Sean Connery may have only been twelve years older than Harrison Ford, but the chemistry between the two actors was so strong that you fully believe in their father/son dynamic throughout Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indy was already a cinematic icon, and there weren’t a lot of people that would have convincingly been able to put the rugged adventurer in his place with a paternal glare or withering putdown, but Connery’s James Bond baggage made him the ideal candidate.
Creators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas admitted that the 007 actor was the one and only person that could realistically play Indiana Jones’ dad, and it also marked one of the rare times that the later-era Connery didn’t wear a toupee on the big screen in order to get fully into the mindset of a retired professor who gets drawn into his son’s latest globetrotting adventure.
The Hollywood legend brought every ounce of his charm and charisma to the role, and played the comedy just as well as the action and pathos. And now, following his recent passing at the age of 90, Harrison Ford has paid a glowing tribute to the man who portrayed Henry Jones Sr. so memorably.
“He was my father, not in life, but in Indy 3. You don’t know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the side car of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm. God, we had fun, if he’s in heaven, I hope they have golf courses. Rest in peace, dear friend.”
The double act between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is absolutely outstanding from start to finish, and is one of the main reasons why the third installment in the franchise remains a lot of people’s favorite. In fact, fans will no doubt be rewatching it over the coming days and weeks as they pay tribute to the cinematic legend by revisiting the finest efforts from a back catalogue full of undisputed classics and all-time greats.
