Idol-grab fedora--distressed?

[Chindit]

While watching Raiders and the opening scenes in the cave, it "appears" to me that the idol grab
hat is not as distressed as the hat in SoC. Maybe I'm not seeing it clearly due to the bad lighting.
Appreciate any thoughts on this.

(not sure this is related or not, but in a copy I have of the Premiere Script Library book of Raiders, there is a very good quality pic of Ford in his leather jacket pointing his gun at the camera. The hat in that pic looks turned, but almost pristine. I'm guessing this is a posed shot. [and curiously the hat looks like the bow is on the wrong side?!).

[IJJTM]

Well, it’s not as distressed because he hasn’t been wearing it in Cairo, same goes with the Raven’s Bar version.

[Chindit]

Yes, that does make sense. And, who knows, maybe it got some extra intentional distressing while filming in Tunisia.
Thanks.

[Mike]

For the Raven pic, is the gun pointing (your) right or left I see that image flipped a lot.

This is the correct orientation....

[Chindit]

Thanks Mike, but that is not the pic I had in mind. The one from the book has Ford pointing his pistol waist high, the hat looks pristine (to me at least), and the hat bow is on the same side as the pistol hand. Unfortunately I don't have access to the book now, but maybe someone here has it.

[backstagejack]

.....(not sure this is related or not, but in a copy I have of the Premiere Script Library book of Raiders, there is a very good quality pic of Ford in his leather jacket pointing his gun at the camera. The hat in that pic looks turned, but almost pristine. I'm guessing this is a posed shot. [and curiously the hat looks like the bow is on the wrong side?!).

This one? Bow looks to be on the appropriate side to me if he's holding the gun in his left hand. Pretty sure this is a promo pic/staged especially because I don't see a bag strap but he's also not wearing the satchel in this other pic. I know there's other's on this forum that know the history of all these pictures. My memory was they were for a press kit package?

[Mike]

Yeah I'm thinking its the shot on the left there backstagejack. I know some knucklehead used it for a painting....


The pic was taken on set probably between shot set ups. There is no bag strap since Indy didn't wear his bag in the Raven Bar, so the pics are accurate. The one on the right was used for the action figure cardbacks.

I've also seen the pistol shot reversed a bunch to have Indy with the gun in his right hand, but this is probably depicting the point when he first comes in (sans snow on his brim) as Indy DID have the gun in his left hand because he whipped out the poker with his right.

[Chindit]

Yes!! That is the pic!
(Don't know why I just didn't think he would hold the gun in his left hand--duh).
Thanks for all that info.

[backstagejack]

Yeah I'm thinking its the shot on the left there backstagejack. I know some knucklehead used it for a painting....


The pic was taken on set probably between shot set ups. There is no bag strap since Indy didn't wear his bag in the Raven Bar, so the pics are accurate. The one on the right was used for the action figure cardbacks.

I've also seen the pistol shot reversed a bunch to have Indy with the gun in his right hand, but this is probably depicting the point when he first comes in (sans snow on his brim) as Indy DID have the gun in his left hand because he whipped out the poker with his right.

That's right, forgot about the bag not being in that scene. Great painting btw!!

[craigjohn]

Been a long time since I posted here, but I’ve been on my quest to order my Poet, and took a deep dive into watching Raiders and several scenes over and over, trying to decide which version I wanted to my Poet to emulate. And the Idol scene, or more to the point, the Cave walk scene was my choice.

I know the Indy Fan favorite for most is the SOC look, but I didn’t want my hat all beat up and battered.

So in watching the cave scene over and over, the hat takes on a few different looks. There’s one point where the hat doesn’t have the Raider’s Turn. There’s a point where the front pinch is much more relaxed, and not so tight. It almost falls between the LC pinch and the SOC pinch. However, the front bash is still rather tall, top to bottom, like the SOC.

There’s also a beautiful lazy S curve to the front brim, going from left to right. I have screen grabs I can add when I get back home. The brim hasn’t been totally battered and floppy at this point, like the SOC. I actually prefer the brim in this scene compared to rest of the movie.

By the time Indy grabs the idol, the front pinch is a bit tighter, there’s a bit more of turn.

For weathering, it starts out pretty light going into the cave. The weathering looks a bit more like light dusting, rather than dirty and sweaty. …There is one spot, as Indy turns to run from the round boulder, where it looks like someone accidentally dumped a big bag of dust on his hat. …and of course, he’s coated in cobwebs upon his exit.

As for the hat color on the cave: in one scene the felt looks lighter, compared to the ribbon, in another the felt looks darker. Quality of set lighting, camera angle and the properties of film can have a fun affect on colors. Then you add in the aging process of the hats by the costume department, and… it’s a challenge. LOL

Ford was noted to always be working on his hats between takes, above and beyond what the costume department did to the hats. So yes. The hat is in a literal perpetual state of change throughout, not only the movie, but the relatives scenes themselves.

[micsteam]

Just for info, Raiders was not filmed in sequence that the final cut/movie is shown. Filming started in LaRochelle France, Tunisia, then Hawaii (Peru scenes), and pick ups in the states ( Pan Am clipper). Harrison, stand ins, and stuntmen all used different fedoras for different shots and different locations so you can't use Peru as a reference for Streets of Cairo as SOC was filmed before Peru and not the same fedora.

[craigjohn]

Just for info, Raiders was not filmed in sequence that the final cut/movie is shown. Filming started in LaRochelle France, Tunisia, then Hawaii (Peru scenes), and pick ups in the states ( Pan Am clipper). Harrison, stand ins, and stuntmen all used different fedoras for different shots and different locations so you can't use Peru as a reference for Streets of Cairo as SOC was filmed before Peru and not the same fedora.

Yes. I'm aware of this. You can certainly compare the Cairo/Peru hats in terms of weathering, to determine two different hats were used between those scenes. There were 5 hero hats given to Ford/Spielberg. I would have to believe a new/different hat was used in Hawaii (Peru scenes), and the indoor studio shots, compared to what they used for the Cairo scenes — the Peru/Idol cave scene hat wasn't nearly as battered as the Cairo hat.