Before Harrison Ford dusts off his fedora and rethreads his trusty bullwhip for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, we’re looking back at the film that launched one of the most iconic action adventure franchises in Hollywood history, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The brainchild of George Lucas and his close friend, Steven Spielberg. Their collective vision for Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones Jr. evolved from their love of old adventure serials. They saw Indy as an American equivalent of James Bond, an explorer who uncovers artifacts and punches Nazis instead of fighting for his queen and country and sleeping with the enemy.

After Ford’s scruffy-looking Nerf Herder from Star Wars, Han Solo, became frozen in carbonite at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, the actor began searching for a project to boost his rising star to new heights. Fortuitously, Lucas had been toiling with ideas...