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Post by Coopsgirl on Jul 25, 2009 19:18:42 GMT -6
We have a neat old theater here in Austin, The Paramount built in 1915, and they show classic films during the summer and I just got back from seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark with a friend (another fellow Gary fan) and I thought this would be a good opportunity to point out the similarities between the Indiana Jones character and some of Gary's characters. I made the connection after seeing For Whom the Bell Tolls b/c the outfits are so similar. Some of Gary's other characters have similarities too. Here's a cap from Lives of a Bengal Lancer with Gary and Franchot Tone in disguise as Indians compared to Indiana Jones in Arab garb. His character from The General Died at Dawn is also very Indiana Jones like, monkey included. I think Gary would have made a wonderful Indiana Jones, of course Harrison Ford did a great job in those films, but I can see him as that character easily. John Mulholland has a doc about Gary and Ernest Hemingway that hopefully will be released soon and in it there's a great scene where he compares the two as well.
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Post by montana on Jul 26, 2009 12:42:52 GMT -6
Yeah, I think the similarities are notable. I have wondered if Spielberg was inspired by Gary's look when he created the Indiana Jones character. Any documentation on that?
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Post by Coopsgirl on Jul 26, 2009 13:16:38 GMT -6
I don't know if Spielberg was inspired by Gary or not. I've also heard on another message board, people comparing the look and character of Indiana Jones to one of Charlton Heston's adventure films (don't remember the name though). Maybe they were all inspired by Gary.
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Nayeli
Bit Part Player
Pixilated
Posts: 18
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Post by Nayeli on Jan 23, 2010 16:25:21 GMT -6
"The secret of the Incas", maybe? Because there's a certain similarity...
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Post by superduper on Sept 5, 2010 23:29:39 GMT -6
Jim Steranko is the artist who came up with the look for Indiana Jones, and Steranko is linked to Gary Cooper via the pulp fiction and comic book character "Doc Savage" created in 1933 by Lester Dent. The look of Doc Savage was reportedly based on Gary Cooper. Steranko illustrated two Doc Savage comic book covers in 1972 and 1973. In his book, "The History of Comics," Steranko said that Doc Savage was a character who was "continually getting into and out of trouble." This is reminiscent of the Indiana Jones character. As a kid, George Lucas was heavily into comics especially Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers and to a certain degree, Doc Savage. It was Lucas not Spielberg who came up with the concept of Indiana Jones first, and then the two collaborated until the character was finished. Thus, George Lucas probably based his Indiana Jones character on Doc Savage, which to some degree was influenced by Coop. It appears that there is a connection among all these elements including Coop, Doc Savage, and Indiana Jones. The hard thing is proving a direct causal relationship. As for the attire, it does appear that the clothes worn by Indiana Jones closely resembles that worn by Coop's character in "For Whom the Bell Tolls." This should not be too surprising since we know there must have been at least a loose association between Coop and Indiana Jones, and Coop was a major star for decades who had far reaching influence. The fedora hat with ribbon around the base, the shirts with epaulets, and even the leather jacket are pretty much the same. I think that the attire worn by Coop's character is more similar to what we see in Indiana Jones than that of Charlton Heston's character. However, the action in Heston's movie (and others) is more similar to the action seen in Indiana Jones. That's where Spielberg's influence comes into play. While Raider.net attributes the Indiana Jones character to movies such as "Secret of the Incas" (1954), "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948), and "Zorro Rides Again" (1937- that’s where Indiana gets his trademark whip), I think they fail to see that the origin of Indiana Jones the character is based on Pulp Fiction and more specifically the Doc Savage character. The proof is that both the creator of the character (George Lucas) and the artist (Jim Steranko) who created the Indiana Jones look were both heavily into comics and pulp fiction. That is the true origin of Indiana Jones, not the movies that came later. Then after the character was more or less defined, Lucas and Spielberg used parts from numerous movies in order to develop the story and shoot the movie. Here is one artist's early version (from the 1930s) of Doc Savage who is described as a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and musician — a renaissance man. A team of scientists assembled by his father trained his mind and body to near-superhuman abilities almost from birth, giving him great strength and endurance, a photographic memory, mastery of the martial arts, and vast knowledge of the sciences. Does this sound like Indiana Jones to anyone?
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Post by superduper on Sept 6, 2010 11:28:13 GMT -6
The other connection that Coop has to Doc Savage and the super heroes that followed was his personification of the "Code Hero" that arguably Coop helped to formulate.
Did Coop influence pulp fiction and the superheroes that came about in the 1930s? Were the characters of Doc Savage (1933) and later Superman (1938), Batman (1939), and Indiana Jones (1981) all influenced by both Hemingway's Code Hero and by Coop himself? These are valid questions.
Hemingway defined the Code Hero in his novels as “A man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful.” He measures himself by how well he handles the difficult situations that life throws at him. In the end, the Code Hero will lose because we are all mortal, but the true measure is how a person faces death. The Code Hero is typically an individualist and free-willed. He never shows emotions. Showing emotions and having a commitment to women shows weakness. Qualities such as bravery, adventuresome, and travel also define the Code Hero.
The other characteristic that is less talked about is the sensitive qualities of the Code Hero. Although this quality is not outwardly projected, it is apparent by the introspective nature of Hemingway's characters. There is a subtle, effeminate under current in Hemingway's characters that is also apparent in Coop. His style of dress, which greatly influenced men's fashion, is a sensitive quality. His mannerisms at times, show a certain sensitivity...a certain gentleness. Coop was a genuinely nice guy who proved that nice guys could finish first.
There may have been a "synergistic effect" in that Hemmingway was influenced by writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, who created Tarzan in 1912, as well as his friendship with Coop. Coop himself may have been influenced by the films and writing styles of his day (even though he did not read much). We know too that Coop was an illustrator, so he would have access to pulp fiction in the 1920s and probably earlier. Later, the fiction writers of the 1930s created super heroes such as Superman and Batman using pulp fiction, the novels of writers such as Burroughs, as well as concepts such as Hemingway's "Code Hero" as their inspiration.
Ultimately, all this comes together in the Indiana Jones character. Indy is a renaissance man but a bit of a loner and a man of few words and mystery. He possesses courage in spades and is on a mission in search of adventure. He's a charmer who proposes twice in Young Indy, is engaged once, is married in the books, falls in love countless times, but it never works out. He performs great feats, and appears indestructible. Yet he has a sensitive side and a vulnerability too. He's a humanitarian bent on protecting precious artifacts to preserve them for study and the sake of society. However, like all men and even super heroes, Indy has many flaws.
In short, Indy is our Gary Cooper and vice versa.
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Post by superduper on Oct 25, 2010 18:17:57 GMT -6
I was at the Comic Convention (Comic Con) a few weekends back here in NYC. I took my son because he is into super heroes. While I was there I ran into Jim Steranko and new it was him immediately. Older guy about 70 or so. Still looks great. Anyway, of course I had to ask him about Indiana Jones since he was at least partly responsible for the Indiana Jones look.
He was happy that someone knew him because he immediately got a big smile on his face when I thanked him for helping to create a great movie icon. I then started asking him a series of questions all leading up to my main question - was there a link between Gary Cooper and Indiana?
I asked him for the inspiration behind the Indiana Jones character, but unfortunately got the standard answer that Indiana was a combination of things: the whip was from Zorro and the jacket was from George Lucas because George often wore that type of jacket; he also said the hat came from Humphrey Bogart in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." He mentioned that this movie probably had a great influence on Spielberg and Lucas in developing the Indiana Jones character and the movies.
Another guy happened to be standing near us and mentioned that a possible inspiration was the Charleton Heston movie, "The secret of the Incas." I looked at Steranko to see his reaction, but there was hardly one at all. He could not even remember the name of the movie.
I then asked him if Gary's movie, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" could have inspired Indiana Jones. Again, no reaction. I was a little stunned because I am sure a man in his profession (and considering his age) would have at least made a comment about those movies, but he hardly made a peep.
I could be wrong, but my suspicion is that those movies did inspire Indiana, but to admit that might have something to do with copyright infringement. At the very least, an artist would not want to admit that they drew up a character that was based on existing characters. That would be like saying he used no creativity at all in the process of creating Indiana Jones, but instead copied other characters.
Jim Steranko also said the both George and Steven are exquisite men. Good men and very friendly.
I thanked him for his time, and as I left I was at least happy to meet him. He is a great artist no matter where Indiana came from.
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