Watching the variety of special features available on Raiders Of The Lost Ark's home video releases, one quickly understands that the set of the movie wasn't wholly a healthy, happy place. Much of the production took place in Tunisia, and less than ideal conditions led to a lot of the cast and crew getting sick with diseases like dysentery. Harrison Ford can be counted among those who got ill... but the same can't be said of director Steven Spielberg, who took some funny approaches to protecting himself while in North Africa.
Ford's personal bout with dysentery on the Raiders Of The Lost Ark set famously led to the creation of one of the movie's most memorable moments (Indiana Jones whipping out his gun and shooting a confrontational, scimitar-wielding swordsman in the middle of a bazaar), and it was while recounting this memory during a recent CNN interview that the actor revealed how the film's director remained healthy during production. Ford explained,
We were to have filmed a four-day whip and scimitar fight in a marketplace. And I was suffering from dysentery. And so were many members of the crew. Not Steven, because every time he went in the shower, he put gaffer tape over his mouth, and he traveled with a trunk full of Spaghetti-O’s.
In the making of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg clearly wasn't messing around and willing to take risks with his health. It's basically impossible to direct a movie when you're suffering with diarrhea, vomiting, a high fever and stomach cramps, so he took serious precautions to avoid any contaminations.
Continuing, Harrison Ford laughed and gave Steven Spielberg credit for his ability to avoid the terrible disease the plagued him, and explained that it was a shared thought that led to the intense bazaar battle that was planned being reduced to a more comical beat:
But he didn’t have dysentery. So it was up to me to say, ‘Listen, I can’t stay out of the dressing room for very long. Should we think about cutting this down? Let’s just shoot this son of a bitch.’ And Steven said, ‘I was just thinking about that myself!’
The production of Raiders Of The Lost Ark was particularly brutal for Harrison Ford, who has a fairly long history of on-set injuries and maladies. Not only did he get dysentery, but he also tore the ACL in his left leg during the fight scene between Indiana Jones and the muscle-bound German pilot in the film's second act. The blockbuster adventure movie is one to remember, but for Harrison Ford, the making of it was in many ways one to forget.
Memories of Indiana Jones' past are obviously everywhere right now thanks to the theatrical release of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, which is number one at the box office and playing in theaters everywhere. If you're looking to revisit the magic of Raiders Of The Lost Ark specifically, however, you can stream it with a Paramount+ subscription or a Disney+ subscription; rent/purchase it digitally at major outlets including Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play or Apple; and pick it up on physical media either on 4K or Blu-ray.
