As Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny hits cinemas with Harrison Ford on his last tour of duty in the role of its titular whip-cracking protagonist, fans around the world have been turning up to screenings dressed in the character’s trademark fedora and leather jacket.
Talking to Deadline at the Taormina Film Festival, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis gave a fascinating account of how she originally created the iconic look in collaboration with Stephen Spielberg for the original 1981 film in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Spielberg first approached Nadoolman Landis after seeing her work on then boyfriend, now husband, John Landis’s 1978 film National Lampoon’s Animal House.
At that point the director, who had the hits Jaws and Close Encounters under his belt, had never worked with a costume designer.
“He had worked with a costume supervisor, who had organised the clothes for him on those films. He saw Animal House and I think he had an epiphany,” she said.
“He called me and said, ‘I’m going to be directing a huge comedy musical called 1941. Would you come and see me about it?’ I went to see him. We had a wonderful meeting. We fell platonically in love. He said, ‘1941 is going to be a Spielberg Nadoolman co-production.’”
The film went on to be a major flop. While Spielberg licked his wounds, Nadoolman Landis started working on Landis’s next film The Blues Brothers, travelling to Chicago for the shoot.
“Toward the end of the shooting, I heard from Steve and he said, ‘Listen, I’m going to send you a script by Larry Kasdan. It’s called Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ I couldn’t imagine what it was,” said Nadoolman Landis.
The plan was that the film would be a low-budget B-movie, produced by George Lucas.
“I read the screenplay and went back to L.A. Steve’s office was across from mine. He was the first person I ever knew who had a Ms. Pac-Man in his office because he was on the cutting edge of everything,” said Nadoolman.
She and Spielberg watched a number of 1950s classics together including the Secret of the Incas and The Greatest Show On Earth.
“We sat watching these films together alone in a screening room. Now, Indiana Jones really is Harry Steele. That’s Charlton Heston’s character and in Secret of the Incas. He is not a nice guy. He’s actually a treasure hunter. But he wears a brown fedora and a leather jacket. And Steve did say this is the archetype,” she recalled.
Nadoolman Landis said there was disappointment among the crew on the project when Tom Selleck, was famously forced to drop out due to his Magnum P.I. commitments.
“We were told that Hans Solo was coming in. The team was incredibly disappointed. And Harrison shuffled in as is Harrison’s way, reticent, self-effacing, intellectual, gorgeous,” she said.
There was no time to remake the costumes for Harrison ahead of the UK part of the shoot at Elstree Studios, so Nadoolman Landis had to improvise in London.
“I remade the leather jacket at Berman and Nathans Costumiers in Camden Town and the hat at Herbert Johnson,” she recalled, referring to the New Bond Street hatters and cap maker.
“I had gone to Herbert Johnson and they had nothing to suit. Absolutely nothing, no brown fedoras. Why would they in 1981?… Herbert Johnson did have a hat which was called the Australian. So, think about Crocodile Dundee. It was up on one side and had a very large brim… So, I said I’ll have that one. We remade it. I redesigned it for Harrison… it was all bespoke… I fulfilled my job, which was to bring Steve Spielberg’s vision to life.”
Nadoolman Landis was in Taormina with husband Landis, who is being feted by the festival with a retrospective.
The couple also attended the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny at the festival over the weekend in the presence of Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen.
Quizzed on her feelings about her role in the creation of the original Indiana Jones look some 40 years later, she said: “The best thing I heard, was Harrison saying that he doesn’t have to prepare for the role. He just has to put on the clothes. And that is a testimonial. That’s the best I could ever ask for.”
Click above to watch the full interview with Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
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