Indiana Jones Inspirations
When George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created Raiders of the Lost Ark, they weren't trying to be completely original, but were rekindling interest in the adventure genre by paying homage to the classic adventure serials of early cinema. Many people know this, but I will attempt to list by name not only these old serials, but other films that Lucas and Spielberg were influenced by.
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- DirectorFritz LangStarsCarl de VogtLil DagoverRessel OrlaKay Hoog finds a message that indicates that some Incas are still alive, but the secret organisation "Die Spinnen" wants the Incas' gold....
- DirectorFritz LangStarsCarl de VogtRessel OrlaGeorg JohnKay Hoog wants to stop the organisation "Die Spinnen" to get a certain diamond, that will give the owning woman the crown of Asia, but the man, who should be the owner of that diamond, doesn't know of its existence....
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsDouglas FairbanksJulanne JohnstonSnitz EdwardsA recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsVictor McLaglenMyrna LoyDavid TorrenceCaptain Donald King of the British Army goes to India just as World War I breaks out, convincing his comrades that he is a coward. In reality, he is on a secret mission to rescue British soldiers held prisoner there.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperLothar MendesErnest B. SchoedsackStarsRichard ArlenFay WrayClive BrookWhen British officer Harry resigns from his regiment, he is labeled a coward by his family and friends. Harry receives four white feathers as a mark of a coward. In order to redeem himself and win the heart of his fiancé back and the love of his best friend, Harry sets out to return the feathers to the pockets they came from.
- DirectorGeorge MelfordStarsRose HobartCharles BickfordGeorges RenaventWoman treks through jungle to find her missing husband.
- DirectorCharles BrabinCharles VidorStarsBoris KarloffLewis StoneKaren MorleyEnglishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.
- DirectorLansing C. HoldenIrving PichelStarsHelen GahaganRandolph ScottHelen MackA group of explorers search of the legendary "flame of life," a mysterious force that bestows immortality.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandLionel AtwillAfter treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsRonald ColmanJane WyattEdward Everett HortonWhen a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsJohn CarrollNoah BeeryRichard AlexanderThe California-Yucatan Railroad, being built for the good of Mexico, is under siege by a gang of terrorists hoping to force its sale; no one can prove their connection to profiteer Marsden. Manuel Vega, aged co-owner, calls in the aid of his nephew James, great-grandson of the original Zorro. Alas, James seems more adept at golf than derring-do; but after he arrives, Zorro rides again! Can one black-clad man on horseback defeat a gang supplied with airplanes and machine guns?
- DirectorSidney SalkowStarsPatric KnowlesRichard CromwellRochelle HudsonIn British India a local rajah, a British ally, is dying and his subordinates plan to drive out the British once he's gone. A newly married British officer is dispatched to ensure that doesn't happen.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRita HayworthAt a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract, as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsJohn ClementsRalph RichardsonC. Aubrey SmithA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsReed HadleySheila DarcyWilliam CorsonThe masked hero leads a fighting force to fight a villian who plots the conquest of The Republic of Mexico.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineVictor McLaglenIn 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnBrenda MarshallClaude RainsGeoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for an attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills with the sword.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGene TierneyBruce CabotGeorge SandersIn 1941, a mysterious Somaliland woman helps the British against the Germans.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsLoretta YoungAlan LaddWilliam BendixDuring the Japanese invasion of China, a cynical, macho profiteer meets a compassionate, beautiful schoolteacher.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
- DirectorCompton BennettAndrew MartonStarsDeborah KerrStewart GrangerRichard CarlsonAdventurer Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an attempt to locate an explorer who went missing during his search for the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsSusan HaywardRobert MitchumWalter SlezakIn 1907, a nurse arrives in the Belgian Congo to work for a missionary doctor but meets a grumpy animal hunter who secretly plans to search for gold in the dangerous Bakuba tribal region.
- DirectorJerry HopperStarsCharlton HestonRobert YoungNicole MaureyAn adventurer searchers for hidden treasure in the Peruvian jungles.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsCharlton HestonEleanor ParkerAbraham SofaerThe Leiningen South American cocoa plantation is threatened by a 2-mile-wide, 20-mile-long column of army ants.
- DirectorRobert PiroshStarsRobert TaylorEleanor ParkerCarlos ThompsonIn 1900, in Egypt, archaeologist Mark Brandon is asked by Ann Mercedes to find the tomb of Ra-Hotep but their quest is marred by intrigue, betrayal, murder and danger.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsDebra PagetPaul HubschmidWalther ReyerA German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's brother is scheming to usurp the throne.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsDebra PagetPaul HubschmidWalther ReyerIn Eschnapur, a local Maharajah and a German architect fall in-love with the same temple dancer.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsGregory PeckOmar SharifTelly SavalasA bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsSean ConneryMichael CaineChristopher PlummerIn 1880s India, two former British soldiers decide to set themselves up as Kings in Kafiristan, a land where no white man has set foot since Alexander the Great.