Indiana Jones Five

INDIANA JONES and the PYRAMID of FEAR aka The Curse of the African Queen
                                          
                       by David Axtell from the original character creation of George Lucas
                       (Extracts from a prequel to a sequel of a trilogy...)

                       We see the familiar fade in of the Paramount logo to Sugar Loaf Mountain of
                       Rio de Janeiro.

                       

                       INTERIOR – HOTEL CUMPARSITA - NIGHT

                     Indiana Jones is located within a Hotel gambling den surrounded by Mafioso types,
                     sleazy dropouts and hoodlums. Exotic burlesque dancers are the entertainment on
                     the premises and La Cumparsita (Tango) music is being played.
                         There is a mean crowd round the Poker table where a big stash of money is being
                     gambled for an Ivory box inlaid with the famed CLOUD PEARL of Yoshimoto. (A
                     legendary Samurai warrior). The owner also likes to keep exotic pets - Piranha fish,
                     Lizards, spiders and snakes in cages and tanks located in the Hotel.

                     THE TITLE FADES IN – RIO DE JANEIRO 1955

                     Offered to drink Tequilas Indy is wary and declines the offer. The whole place seems
                     to make him feel uneasy as if he’s trapped in a lair. He has an old score to settle with
                     a previous adversary. Throwing caution to the wind and a reckless offer Indy wants to
                     win back the Cloud Pearl. Among the three players is a German. Albrect Dalfinger is
                     the latest person to own this artifact (Stolen from Lao Che in the late 20’s). Albrect
                     Dalfinger is embarking on a ‘vacation’ out of Argentina as the political situation has
                     deteriorated against Peron. Dalfinger was a Nazi spy who had survived the scuttling
                     of the German Warship (The Graf Spee)  and he is willing at this time to gamble his     
                     stolen treasures to offset the cost of his escape.
                          Further shady types linked to the niece of Lao Che (Lu Sho Che) are also watching
                     and waiting outside these premises. Indy’s other partner in this situation is Short
                     Round. Indy is playing with three of a kind –  all Queens…


                                                                   DALFINGER
                                      How times change Dr Jones – our countries were once
                                      sworn enemies. And yet now here we are two old adversaries
                                      waiting to see how the new world order plays out.

                                                                         INDY
                                      Well that just depends on how you play the game Albrect.
                                      I could smell your foul stench –  a mile away
                                      Nazi’s always give off a nasty smell.
                              
                                                                   DALFINGER
                                      Come, come Dr Jones. There’s no need for personal
                                      insults.

                                                                          INDY
                                      I wasn’t…consider it a compliment.
                                      Having a price on your head can’t be good for business.


                                                                   DALFINGER
                                      Circumstances have changed…life was getting out of hand
                                      in Peron’s Argentina.
                       
                                                                          INDY
                                      The ratlines have all been closed down Albrecht, there’s no
                                      where for people like you to hide.

                                                                   DALFINGER
                                       Nor you Dr. Jones…I’ve heard the story of you and Loa Che.
                         
                                                                          INDY
                                       Yeah; well I’ve got an old score to settle.

                                                          

                          …another card is dealt – another Queen for Indy


                                                                   DALFINGER
                                       Old habits die hard eh Dr Jones? (Nervous laughter)

                                                                          INDY
                                       Yeah, I never seem to give them up.

    
                         … Short Round moves closer to protect Indy.      
                       
                                                                  DALFINGER
                                              You’ve come late to the table to join us.

                                                                          INDY
                                              He’s not here to play Albrect.

                                                                   DALFINGER
                                              Well then why don’t you introduce us

                                                                          INDY
                                              This is Short Round. He’s my insurance policy.


                       The situation grows tense as Indy has a good hand and …the stakes are raised
                       Dalfinger wants to see Indy’s cards and takes off his gold cufflinks inscribed with
                       his initials…..  

                                                                  DALFINGER
                                              Maybe the great Yoshimoto Pearl will finally
                                              have a new owner…Herr Jones?


                                                                          INDY
                                              That’s my intention – you reading my mind?

                                                                   DALFINGER
                                              Things slip away from you when you least expect them to.
                                              You wouldn’t stoop to conquer it would you?


                       ....gesturing that there is card cheating going on.

                                                                          INDY
                                              C’mon unlike you? It’s not my style.
                                              Not when there’s money on the table – another thousand
                                              to know for sure…I never like to lose.

                                                                                                                            
                      …Indy calls to see the cards. Dalfinger has a bad hand – seeking to forfeit the game.


                                                                    DALFINGER
                                              You are much like your Father.

                                                                          INDY
                                              Oh - and what would you know about my Father?

                      Dalfinger slips in with another card. A Queen of Diamonds falls to the floor.
                      Short Round alerts Indy
                                           
                                                                   DALFINGER
                                              You have much in common…

                                                                          INDY
                                              And what’s that?

                                                                   DALFINGER

                                              ….soon you will be dead also.

                      Indy is incensed ….guns are brought into the open and as he shoots  – (hitting
                      Dalfinger in the shoulder) fireworks are let off outside (It is the annual Rio Carnival)
                                           
                                                                          INDY

                                              Not if I can help it.


                      All hell breaks loose – the Poker table gets overturned and the Cloud Pearl falls into
                      the injured Dalfinger’s lap – money is strewn all over the floor.
                           Indy and Short Round have to make their escape from the gambling den but Indy
                      is accosted by two heavies who are holding his hand over a tank of  Piranha fish and
                      loses his gun into the tank. Short Round comes to the rescue with his Kung Fu.   
                      A waitresses tray of Champagne ice gets knocked out of her hand. Indy gives an 
                      incredulous look as if things are not going his way again...
                      Dalfinger aims for Indy and misses hitting more of the exotic pet cages as more and
                      more of the animals are let loose and they are doing Indy’s job for him by getting rid
                      of the bad guys. The Cloud Pearl box gets flung across the room and like a game of
                      catch it gets thrown around and lands in a tank of Tarantulas. One of the villains tries
                      to retrieve it and gets bitten in the process.
                                                                                                                           

                     The Piranha tank smashes from gunshots and Indy retrieves his gun in the nick of
                     time and spoons up a deadly fish on a plate up on a foe and shoots Dalfinger again who
                     ends up crashing into a tank of snakes.

                                                                          INDY
                                              Short Round quit stalling, let’s get out of here.

                                                              SHORT ROUND
                                              Sure thing Indy (As he lays another Kung Fu kick on an assailant)

                     They make their escape through the kitchens spilling over boiling pans of water and
                     turning a gas dial as they run from the restaurant a rotating fan is brought down on
                     some unsuspecting diners and everyone exits the Hotel in a mad panic.

                     EXTERIOR – ROOFTOPS – NIGHT

                     Indy and Short Round scale the rooftops and balconies dodging bullets. Indy uses his
                     whip on a telegraph pole cable like a zip wire which causes an electrical fault starting
                     a fire on the bunting that decorates the Hotel. This ignites the leaking gas which blows
                     up the premises.

                     EXTERIOR – THE STREETS OF RIO – NIGHT

                    Rushing out into the night time scene INDY and SHORTROUND have to navigate         
                    their way through the crowds and flotillas of the Rio Carnival. Indy gets caught up with
                    more feather clad dancers and soon loses his partner in the melee.
                        Some of Albrect Dalfinger's hoodlums are attacked by Lu Sho’s men and Indy is   
                    relieved to let them all fight it out. However Short Round is overwhelmed by these   
                    henchmen and is kidnapped. Taken away aboard a Freighter plane bound for Africa.

                     STORY OUTLINE - CONCEPT

                   Indy is on a mission to exchange the Cloud Pearl for his partner. There is a trade in illicit
                   Elephant Ivory from Africa and Lu Sho Che Enterprises are dealing with the export
                   overseas to China. En route Indy meets up with a British diplomat/missionary JOHN
                   COLLIER who unbeknownst to Indy is complicit in the Ivory export too. (Big game is   
                   big business) The Briton is in league with a South African hunter called THEO      
                   DUVALIER.

                   INDY’S helper and tracker is TOGO WASILI who is also suspicious of the
                   British Diplomats true intentions. Togo’s wife PADME is also the Diplomats        
                   housekeeper.
                                                                                                                       
                   Extract from the curse of the African Queen

              JOHN COLLIERS young daughter (A Rachel Carson type character – concerned for
              the environment) called  BETTY COLLIER is a good pilot for the African interior. She is
              surprised to learn of Indy’s knowledge of flying. (Her heroine is Amy Johnson).


                     EXTERIOR – AFRICA – DAY

              Indy is preparing supplies for the journey he has to go across Lake Tanganyika and meet
              with the British consulate in N. Rhodesia travelling on an old ferry steamer ‘A new Hope’


                                                                   INDY
                                      Hey kid, come over here and give us a hand will ya.

              Turning to face Indy the ‘kid’ is a girl she is petite but tomboyish/workmanlike in her
              approach

                                                                  BETTY
                                      Sure thing mister do you need a hand with your eyes too?


              Indy turns around realising the mistake


                                                           JOHN COLLIER
                                      Hullo! You’ve met my daughter then.

                                                                   INDY
                                      Yeah…she’s quite something for…


                                                           JOHN COLLIER
                                     Allow me – (handing him his luggage) you must be Dr. Jones
                                     we’ve been expecting you. We received your Telegram.
                                     I’m John Collier Diplomat to the British Embassy here in Rhodesia.
                                                                                                                                

                                                                   INDY
                                      Pleased to meet you.


                                                           JOHN COLLIER
                                     You’ll have to excuse my daughter – she has a harsh impulsive nature.
                                     Betty has always been a worry for me especially after her Mother’s 
                                     passing away.

                                                                  INDY
                                      I’m sorry to hear it.

                                                           JOHN COLLIER
                                      We do what we can. Betty keeps herself busy helping to
                                      supply the local villages with aid – there has been a rather bad
                                      drought recently. In fact why don’t you give Dr. Jones here a
                                      ride in Jason?

                                                                        BETTY
                                      Father you know I don’t like taking passengers.

                                                                          INDY
                                      Jason?

                                                                  JOHN COLLIER
                                      She’s quite besotted – Jason is her plane.

                                                                          INDY
                                      Named after Amy Johnson’s Gipsy Moth?

                                                                        BETTY
                                      Yeah how did you know?

                                                                          INDY
                                      I know a little about planes.

                                                                        BETTY
                                      Have you ever taken the wheel?
                                                                                                                          
                                                                          INDY
                                      On occasion; I’ve had some experiences….

                                                                                                                            
                                                                        BETTY
                                      Flight school?

                                                                          INDY
                                      Not really….I did have a few lessons with Edwin Musick.

                                                                        BETTY
                                      Hey! I’m no PAN AM Mister Jones!

                                                                          INDY
                                      Call me Indiana.

                                                                        BETTY
                                      Well Indiana Jones in your case I’m willing to make an exception.
                                      I can take you as far into the interior as you want for a price (smiling)

                                                                          INDY
                                      Quite the mercenary – I’m not here for the sightseeing honey.

                                                                       BETTY
                                      A mystery trip then? I’ve got a drop to do the day after tomorrow
                                      You can climb aboard then

                                                                          INDY
                                      Why thank you.

                                                                        BETTY
                                      Not at all.



                                     INTERIOR – THE AMBASSADORS HOUSE – DAY


 .                                                               JOHN COLLIER
                                      Togo, would you please see Dr. Jones to his room.

                                                                         BETTY
                                      And have you fed little pig too?
                                                                                                                            
                                                                 TOGO WASILI
                                      Yes Mamma Temba.

                                      (Referring to an orphaned elephant that Betty has reared herself)       
                           
                        -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

           
            
                                         THE  DIPLOMATIC COMPOUND

                         Indy is introduced to the African interior by disturbing a nesting Ostrich and endures

                         a charge from a White Rhino – stopped only by the quick thinking Togo who shoots it

                         with a tranquiliser dart. Indy is desperate to find his friend Short Round (He came
                         back to the US with Indy. Educated here with Indy’s help and joined a Circus troupe
                         for a while)

                         Betty tells Indy of her concerns and they soon learn that the real reason for the

                         Elephant slaughter is to find the sacred Elephant Pearl located in the animals head.

                         And the big Game hunter Theo Duvalier is hell bent on finding THE ELEPHANTS

                         GRAVEYARD. (Mlimba - the kingdom of the elephants) and seek to blame the initial

                         slaughter on the Waliangulu tribe ( known to be great Elephants hunters).

                                                                    ELEPHANT HUNT

                         Outraged by the slaughter – there is an Elephant hunt and Indy gets caught up

                         in the fracas – while Betty pilots the plane Indy jumps out onto one of the wings and

                         uses his whip to dismount and attempts to stop the hunters. Not before alighting from
                         one of the hunters Land Rover vehicles just before it falls off a precipice Indy uses
                         his whip again to re-alight onto the plane.

                         Indy and Betty end up flying into what looks like a storm but is in fact a SWARM

                         OF LOCUSTS that damage the plane. Togo travels with them but there are only two

                         parachutes –  and Indy has to hitch a ride with the supply crates parachute instead!

                         Parachuting down into the interior – Indy gets caught up in the branches of an ancient

                         Boabob Tree. (Indy still has the Yoshimoto Cloud Pearl.) The village is deserted – a

                         number of  them have been burned down  - they find only few survivors. Togo Wasili

                         helps to translate. The remaining survivors keep repeating the words  - “HATARI”

                        (meaning Danger) pointing in the distance to the mountain and of a sorceress and her

                         powers Indy is fated as a sky prophet who has come to save them.

                       

danger

                                                                THE ABANDONED VILLAGE I

                                     The SNAKE HEAD PEARL from the Ancient Boabab tree of the village has
                                     been stolen. And the tree doesn’t flower anymore and their crops are being
                                     devastated by the ravages of  locusts. When Indy and Betty are welcomed into
                                     the village they are given bread to eat from one of the villages large dome
                                     shaped ovens.

                                     Indy is told the tale of the Boabab tree which was the haunt of a Python -

                                     “Before the White man came a large Python lived in the in the hollow trunk
                                     and was worshiped by the locals. When they prayed for rain fine crops and
                                     good hunting the Python answered their prayers. Then the hunter shot the
                                     Python which led to disastrous consequences.”

                                     Nearby cave paintings depict the slaughter of innocents to a Snake God. And
                                     Indy comes across human petrified remains remnants from the ash of
                                     the Volcano (like the human ‘casts’ of Pompeii) Indy is on a quest to retrieve
                                     back the pearl for the village.

   
                                                                                       INDY

                                                                 Snakes..why does it have to be snakes

                                                      THE ABANDONED VILLAGE II

                     The villages are deserted because the Sorceress of the Mari cult namely Lu Sho Che

                     (Mamma Madusa /Mami Wata) has enslaved the people. She wants to become the new

                     AFRICAN QUEEN.

                     She has many hundreds of devout followers and her reign is commanded by her evil

                     powers. The Mari sect worship the OUAGADOO BIDA SERPENT – each year a young

                     maiden is offered up as a sacrifice – and for the last six years this high priestess has
                     been using everyone else as slaves to mine for Gold. A woman CALLA LILLY
                     is rescued by Indy...she is grateful. They kiss but she is to be the wife of KEPUTIHAN
                     a man who travels with Indy from the village.

        

                     BARON SAMEDI (Theo Duvalier) is using Voodoo to ‘turn’ some of those captive

                     into waking zombies – followers who are able to protect the cult from their enemies.

                     To initiate new devout followers they must walk over HOT COALS.

                     BETTY will be the next victim for SACRIFICE.

                                                        MAMMA MEDUSA / SORCERESS

                    Mamma Medusa wears a Crown made of GOLDEN Snakes with PEARL EYES.

                    (A MEDUSA CROWN) These light up and are HYPNOTIC to all who stare at them. In
                    the centre of her Serpent Crown is the  -   infamous ‘PEACOCK’S EYE
                    DIAMOND…...last seen twenty years ago when Indy lost it at Club Obi Wan. (Not
                    unlike the Queens Koi-hi-noor Diamond only women can wear it for  a curse befalls
                    any man who wears it)

                    The Peacock’s Eye is used so the Chinese Gangster can exploit the people, mine the

                    GOLD and locate The Elephants graveyard.

                    Inside the chambers of the PYRAMID OF FEAR traps are set to lure those into her lair.

                    She casts a spell over her enemies paralysing them with poisonous venom and punishes
                    the unbelievers for her own cruel enjoyment. Throwing them into a sunken pit of MAN

                    EATING LIONS and torturing them on a WHEEL RACK that submerges into a deep

                    pool full of  Piranha fish.  

                                                    A FEW MORE EXTRACTS OF PLOT

                                                                                                                                              

                    BARON SAMEDI (Theo Duvalier) holds a staff bearing NAVA MOTI Pearls -  

                    (having stolen one from the Village they are missing two and will retrieve them at any
                    cost)  The NAVI MOTI pearls are the Oyster Pearl, Conch Pearl, Tree Pearl,
                    Snake Pearl, Elephant Pearl, Bamboo Pearl, Whale Pearl, Fish Pearl and Cloud Pearl.

                     The TWO MISSING PEARLS are –

                    The aforementioned Elephant Pearl and The Cloud Pearl that Indy successfully won

                     back in Rio and is the one LU SHO CHE has been bargaining for. When she has them
                     all – the light from inside the PYRAMID shines through the Peacock’s Eye diamond
                     and she holds aloft the Pearl staff a powerful tool of trance inducing powers. 

                                     THE ARMOURED TRAIN AND RAILWAY BRIDGE

                     Indy has a plan to DERAIL the local railway that has to cross a viaduct (built during

                     the Colonial days) There is an old German ARMOURED TRAIN that the cult is

                     using to  install fear into the local populations. People are captured and taken in the
                     holding cars to work in the gold mines and in the rebuilding of the railway which the
                     cult and Lu Sho Che will have full control of.

                   

                 

                     The British Diplomat is also keen to get his hands on the NAVI MOTI Pearls and

                    ‘The Pecaock’s Eye’ diamond. This will be his undoing – he is a member of Cecil
                     Rhodes SECRET SOCIETY. 

               

                                                              THE PYRAMID OF FEAR

                      Beyond them in the distance we can see the Mt MERU VOLCANO. (She is stirring) 

                      Positioned on the Equator (a good source for gold deposits) Part of a Hindu mythology

                      where a great Kingdom of middle earth lies. Lu Sho Che is plundering the GOLD      
                      deposits and melting it down to make Gold ingots. On a vast open cast mine which
                      uses water from diverted river sources.  

                     Indy is told that his friend is located where ‘THE SMOKE THAT THUNDERS’ and

                     they assume it to be the Volcano. Yet it refers to the great Lake Victoria Waterfalls. It is

                     here they find Short Round last seen in Rio – they  team  up once more and get to the

                     PYRAMID OF FEAR that has been built out of the bedrock of the nearby Volcano.

                     (Like the Lalibela rock churches of Ethiopia)

                     It is in this village where Mamma Madussa’s next victim will come from and like

                     thieves in the night Betty Collier is taken. A captive villager KEPUTIHAN breaks
                     free to aid Indy with the rescue and to fight the cult.

                    Indy has to overcome various obstacles and TRAPS set in The Pyramid of Fear to

                    rescue her encountering a moving spiked wall and boulders. In this trap he and
                    Shortround have the same experience only for Betty to help stop the walls!
                        He has to FIGHT his way through the Gold melting FURNACES. Attacking
                    Baron Samedi who taunts him to fight as they prepare to sacrifice Betty. Baron
                    Samedi is drowned in liquid Gold. Indy is poisoned too not before he gets into a tight
                    spot.

                    Indy narrowly escapes being eaten by LIONS a case of deja vu as it reminds him of
                    his first encounter on the circus train in 1912. Short Round comes to his rescue.

                    Both help to release the enslaved prisoners who are forced to work on Lu Che’s open

                    cast Gold Mines.

            

 

                                                            MAMMA MEDUSA

                                  There is ILLUSION in LIGHT. TRUTH in DARKNESS

                                  Let us begin the INFERNO of the LIVING….

                   The climactic scenes are of the BATTLE with the ARMOURED TRAIN and the escape

                   from the VOLCANIC ERUPTION that will engulf the PYRAMID OF FEAR.

                                                                    INDY

                                                        Water...I need water

                    As molten lava erupts..they escape by armoured train as a dam collapses.

                 Notes  – Betty is named after Harrison Fords pet Labrador..

                 John Colliers name is taken from the ‘Collier Monument’

                 (Where the prospector William Collier shot an antelope and first discovered copper at
                 what is now the Roen Antelope Mine, Luanshya Zambia)

                   The Victoria Falls - ‘The Smoke that Thunders’ has always been known for centuries

                   as Mosi-oaq-Tunya.  

                  CASTING

                  Harrison Ford as INDIANA JONES
                  Ke Huy Quan as SHORT ROUND
                  Anne Hathaway as BETTY
                  Tim Roth as JOHN COLLIER

                  Michelle Yeoh as LU SHO CHE / MAMA MEDUSA
                  Sebastian Koch as ALBRECT DALFINGER
                  David Oyelowo as TOGO WASILI
                  Hugh Jackman as THEO DEVALIER / BARON SAMEDI
                  Meagan Good as CALLA LILLY

                  Tomiwu Edun as KEPUTIHAN