The actor and Steven Spielberg recount filming the fan-favorite moment, where the archaeologist defeats the Cairo market swordsman.
While Indiana Jones' most iconic weapon is the archaeologist's handy whip, it's Harrison Ford's "gun vs. sword" scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark 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 Raiders, 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 Jaws 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' fight."
Speaking to the amount of forethought that proceeded their looming shoot day, Ford noted, "A lot of planning had gone into this fight scene," adding that they had even rehearsed with "a lot of extras" the night prior.
"At that point, I was quite ill with dysentery. I really wasn't able to stay away from my trailer for more than the length to shoot a magazine (referring to a movie camera’s film stock that, on average, allowed for 10 minutes worth of filming)," he recalled.
While the Han Solo actor endured his crippling illness, Ford was also concerned the audience might lose sight of Indiana’s objective to rescue Marion if he got pulled into another showdown.
"I thought about it. We had about an hour and a half ride into our location. By the time I got to the location, I was convinced that it was too much," he remembered. "I went up to Steven as soon as I arrived, and I said, 'Steven, why don't we just shoot this sumb***h?' And Steven said, 'I was thinking that, too!'"
As for the swordsman actor (Terry Richards) who spent months training for this one scene, Ford admitted he felt "terribly sorry for him" but also believed their improvised alternative "served the film well."
Meanwhile, Spielberg couldn’t help but appreciate that the creative compromise landed his production "a day and a half ahead of schedule."
In 2023 -- over 40 years since the Paramount Pictures logo dissolved into the mountain backdrop of the Nazi-fighting professor's first on-screen adventure -- Ford is in the midst of a full-circle moment. And this time, as seen in the fifth installment’s trailer, it’s Indy who finds himself out-gunned and holding the inferior weapon.
"I'm very grateful that we get to do this and that we've rounded the corner and brought the character full circle," Ford told ET’s Cassie DiLaura at Dial of Destiny’s premiere in Hollywood. "That's very important to me."
As he prepares, once and for all, to hang up the whip, the 80-year-old star says he's "not going to miss anything" about playing Henry Jones Jr.
He explained, "I mean, what matters is the making of it. The process of making, that's what really counts. That's where we face ourselves [to ask] 'Should we be doing this? Is this the right thing to do? Is this the best expression of this idea?'"
"We depend on the audience. I work for them," Ford added. "I work for all of you, so if I make you happy, it makes me happy."
Raiders of the Lost Ark streams on Paramount+ and Disney+. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is in theaters everywhere.
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