Sunday, January 14, 2007

Raiders of the Lost Ark Mystery

Who is this guy in the yellow box?







This has driven my crazy ever since I saw the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, so it's been haunting me for 26 years.

Does anybody out there know Steven Spielberg or Harrison Ford or George Lucas and can ask them for me?

It's in the final few minutes of the movie, when they tell Indy that they have "top experts" investigating the Ark. Maybe it's someone's uncle or father, but why is he just standing in the background not saying anything? Please make a comment if you know.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The character you're wondering about is simply known as the BUREAUCRAT. The film's credits list him as having been played by Bill Reimbold.

Here's how the scene is described in the 3rd draft of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, which goes into surprising detail about this non-speaking role.

INT. THE PENTAGON - DAY 158

Indy, Brody, and Marion, looking very stylish, are seated
in Colonel Musgrove's huge office. Sun pours in a window,
through which Washington can be seen sparkling across the
Potomac. Everything is neat and clean and regular. In-
cluding the three men who are arrayed around the office.
Two we know--Col. Musgrove and Maj. Eaton. The third is
an unnamed Bureaucrat. He hangs back, smiling and genial,
his features obscured by the glare of the window. He doesn't
say anything, yet you have a sense that the others defer to
him in the matter at hand. He is the essence of all that
is Byzantine and inscrutable in our scrubbed government
machine.


Hope this helps.

BetaCygni said...

Looks like Dick Cheney to me.