3. Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones)
George Lucas openly admits that the Indiana Jones franchise is indebted to the adventure serials of the early-to-mid 20th century, but this seems to be a clever ploy to stop us from discovering the real plagiarism, that Indiana Jones is not the original character we all assumed he was. The 1954 Charlton Heston-starring film Secret of the Incas features Heston playing a character who looks
remarkably like Jones, with the signature black leather jacket and hat. Even the costume designers for Raiders of the Lost Ark admit that they watched Incas during production, and were surprised that it didn't end up being credited with the influence. Various story elements from the Indy franchise also borrow - or rather, steal with impunity - from Incas, and there's one very simple reason why this is possible. Paramount own the rights to both properties, and so have just elected not to release Incas on video, ensuring that Indy's reputation is not tarnished with the majority of viewers. Still, not that I've seen it, I'm sure there are myriad reasons Secret of the Incas is nothing and Indy is everything...