dave wright

movie that inspired the raiders /staff of ra scene?

Quite a few years ago i saw a movie (b&w) with a scene that seems to provide inspiration to raiders of the lost ark.The movie in question has a scene with a treasure hunter who has a map and a staff,and if he stands in a particular spot at sundown,the sun will shine thru and reveal the location of the treasure.Can anyone tell me the title of this movie?
I havent seen it mentioned in any raiders trivia sites
THANKS!-----dave from jersey

Garrett Lundy

I think it was taken from The Hobbit, then used in several films.

Todd Phillips

Journey to the Center of the Earth uses a mountain's shadow to show the entrance to the underground.

"Safe? Who knows what's safe? I know a man who dropped dead from lookin' at his wife. My own grandmother fought the indians for sixty years, then choked to death on lemon pie."

Bill Huelbig

Dave, I'd definitely say it was taken from Journey to the Center of the Earth. It happened at sunrise on the last day of May - a sunray shone through a break in an Icelandic mountaintop and pointed directly at the gateway to the underworld. The rolling boulder that chases Harrison Ford in Raiders was also inspired by a boulder in Journey that chased James Mason and his friends.

The movie was in CinemaScope and color, but maybe you remember it from seeing it on a black and white TV (that's the only way I could see it for many years). You should get the DVD version and see it the way it was meant to be seen - it's really spectacular.

--Bill

dave wright

thanks for the feedback guys.im sure it wasnt journey to the center of the earth tho.heres what i do remember about the movie i saw.late 50s early 60s black and white.this guy is in a valley up near the top, with a staff and a map.at a certain time the sun shines thru and brightens an area down near the bottom.thrilled, he scrambles down to the bottom only to realize that while the sun is going down,the location of the treasure is ever changing.this scene takes place near the very end of the movie.i last saw it on cable somewhere maybe 10 years ago and never did get the name --------dave from jersey

Rob Gardiner

I don't have anything to contribute but I just have to say:

THEY'RE DIGGING IN THE WRONG PLACE!

Todd Phillips

OK, after much IMDB searching...how about this one?

The Secret of the Incas

The reviews say it's a proto-Indiana Jones...I want to see it now, but it's not on video.

"Safe? Who knows what's safe? I know a man who dropped dead from lookin' at his wife. My own grandmother fought the indians for sixty years, then choked to death on lemon pie."

Greg_S_H

Oh, man. Not another one of these: i.e., a movie that sounds cool that nobody figures out. There was one a few years ago on the HTF where the poster remembered a movie where people were looking for treasure using a map marked in footsteps, and it wasn't working out until they realized the people who used the map were much smaller or taller, and thus had much different strides.

Maybe both will turn out to be The Secret of the Incas.

From reading the user comments on the IMDb, it sounds like this is the map room movie.

Todd Phillips

bumping for dave!

(be more fun...avoid the post-and-run)

"Safe? Who knows what's safe? I know a man who dropped dead from lookin' at his wife. My own grandmother fought the indians for sixty years, then choked to death on lemon pie."

Anthony Hom

Didn't the Simpsons do a spoof on this in the episode "Fighting Hellfish"?

Bryan Ri

This was also used in the recent video game on the Nintendo GameCube "Eternal Darkness"


Bryan