This is a collection of fun facts and myths relating to Harrison Ford movies; anecdotes, trivia, things to look for, etc. Some, depending on who you talk to, are debatable. On the whole, this collection of contributed information comprises as many as possible, most of the well known Ford movie facts/myths.
This is an on going project, so if you have anything to contribute e-mail me at
Special thanks to Leia2@ix.netcom.com for coming up with the idea for this project , and getting to ball rolling.
INDIANA JONES TRILOGY
From: Meaghan Walsh
From: Unknown
This is in regards to Harrison's scar in "Last Crusade"....In the first scene where we see the older Indy, he gets
punched in the face. Look closely and you will notice that the scar is on the opposite side of
where it should be...a little glitch with the negative maybe...
At an early age, Harrison ran his car into a telephone pole, the cause of his trademark scar. In "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," the scar is explained as having been the result of a whip's lash.
In "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Indy is confronted with a sword-wielding fiend. The original scene
called for a long battle with Indy's whip, but Harrison, suffering from exhaustion and dysentary,
came up with the idea to unholster the gun and fire.
Harrison was filming a scene in which he and Marion Ravenwood struggle with villains on an
airplane. During the filming, Harrison tumbled to the ground directly into the path of one of the moving plane's wheels which proceeded to roll up his leg before being stopped.
From: Lindsay Fenstad
lfenstad@yahoo.com
I red somewhere that in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indy and Marion are in the snake pit, there are hieroglyphics on the wall of R2-D2 and C-3PO, although I can't find them.
roslare@kear.tds.net
In Raiders of the Lost Ark, a piece of plexiglass can be seen separating Harrison from a
cobra in the snake pit scene. In the Last Crusade not only is there an explenation for his
scar, we learn where he got his American bullwhip (lion car), why he's afraid of snakes
(falling into the snake pit on the train), where he got his famous hat (from the Cross of
Coranado excavater) and we meet Indiana, the dog whom, we find out a t the very end is who
Indy named himself after.
In " Indiana Jones and the Temle of Doom", the club in which Indy is poisoned is called The Obi Wan Club (Star Wars).
STAR WARS TRILOGY
Harrison felt that his character, Han Solo, should have died in the
carbonite-freezing process, a sacrifice for the Alliance. However, George Lucas
didn't share the opinion, and Harrison returned for the third Star Wars
movie.
Landing the part of Han Solo was more fluke than anything. Harrison
happened to be doing some carpentry near the set during auditions, and when
George Lucas needed someone to fill in to read the part of Han, he asked
Harrison (whom Lucas knew from working with him in "American Graffiti.")
He read the part better than any of the other Han-hopefulls.
In "The Empire Strikes Back," Harrison and Princess Leia are onboard the
'Millenium Falcon' together. Suddenly the ship lurches and Leia falls into Harrison's
arms. She asks crisply to be released, after which Harrison tells her not to get excited.
When Leia responds, "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited,"
watch Harrison's lips closely. He is mouthing the words along with her.
Carrie Fisher was rumored to be on drugs at the time of "The Empire Strikes Back" and had
difficulty filming the carbon-freeze scene. Tired of hearing Leia's "I love you," and responding
with his scripted, "Just remember that, because I'll be back," Harrison improvised with his now
famous, "I know."
In "Star Wars," Harrison and Luke Skywalker make their way into a detention
center to rescue Princess Leia. When an Imperial officer demands via intercom to know what
caused all the commotion, Harrison leans over and replies, "Uh . . . had a slight weapons
malfunction. But, uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine
here, now, thank you. How are you?" Harrison made this up on the spot, deliberately not
learning the scripted lines so as to sound spontaneous.
E.T.
APOCALYPSE NOW
THE FUGITIVE
From:cjl200@is5.nyu.edu
In the Fugitive, during a sequence where Gerard is searching for information about Kimbal, there is a shot of a train. In that shot, you can clearly see the Harrison Hotel.
PATRIOT GAMES
From: cjl200@is5.nyu.edu
SABRINA
MISCELLANEOUS
The Indiana Jones Adventure ride at Disneyland has three animatronic
Harrisons . . . but Ford fans will note that Harrison's voice is not used.
In "The Empire Strikes Back," when Harrison is about to be frozen in
carbonite, notice the clothing inconsistencies. On close-ups, he's wearing a
vest, but when the camera pans back, the vest is gone. Also notice that when
he is frozen, his shirt is untucked, but in "Return of the Jedi," when he is
unfrozen, his shirt is tucked in.
Harrison's wife, Melissa Mathison, was the screenwriter for "E.T." Harrison was
originally cast as the school principal, but later the scenes were cut. However, some
sources say you can see Harrison's back now and then.
The character played by Ford is wearing a name patch which reads "Lucas" (for George Lucas).
From: jackie@eosinc.com
In Apocalypse Now, the name of Martin Sheen character is Benjamin Willard. These are the names of Harrison's two oldest sons.
From: roslare@kear.tds.net
In the Fugitive, Kimble calls his lawyer o a payphone near the "L". If you listen and watch
closely you will hear that only two -ings" are heard after the lawyer picks up the phone, not five
or six and a man on a ludspeaker saying "next stop.." as Gerard points out.
While filming a scene for the movie's trailer, Ford takes a fall while running through the woods and injures a ligament in his right leg which causes a limp throughout subsequent filmed scenes for the movie.
From: Lindsay Fenstad
lfenstad@yahoo.com
When Harrison closes the door of his hotel room in London, the room number is 713, which is his birthday.
I guess it could be a coincidence...
In Patriot Games, when Jack Ryan is being followed down the street by one of the Irish, the street that he passes is Hanover Street.
In Sabrina, when Linus and Sabrina are driving home in the car after their Moroccan dinner, Harrison looks at the camera out of the corner of his eye, not at the road.
Harrison's wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the screenplay for "The Indian in the Cupboard."
In one scene, a schoolteacher thanks two children after having made a presentation by
saying, "Thank you, Malcolm and Georgia." Those are, of course, the names of Harrison's
own children.