20 Things You Somehow Missed In Raiders Of The Lost Ark

8. Washington, D.C.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Harrison Ford
LucasFilm

Highlighting the importance of the Ark of the Covenant to America's standing in international affairs, the closing scenes of the film take place in Washington, D.C.. However, you may be surprised to learn that not a single scene of this film was actually shot there.

The establishing shot of the Washington Memorial seen from the Lincoln Memorial was actually footage lifted directly from Robert Wise's 1975 film, The Hindenburg, complete with extras wearing 1930s fashions and driving vintage motorcars.

Indy and Marcus Brody meet with Colonel Musgrove and Major Eaton at the Royal Masonic School for Girls in Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England (which had stood in for the interior of Indy's university earlier in the film), and Marcus later leaves Indy in the capable hands of Marion Ravenwood in the elegant lobby of San Francisco City Hall, which also featured in the 1985 James Bond film, A View to a Kill.

Both locations stand in for Washington's Capitol Building.

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