MovieChat Forums > Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Discussion > Did anybody else get the impression that...

Did anybody else get the impression that Henry Sr was in fact a bit of an adventurer/fighter in his younger years?


I know that a big part of the way Henry Sr as a character is the notion that he is a bookworm (or at least perceived as such) and not a guy who works in the field. However, upon a recent re-watch of this, I really did get the idea that there are several details that indicate that he was not the total bookworm that Indy views him as - -

- I feel like the most famous and memorable scene that hints at this is of course the scene where Henry Sr "remembers his Charlamagne" and gets the seagulls on the beack to take out the German plane that is tracking him and Indy. The expression on Indy's face after he pulls this off really is one that seems to indicate how he realizes that he never gave his dad credit in regards to him being as resourceful and clever as he is revealing himself to be.

- The scene in which him and Indy are trying to find a way out of the Austrian castle after escaping being tied up in the fire. It is one of the few times in which we see Indy going into panic mode and Henry Sr has his line in which he tells Indy that "if he sits down and takes a minute, the solution presents itself" just before leaning back in the chair and unknowingly causes the hidden stairway to be shown. The level of relaxedness and nonchalance he shows here is something that I believe indicates that this is not his first rodeo.

- The scene where Indy and Henry Sr board the blimp: Indy happily mentions how they made it and Henry responds by saying how he will only share that sentiment once they are launched and out of Germany. The fact that a seasoned adventurer such as Indy is essentially being corrected (by Henry) on something like this says to me that Henry is correcting him from a place of past experience he had in regards to being similar situations.

- Henry insisting that he and Indy travel to Berlin to retrieve the Grail diary. Yes, the study of the Grail is Henry's lifelong hobby of passion and he clearly has a profound sense of reverence towards it, but the fact that he is so eager to dive right into the lion's den tells me that he has a history of being in extremely risky situations that involve him being outnumbered by a highly hostile opposing force.

- Using the vase as a makeshift weapon when he mistakenly thought Indy was one of the nazi soldiers. Yes, Indy points out the notion that one of the soldiers would enter through the door and not enter through crashing into a window. However, the fact that his initial instinct was to react through means of physical self defense really seems to indicate that he did have a survivor's mentality.

- His attempt to enter the tank rescue of Marcus while they were crossing through the desert. Yes, this attempt failed, yet the fact he quickly threw together and plan and acted on it is something that highlights the notion that he ballsy enough and confident enough to go forward with it. Hell, he even was able to get inside the tank, I feel like he got further with the attempted rescue than most would.

- And of course, one of the most memorable comic relief moments: the scene before the attempted rescue in which Indy is looking through the binoculars as he is scouting out the nazi convoy moving across the desert. Henry tells Indy to get down to which Indy mentions how they are out of range, which is immediately followed by the nazis opening fire on Indy and barely missing him. Again, the fact that Henry is correcting Indy on the details of a tactical situation such as this really makes me think that Henry had legit experience in dealing with combat related situations.

I feel like Henry's clumsy moments in the movie are the result of him simply being older and losing a bit of his edge due to being out of the game for so long. Thoughts?

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Yes he was Alan quartermain.

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