How do you see Henry?

[Raiders90]

Lucas and Spielberg (with Connery on Spielberg's side) all had different visions of Henry, Sr's character.
Lucas invisioned him as more of a stuffy old man, ''Yoda-esque'', ''gnomish'', a completely bookish and academic professor--boring compared to his son.
Spielberg and Connery on the other hand viewed Henry to quote this site as a

"astern Victorian patriarch, a contradictory mixture of action man and quixotic academic. A modern version of Sir Richard Burton, the swashbuckling Victorian explorer and sensualist who explored the sources of the Nile, secretly visited the Muslim city of Mecca and translated the Arabian Nights in all it vampant horniness."

Connery also liked the Richard Burton idea, and said he felt that "whatever Indy'd done my character has done and my character has done it better".

So which view do you like to hold? The Lucas view or the Spielberg/Connery view?
I like the Spielberg/Connery view better--it would make Henry more interesting as a standalone character. However, Lucas' view seems to have won out in the film imo and it makes more sense plot wise--If Indy's dad was just like him albeit more scholarly and Victorian, they'd have more in common I think and Indy wouldn't have rebelled as much and adopted the whole attire and persona of ''Fedora/Garth" as a replacement of his father. But traces of the romantic, Burton-esque side do show in Henry's speech ("May He who illuminated this, illuminate me.") and his wooing of Elsa, and do show up in the YIJC.

 

[Indy's brother]

This is one of the rare occasions that I must side with GL's vision, albeit not completely. The version of Henry Sr. in your quote sounds too close to Indy. Not exact, mind you, just too similar. If Jr. and Sr. had any more in common than what was presented in the film, then Indy wouldn't seem as original, or as much of his own man. If they were more like each other, the personality conflicts between them would've been less entertaining, and been replaced with some trite arguments about how things should be done.

The "yoda-like" personality makes me cringe to think about. I think Connery's portrayal of Henry Sr.'s persona was a perfect mix of the various interpretations of the character by it's creators.

 

[Exulted Unicron]

I've always seen Henry Sr as the academic, but not the adventureous type. Like how he was searching for the grail, but didn't get very far. I also don't feel he has the skills Indy has when it comes to other things, which is why they butt heads and why Henry Sr is so out of water throughout Last Crusade

 

[Montana Smith]

The "yoda-like" personality makes me cringe to think about. I think Connery's portrayal of Henry Sr.'s persona was a perfect mix of the various interpretations of the character by it's creators.

Yes, "Yoda-like" would make for an incredibly dull part in The Last Crusade.

I think of Henry Sr. as more 'bookish' than his son, more at home researching from manuscripts than in the field. More of a thinker than his son. Sr.'s obsessive nature and dogmatic tunnel-vision is something that does, however, emerge in Indy, but shows itself in a different manner. Indy can be self-possessed and highly driven, but he turns it into action. Compare Henry Sr.'s tunnel vision about how his son's future should be mapped out, and Indy's own determination to retrieve the Ark. They're both incredibly stubborn, but they express it in different ways.

At their core they're similar in character, and two positives (or two negatives) drive each other apart. Sr.'s stubborness drove him further into his books, and Indy's drove him away into adventure. So they went their different ways - which in the later episodes of Young Indy was quite powerfully portrayed.

In The Last Crusade, when they're finally thrust back together again, Henry Sr. is able to show a spirit that shocks his son - scaring the seagulls into the path of the ME 109. At that moment Indy sees that maybe they aren't so distant.

 

[adventure_al]

"astern Victorian patriarch, a contradictory mixture of action man and quixotic academic. A modern version of Sir Richard Burton, the swashbuckling Victorian explorer and sensualist who explored the sources of the Nile, secretly visited the Muslim city of Mecca and translated the Arabian Nights in all it vampant horniness."

I like that. Probably how he comes over/ Old guy thats got a bit of bite, a bit frisky.

 

[Goodeknight]

Connery also liked the Richard Burton idea, and said he felt that "whatever Indy'd done my character has done and my character has done it better".

I don't see that at all, though the quote seems spot on for Connery. Henry Sr. didn't do anything Indyesque on his own. If he had, you wouldn't have quotes like, "You call this archaeology?" "Look what you did! I can't believe what you did!" And you wouldn't have Henry Sr. shooting the tail of his own plane. He's totally out of his element, though he handles it well. He's a bookworm. Full blown academic, not a field man at all.

That suits me just fine. Very much a counterpoint to Indy, not a "who's tougher" father/son competition.

 

[DocWhiskey]

I've always seen Henry Sr as the academic, but not the adventureous type. Like how he was searching for the grail, but didn't get very far. I also don't feel he has the skills Indy has when it comes to other things, which is why they butt heads and why Henry Sr is so out of water throughout Last Crusade

My thoughts exactly...

Henry Sr. can talk the talk but can't walk the walk.

But then again he was never meant to.

 

[FedoraHead]

Never thought of it until this post but we have been great to see a "Young Henry Jones Adventure" Not a TV series but maybe as a flash back on the Young Indiana show. See Henry about 30 in action!

 

[Stoo]

Never thought of it until this post but we have been great to see a "Young Henry Jones Adventure" Not a TV series but maybe as a flash back on the Young Indiana show. See Henry about 30 in action!

We have seen Henry Sr. at that age and he's not an exciting guy. Heck, he is 30 in the prologue of "Last Crusade".

You should check out the TV show if you're interested in Young Henry. The actor, Lloyd Owen, does a great job and he's portrayed at different ages between 17-37. He's adventurous in a way because he takes his family around the world but is a cold & stuffy academic and never the action man. The only time that comes close is in "Travels With Father". You might enjoy that one. The two Henry's have an adventure together in Greece and Sr. is only 28. (His age is never mentioned in the series so the numbers are coming from books.) Check it out.

One other thing of note is from a video game manual where Indy's dad gives him a c.WW1, U.S. Army, hand-to-hand combat manual and writing something like "this might come in handy".

 

[Montana Smith]

We have seen Henry Sr. at that age and he's not an exciting guy. Heck, he is 30 in the prologue of "Last Crusade".

You should check out the TV show if you're interested in Young Henry. The actor, Lloyd Owen, does a great job and he's portrayed at different ages between 17-37. He's adventurous in a way because he takes his family around the world but is a cold & stuffy acadmeic and never the action man. The only time that comes close is in "Travels With Father". You might enjoy that one. The two Henry's have an adventure together in Greece and Sr. is only 28. (His age is never mentioned in the series so the numbers are coming from books.) Check it out.

That sums him up perfectly.

As for Lloyd Owen, he did do an incredible job of portraying a younger Sean Connery Henry Sr. In no time I found myself accepting him as the same character.

FedoraHead, I'll also strongly recommend watching the series. It was a pleasant eye opener for me, after ignoring it for so many years.

 

[FedoraHead]

I have to check it out, I remember when it was first on and wasn't to happy with it. I didn't know Henry was in and I guess I should have know he wasn't much like Indy. When they are being shot out, it's new to him

 

[Stoo]

We have seen Henry Sr. at that age and he's not an exciting guy. Heck, he is 30 in the prologue of "Last Crusade".

...he's portrayed at different ages between 17-37....The two Henry's have an adventure together in Greece and Sr. is only 28. (His age is never mentioned in the series so the numbers are coming from books.)

Correction. My math was off! In "Young Indy" he is shown between 27-47 making him 38 in "Travels With Father" and 40 in the "Crusade" prologue.

 

[Montana Smith]

Correction. My math was off! In "Young Indy" he is shown between 27-47 making him 38 in "Travels With Father" and 40 in the "Crusade" prologue.

We knew what you meant, though.

I remember making a similar mathematical faux pas over Mutt's age (that little inconsequential nine month thing at the beginning...)