20 Things You Somehow Missed In Raiders Of The Lost Ark

9. Colonel Musgrove And Major Eaton

Raiders of the Lost Ark Harrison Ford
LucasFilm

Much like how M briefs Double-0 Seven on his mission in most of the James Bond films, Indiana Jones receives vital information on his quest for the Ark of the Covenant from Colonel Musgrove and Major Eaton of U.S. Army Intelligence in this film.

Both Don Fellows (who played Musgrove) and William Hootkins (who portrayed Eaton) were very active in portraying Americans in films made in Britain around this time (Shane Rimmer even termed this tendency to cast American and Canadian actors resident in the UK as "Rent-a-Yank").

Fellows had appeared in other classic films such as The Omen, Superman II, and Eye of the Needle. Hootkins, on the other hand, is perhaps best known for his roles as Jek Tono Porkins in George Lucas's original Star Wars and as Lieutenant Eckhardt in Tim Burton's Batman; he also had the misfortune of portraying a number of characters whose names poked fun at his weight (as here, for example, his surname is Eaton).

Hootkins does, however, steal one of the film's most memorable lines when he firmly informs Indy at the end of the film that the Ark of the Covenant is being inspected by "top men".

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.