Would "Raiders" have been as popular if the character had been hatless?

[jamespowers]

I totally agree, but Incas wasn't that great of a movie. But the look...absolutely.

It was good to me. That crooked little weasel guy got his in the end. Did I mention the love interest was better looking too

 

[Blackthorn]

It was good to me. That crooked little weasel guy got his in the end. Did I mention the love interest was better looking too

 

[Seb Lucas]

Yep, can you say RIPOFF?! Heston looked better too. It was a more original period look.

Heston is an impressive looking man but to me he looked kind of foppish here with his floppy Aussie slouch hat, his little scarf and that terrible civilian A2. But that general look occurs in many films including China with Alan Ladd. Fedora, leather jacket, etc is the standard movie soldier of fortune outfit and thus a homage to the period and genre not a rip off. What was original in Raiders was the editing, the pace and the standard of the stunts and effects. Plots and locations in many films are more or less interchangeable. It's the energy the filmmakers give the thing that makes the difference.

 

[Landman]

I always figured that the intended audience for the Raiders were of an age that they had not seen hats worn daily. hence it was a novelty. the fact that it was the hero with the hat the "novelty" was cool to them so the interest was sparked.

My good friend's son was only 5 or 6 years old when he first saw the original movie and he was obsessed with not only the movie but the hat. The little guy had a VHS tape of it and he watched it constantly. Every time I stopped by their house he would want me to watch it with him. There is no telling how many times he watched that movie. He was way too young to know anything about hats but he loved the hat. His dad gave him one of those cheap Indy hats and I don't think he ever took it off of his head.

 

[scottyrocks]

The movie(s) would not have been as iconic (if at all) were 'Indiana Jones' bareheaded. RotLA was a great movie for a lot of reasons, but the hat was the single item that cemented the character into people's minds.

Throw-back movies have always been around. Some just don't work as well as others. As far as realism, The Sting was horrible. It looked like '70s people playing dress-up. But Paper Moon made me feel like I was right there in the era. Of course, being filmed in B&W didn't hurt.

Raiders was a bunch of different pieces that came together to make it, and the central character, what it became, Spielberg's sense of action-adventure being a major one.

There have been fedora movies before, and fedora movies after, but when people see a fedora on the street, the first comment out of most people's mouths is an Indiana Jones comment. Without the hat, Indiana Jones would be just another mostly forgotten action hero.

 

[alanfgag]

RotLA was a great movie for a lot of reasons, but the hat was the single item that cemented the character into people's minds.

The folks on the whip forums see it differently.

 

[vintage68]

The folks on the whip forums see it differently.

Whip forums?? Never heard about those!

 

[T Jones]

It was good to me. That crooked little weasel guy got his in the end. Did I mention the love interest was better looking too

The weasel guy was Thomas Mitchell. He was a well known character actor who appeared in movies like Stagecoach and Gone With The Wind. He was also one of John Ford's cast regulars for a while.

Here's some pics of Heston from "Secret of the Incas, 1954", Ford's "Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981", and Alan Ladd's "China, 1943" for comparison. Notice that Heston's fedora looks to be more of an Aussie flop hat or outback hat.

Here's another one of Heston in the movie "Greatest Show On Earth, 1952" where again, he's wearing a leather bomber jacket and a brown fedora, Whippet maybe (?)....

 

[jamespowers]

The weasel guy was Thomas Mitchell. He was a well known character actor who appeared in movies like Stagecoach and Gone With The Wind. He was also one of John Ford's cast regulars for a while.

Here's some pics of Heston from "Secret of the Incas, 1954", Ford's "Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981", and Alan Ladd's "China, 1943" for comparison. Notice that Heston's fedora looks to be more of an Aussie flop hat or outback hat.

Here's another one of Heston in the movie "Greatest Show On Earth, 1952" where again, he's wearing a leather bomber jacket and a brown fedora, Whippet maybe (?)....

View attachment 9473

I noticed the difference in hat but the public sees a hat of that shape and no matter if it is a stingy from Walmart or a hat such as Heston’s, it is a fedora to them.
The difference between those other films and SOI (yes, we might as well use the letters like Raider’s fans use. ) is that SOI is a quest film. It is in search of an ancient object just as Indy was. You know, of course that Spielberg made his actors and crew watch SOI right?

 

[jamespowers]

Heston is an impressive looking man but to me he looked kind of foppish here with his floppy Aussie slouch hat, his little scarf and that terrible civilian A2. But that general look occurs in many films including China with Alan Ladd. Fedora, leather jacket, etc is the standard movie soldier of fortune outfit and thus a homage to the period and genre not a rip off. What was original in Raiders was the editing, the pace and the standard of the stunts and effects. Plots and locations in many films are more or less interchangeable. It's the energy the filmmakers give the thing that makes the difference.

He looks more roguish to me but to each his own.
The story was more or less original---the plot not so much. Look at 7:20 in the clip I posted. The map room scene is a direct rip off. lol

 

[jamespowers]

Whip forums?? Never heard about those!

Right near the chain forums.

 

[T Jones]

I noticed the difference in hat but the public sees a hat of that shape and no matter if it is a stingy from Walmart or a hat such as Heston’s, it is a fedora to them.
The difference between those other films and SOI (yes, we might as well use the letters like Raider’s fans use. ) is that SOI is a quest film. It is in search of an ancient object just as Indy was. You know, of course that Spielberg made his actors and crew watch SOI right?

You know, of course that Spielberg made his actors and crew watch SOI right?

Yup. That was especially obvious when Heston used an object that reflected a light beam on the Incas hidden idol and then was copied in ROTLA when Ford used a staff with a crystal mounted on the top to reflect a light beam to the hidden resting place for the Ark in an ancient Egyptian map room. I remember watching SOI many years ago. I always loved that hat Heston wore.

 

[scottyrocks]

Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls(1943), was also a forerunner of Indiana Jones, even if the garb wasn't was accurate to Indy's as some of those already mentioned.

The second picture looks like a promo, with costume pieces not used in the film.

 

[gtdean48]

Right near the chain forums.

Nicely played Sir!

 

[hatophile]

I gotta say, the fedora and leather jacket make a great combo.

 

[jamespowers]

I gotta say, the fedora and leather jacket make a great combo.

And has for over 70 years.

 

[vintage68]

I gotta say, the fedora and leather jacket make a great combo.

Very true, it's a timeless look that's stood the test of time.

 

[fedoracentric]

Even more than 70. More like over 100 years. It is a great look. A man's look.

 

[T Jones]

I gotta say, the fedora and leather jacket make a great combo.

Oh definitely. I love the look. I even wear my ORs and Westerns with a leather Jacket...

 

[jamespowers]

Even more than 70. More like over 100 years. It is a great look. A man's look.

True and I added emphasis to your statement.