot like Indiana, always looking out for herself. ''I have always tried to write very strong women, to avoid the stereotype of the helpless, nonthinking female who is pushed around by the man. In this case,'' he laughs, ''the woman becomes very strong.''
However independent Elsa is, she, like most of the women in Mr. Lucas's movies, is subsidiary. He has heard this before and is bracing himself for criticism. ''I am not a woman and I can't write as a woman,'' he says. ''I can only write in a tradition. We could have made it about a mother and a son,'' he continued. ''That was considered at one point. But where does the girl come in? It's hard when you have a male lead - if it's not a love story - to get those extra characters in there and have meaningful relationships. You don't just plug people into movies for social value. 'Howard the Duck' had a girl lead, but no one went to see that. If you look at my films, you'll see that there is always a very strong woman in there.''
Elsa is in fact the sort of woman who schemes against - only to be won over by - James Bond.
Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg are both sensitive to the charges of racism that swirled around ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,'' which portrayed an Indian cult that performed human sacrifices. They have retreated to the outline of the first film where the Nazis represented the forces of darkness.
''We tried to make a film with other villains and we got attacked from every which side,'' says Mr. Lucas. ''It's a very interesting problem that's come up. There are so many special interest groups now that no matter what you make a film about someone is going to be offended. Because we live in a capitalist system that responds to economic pressure, it very much restricts your creative freedom. Most film makers don't have to deal with these issues, but once you reach a certain level of success, the standards are raised and you have to right all the wrongs of the world. I don't see that as my job.''
''I don't think any of us have any intention of doing any more Indiana Jones films,'' says Mr. Lucas, who produced and co-wrote the story for ''The Last Crusade.'' ''Of course, if I should stumble on a really brilliant idea, I'm sure I could talk to Steven and Harrison. But three is a nice number.''
Mr. Lucas initially opposed the choice of Sean Connery to play the role of a bookish professor who has devoted his scholarly research to locating the Grail. ''I thought he was too formidable a figure for the character as he was written,'' he said. ''He was supposed to be a much older, completely out-of-his-element kind of guy, a scholar - like Joe Campbell. Seeing Sean in the part put a different twist on the character. We decided to make him a tough Victorian schoolteacher. You always turned in your papers on time to this man.''
Mr. Spielberg insisted on Sean Connery not only because of nostalgia; he also wanted to challenge Harrison Ford to work against a strong actor, something that hadn't been previously required of him in his roles as Indiana Jones. ''I think George saw the role played by an anonymous, English character actor,'' says Mr. Spielberg. ''I wanted another star. He thought Sean was too powerful. I said that Harrison would wipe the floor with him, or that they'd wipe the floor with each other. And I loved the idea of this character back-seat driving throughout the film.''
''Indiana has never been a particularly moral person,'' says Mr. Lucas. ''He has a very nefarious side to him that's alluded to in the earlier films. Most people have different ideals when they're young. They see things as black and white, good and evil. It's when you get old that you start to face life and begin to turn gray.'' Mr. Lucas is himself, at the age of 44, turning gray around the temples.
''Indiana Jones has always loved adventure,'' he adds, ''and at some point, in college or whenever, that side took over. It's obvious that it had to have been a rebellion against his father.'' The peculiar moral code that guides Indiana Jones - he pursues treasure for his own gain but keeps it out of the hands of villains - is similarly mixed in the new film.
As an archeologist, he destroys the past more often than he preserves it. ''Indiana does have a certain moral standard,'' says Mr. Lucas. ''He will only go so far. There's a certain greed factor. But he will only sell his work to museums, and museums have obviously been a part of this game. That's the system, and he plays along. We tried to make him a slightly more complex character than, say, Hopalong Cassidy.''
Indiana Jones's rival in his pursuit of the Grail - actually a race to recover a notebook kept by Indiana's father, who has unraveled the legend - is a female archeologist in league with Nazis. Played by Alison Doody, Elsa is supposed to be a lot like Indiana, always looking out for herself. ''I have always tried to write very strong women, to avoid the stereotype of the helpless, nonthinking female who is pushed around by the man. In this case,'' he laughs, ''the woman becomes very strong.''
However independent Elsa is, she, like most of the women in Mr. Lucas's movies, is subsidiary. He has heard this before and is bracing himself for criticism. ''I am not a woman and I can't write as a woman,'' he says. ''I can only write in a tradition. We could have made it about a mother and a son,'' he continued. ''That was considered at one point. But where does the girl come in? It's hard when you have a male lead - if it's not a love story - to get those extra characters in there and have meaningful relationships. You don't just plug people into movies for social value. 'Howard the Duck' had a girl lead, but no one went to see that. If you look at my films, you'll see that there is always a very strong woman in there.''
Elsa is in fact the sort of woman who schemes against - only to be won over by - James Bond.
Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg are both sensitive to the charges of racism that swirled around ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,'' which portrayed an Indian cult that performed human sacrifices. They have retreated to the outline of the first film where the Nazis represented the forces of darkness.
''We tried to make a film with other villains and we got attacked from every which side,'' says Mr. Lucas. ''It's a very interesting problem that's come up. There are so many special interest groups now that no matter what you make a film about someone is going to be offended. Because we live in a capitalist system that responds to economic pressure, it very much restricts your creative freedom. Most film makers don't have to deal with these issues, but once you reach a certain level of success, the standards are raised and you have to right all the wrongs of the world. I don't see that as my job.''
