10 Things You Didn’t Know About Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

Never work with children or animals. Teachers and vets can testify to this adage, as can the bird wranglers of the Last Crusade.

While on the run following their escape from the Zeppelin, Indy and Henry are hounded by a German fighter plane. Out of ammo and options, Henry uses his initiative and frightens a flock of seagulls into flying directly into the plane, causing it to crash into the cliffs.

The filmmakers had intended to use actual seagulls for this scene, but they proved to be highly unwilling to act alongside their co-stars and fly off when Sean Connery flashed his umbrella, when they could have just launched five dozen Cornish Pasties into the sky. That would've got them moving!

So the result was the seagulls being replaced with plastic models and the real birds flying in front of the camera were doves, which are traditionally much more cooperative in front of a camera. However, even then the doves caused problems in a particularly funny behind-the-scenes clip when they wouldn't leave their box and Steven Spielberg didn't know whether to laugh or cry!