Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Cold War (EXPANDED TREATMENT)
In the opening, May Day, 1963, Indiana daringly rescues Mutt from the Cuban prison where Mutt has languished since the Bay of Pigs. There?s a parade with great communist pageantry: Kalashnikov carrying female soldiers, columns of Russian made tractors, tanks, vigorous flag waving ? and crowds ? and music. We first see Indiana, dressed as an aged Soviet General, on the grandstand next to a sharp-eyed Che Guevara ? who is grand marshal (Castro was in Moscow). With the parade flowing past, Che, as an aside, thanks Indy (as the Soviet General) for all his perspective on not just the Russian Revolution (?what an honor to learn from someone who knew Lenin!?) but also Latin America history (?your perspective has helped me plan my next steps outside of Cuba?)(Che was later shot by firing squad in Bolivia). Indiana would be at ease, smiling and waving. Then, Che turns his full attention to Indy and says: ?I?ve verified all your accounts down to the smallest detail ? and they are all true so unquestionably you were in Russia during the Revolution, except there?s one problem: there was no one by your name at any of the places you?ve described.? Indy perks up at this ? he?s been found out. In short order, chaos erupts in a scene reminiscent of ToD?s Club Obi Wan, and Indy escapes to pursue his true objective: freeing Mutt from the prison in a nearby compound. Afterwards, on the boat to the U.S., we learn how Mutt, inspired by his father?s exploits, had become part to the CIA-funded unit that led the failed invasion and that Indiana only undertook his rogue rescue after watching years of failed diplomatic efforts to free his son (and having to bite nails all through the Cuban Missile Crisis). Mutt, embarrassed by being rescued by his father, rejects Indy and announces his intent to return to the military by angrily quoting President Kennedy?s inaugural pledge, saying that he?s prepared to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.?
Traveling on alone, Indiana is met abruptly by Agent Bob Smith (FBI from KotCS) at TWA?s new terminal at Idewild Airport. A ready helicopter flies them to the roof of a New York skyscraper where, in the elite Sky Club, Indiana is made a Faustian offer by nameless U.S. government advisors ?X? and ?Y?: steal prominent Egyptian relics from museums in Europe in exchange for assurances that Mutt will be ?kept safe? during his next posting as a military advisor in Vietnam. ?X? tosses a copy of Time Magazine?s March 29, 1963 edition on the table. On it, Egypt?s Abdel Nasser is shown in profile with the profile of the Sphinx behind him. Nasser?s ambitions are clear from the image ? it?s as if the Pharaohs have returned. ?Y? then gives a masterful overview of the Cold War and explains Egypt can?t go over to the Communists. ?Y? explains that Egypt?s President Nasser has already sold out to the Russians for aid to build the Aswan Dam. ?Y? claims that the Egyptians can be bought back by giving them the Nefertiti Bust and the Rosetta Stone ? to help Nasser?s Arab Nationalism campaign. Indiana responds, ?But these relics are with our Allies.? ?Which is exactly why we need someone to procure them,? replies ?Y.? ?X? is silent throughout.
Frustrated, Indiana agrees and travels with Marion to Europe where they meet Sallah. Marion?s motivations are obvious (she has to protect her son) ? but Sallah?s are complex. He wants relics returned to Egypt but he also fears the goings-on at the Aswan site. In Germany, Indy adds a fourth member of the team: Heinrich ? a character referenced in KotCS ? who we learn is actually a young man Indy found as a starving orphan after WWII who has since grown into an academic star. At first, Marion objects to Heinrich putting himself at risk ? but Heinrich insists, saying that the Joneses are the only family he?s got. Sallah then pipes in, ?Speaking of family. . . .? ? and introduces his twenty something daughter, Alia, who has come along to ?keep her father out of trouble.? There is instant chemistry between Alia and Heinrich. Indy shrugs and explains the two objectives: stealing the Nefertiti Bust from Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (which served as a museum since the 1800?s and was used a storehouse for Art during WWII) and the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum in London. Indy then proposes that they split up ? telling the girls and Heinrich to steal the Bust (because security at Castle Neuschwanstein ?is a joke?) while he and Sallah will travel to London to steal the Rosetta Stone (because ?it?s a real museum? and the Stone ?is really heavy?). Marion takes umbrage and says getting the Stone will be ?kid?s play? and she and Alia can get it on their own. With that, Marion starts to leave with Alia. Smiling broadly, Henrich follows, puts his arms around each woman, and says laughingly over his shoulder in German, ?I am leaving with the girls.? (?Ich fahre mit den Mädchen?). Sallah turns to Indy, ?Indy, we lost our German.? Indy scowls slightly and says, ?Come on, we?ll be all right.?
Cutting back and forth between each caper, the team execute daring thefts ? finding that the Stasi and KGB are also attempting to obtain the relics. As Indy and Sallah begin the break-in to the Castle, Indy makes a casual warning about something like a loose window-sill. Amazed, Sallah would ask how Indy knows this. ?Easy,? Indy responds. ?I had to break in here during the War. You know you?re getting old when you have to break into the same castle twice.? Indiana and Sallah then go on to execute a very messy and chaotic theft (due largely to the competing Stasi group) while Marion?s team executes a very clever heist that leaves barely a clue. With the thefts garnering world headlines, the team transports the relics covertly to Cairo. In Cairo, Sallah brokers a meeting with Egyptian leaders at the dam site and takes Indy to meet an old engineer who designed the Dam. Cairo is now a different place -- TV antennas now dominate the rooflines. The old man gives information on the Dam and reveals the Dam?s secret purpose: flooding a tomb to contain a powerful evil.
At the site, the Soviets take the relics and attempt to bury Indy and Co. alive on a set reminiscent of the dam scene at the beginning of Doctor Zhivago. Amidst a supernatural episode, the Dam and relics (actually precise copies made by Marion) are destroyed and Indy and Co. escape ? with Heinrich and Alia making notable contributions.
A post-script takes place before the Defense of Human Freedom mural in the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. The scene introduces a new character, the Jones? attorney Hollace Flynn, a man in his mid-forties who walks with the assistance of a cane but looks like a fighter. Young bureaucrats scurry by ? all bareheaded ? and several even turn an eye toward Indy, Flynn and Marion ? the only people wearing hats. The Joneses have finished their debriefing and ask Hollace if there?s anything to be done about Mutt. Hollace shrugs. ?Mutt is an adult, he?s volunteered and he?s already in Vietnam. He?s not being held against his will and unfortunately [here Flynn looks over his glasses at Indiana] he has a proven disposition toward risk taking.? Indy looks imploringly at Marion. She soothes him, ?Indy -- he?s your son, and Lord knows it took you awhile before you found your MOJO.? Indy smiles and offers his arm. The three walk out together.
So, the stage then would be set for the sixth and final film. Among the CotCW villains would be a character who would play a major role in the next film. Mutt will be in Vietnam and a group of new (and younger) characters will step to the forefront. CotCW would also contain foreshadowing about the passing of the fedora ? but to who? Remember Indy didn?t get it from his Dad ? he earned it. So who would it be? Mutt? Alia? Heinrich? Someone else? But as a parting thought: Isn?t Henry a derivation of the name Heinrich? So what I would propose for the sixth film would be a rift on the Cain and Abel tale ? between Mutt and Heinrich ? a theme that John Steinbeck explored to great acclaim in East of Eden.