“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (still the best Indiana Jones movie) he represented something entirely new yet distinctly recognizable. At least, he was recognizable to anyone who’d grown up in the decades prior to his arrival. Indy creator George Lucas and director of the first four movies, Steven Spielberg, have made no secret of the inspirations behind Henry Jones Jr. Aside from the adventure serials of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, the character’s look was influenced by Humphrey Bogart’s character in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” But Charlton Heston’s Harry Steele in 1954 ‘s “Secret of the Incas” is arguably the most Indiana Jones-like figure from that era, with his large fedora and brown leather jacket providing a blueprint for Harrison Ford’s intrepid archeologist. It wasn’t just Bogart and Heston that formed part of the genesis of Indiana Jones, though. Lucas was inspired by so many of the films he’d seen as a child, and while one mostly overlooked John Wayne adventure outing might not have been a direct inspiration, it has all the makings of an Indy classic.
Wayne might be best known for epitomizing the Western star and generally representing the archetypal American hero (at least for a period when culture was generally much more conservative), but he also got in on the treasure hunting action. In the mid-1950s the renowned star fronted a movie that would have provided the perfect adventure for Dr. Jones himself, complete with lost desert cities, treasure, and a female companion who’s just as plucky as the leading man.
