The Mill Valley Film Festival, which runs through Oct. 16, gives many new and little-known films exposure to Marin County movie buffs.
But, on family-film night (Oct. 10), the festival looked backward to remember a Hollywood classic – the 30th anniversary of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” which starred Harrison Ford as an adventuring archeologist.
The family film night event at Century Cinema in Corte Madera drew a packed house. The event included dozens of adults and children in costumes made memorable by the film (and subsequently by numerous adventure-travel magazines and catalogs). The event included a trivia contest, a panel with the film’s creators and prizes.
PG&E also sponsored a green-screen photography area where people could don Indy’s hat and hold his lasso and get a picture that made it look as if they were in a scene from the movie.
The movie won five Academy Awards and remains one of the highest grossing movies of all time.
Thirty years after its release, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" can still draw a crowd.
In writing about the event, the Mill Valley Patch noted that “no one in the trivia contest was even born when the movie was first released, so some of the answers were understandably — but amusingly — off the mark.”
Asked who was the original choice to play Indiana Jones, one contestant answered, “Uh, I don’t know his name, but he played Han Solo in ‘Star Wars.’ “
Harrison Ford played both iconic characters, but as the Patch noted, the correct answer was Tom Selleck. Winners received movie posters and autographed books.
PG&E partners with the California Film Institute, and is one of the sponsors of the Mill Valley Film Festival.
