'Indiana Jones': Why Harrison Ford Pitched 'Raiders of the Lost Ark's Famous Gun vs Sword Scene (Flashback)

etonline.com:

Indiana Jones' most iconic weapon is the archaeologist's handy whip, it's Harrison Ford's «gun vs. sword» scene in that's considered by most fans to be the funniest moment in the franchise.

Within Hollywood history, meanwhile, its backstory has become a legendary behind-the-scenes anecdote (and quite the popular internet GIF).The actor, and director Steven Spielberg, recounted to ET how a bout of dysentery and some off-the-cuff inspiration led to one of Indy’s most character-defining reactions. «With, I learned how to compromise creatively.

More than any other picture I'd made since my television days,» Spielberg shared with ET in 1982, less than a year after their tribute to movie serials grossed nearly $400 million at the box office on a $20 million budget. «The sequence where Harrison is battling the [black-robed] swordsman and pulls out the gun, and shoots the swordsman, was a compromise that I made on the day that Harrison wasn't feeling too well.»And it wasn’t just Ford, who claims that as they filmed Marion Ravenwood’s (Karen Allen) kidnapping on location (with Tunisia standing in for Cairo, Egypt), a substantial portion of the movie’s team became «quite ill with dysentery.»«We all, finally, became ill, except for Steven,» Ford told ET in 2000, explaining that the helmer arrived overseas «with a full case of SpaghettiOs» and «gaffer taped his mouth every time he took a shower.»Following a foot chase and some fisticuffs action, Indy was originally scripted to have one last physical challenge before he’s tricked into believing Marion died.

The sequence was described by Spielberg, who conceived it with producer George Lucas and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, as «the most definitive 'whip against the sword'.