Marion Ravenwood

Marion Jones
Indiana Jones character
Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
First appearance	Raiders of the Lost Ark
Last appearance	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Portrayed by	Karen Allen
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Bartender Nightclub owner Journalist Public relations agent
Family	Professor Abner Ravenwood (father; deceased)
Spouse(s)	Colin Williams (deceased) Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr.
Children	Henry "Mutt" Jones III
Nationality	American

Marion Ravenwood (Williams) Jones is a fictional character that first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Played by Karen Allen, she enters the story when Indiana Jones visits her in Nepal, needing her help — specifically, he needs an artifact in her possession, originally obtained by her father, archaeologist Professor Abner Ravenwood (Jones' mentor), in order to locate the Ark of the Covenant. After 27 years of absence (21 years in the films' internal chronology), the character returned in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and was once again played by Allen.

Biography

As a fictional character, Marion's father, Dr. Abner Ravenwood was a professor of archeology who was obsessed with finding the Ark of the Covenant (referred to in the Bible), he was also a mentor to the young Henry "Indiana" Jones (Junior) who eventually accompanied them on several digs.

Marion entered into a relationship with Indiana Jones during this time. Jones abruptly left the Ravenwoods in 1926. Marion was about 16 or 17 years old when the relationship finished, and Jones was 27, ten years her senior. Later in her life, Marion chastised Jones, stating, "I was a child! I was in love! It was wrong and you knew it!" Nevertheless, he never showed remorse until he met her again ten years later.

After Jones broke off contact with them both, he returned to the United States to focus on his career as an archeology professor, and Marion and her father settled in Nepal. She later started running a local tavern- "The Raven", after its manager died and left it to her. Taking advantage of her high tolerance for alcohol, she would frequently drink the bar's patrons under the table on a wager. She refused to return to the United States until she had enough money to return "with style".

In 1936, Marion found herself back in contact with Jones, when he offered her money for the headpiece of the Staff of Ra, an artifact originally located by her father. Reluctant at first, she was forced to cooperate when the bespectacled Gestapo agent Arnold Toht arrived to demand the piece himself. During the subsequent fight, the tavern catches on fire. Marion told Jones that, until he repaid her the money, which was destroyed in the fire, she was his partner. However she was then captured by the Nazis, with Jones believing she was dead. Indy believed she was dead until, by a fortunate accident, he stumbled upon her with her hands and barefeet bound and gagged with a knotted hankichief between her teeth in one of the Nazi tents. To her chagrin, he decided to leave her, reasoning that an escape would draw too much unwanted attention and regagged her. The perceived betrayal did not affect Marion's refusal to cooperate with her captors, however. Belloq's advances resulted only in an aborted escape attempt, and Toht's interrogation was likewise met with uncommon resistance. After being captured by and escaping from Jones' rival, Rene Belloq, she helped Jones recover the Ark of the Covenant from the Nazis; in the process, the couple rekindled their relationship.

Jones continued to pursue archaeological artifacts, while Marion tried her hand at journalism before opening a bar in New York City named The Raven's Nest. For a time, she also worked as the public relations officer for the museum at Marshall College. However, a week before their planned wedding, Indy, thinking that it wouldn't work, left her without any explanation—and with child with their future son, Henry "Mutt" Jones III. Marion met the RAF pilot Colin Williams three months after Mutt was born, and they eventually married and lived happily until Colin was killed during World War II. Jones' eccentric old friend, Harold Oxley, then helped raise Mutt, acting as a second (technically third) father.

Twenty years after Mutt's birth, Russians captured Oxley in an attempt to find the mythical crystal skulls that he had pursued. After she was captured trying to find Oxley, Marion sent Mutt to find Jones. After a desperate escape attempt, she revealed to Jones, who had remained clueless, that Mutt was actually his son. They argued so much that one of the Soviet agents finally gagged her. During the adventure, she and Jones again realized their love for each other. Back home, they were married, set to continue their adventures together.^[1]

Concept and creation

Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan named the character after his wife's grandmother, and took the character's surname from Ravenwood Lane in California.^[2] Spielberg originally intended the role for his girlfriend Amy Irving.^[3] Sean Young auditioned for the role,^[2] Barbara Hershey was considered,^[4] while Debra Winger turned it down.^[5] Steven Spielberg cast Karen Allen, on the strength of her performance in National Lampoon's Animal House. Allen screen tested opposite Tim Matheson and John Shea, before Harrison Ford was cast as Indiana.^[2]

Kasdan's depiction of Marion was more complex, and she was genuinely interested in René Belloq in earlier script drafts.^[4] She and Paul Freeman added more comedy in the tent seduction scene.^[2] Allen came up with her own backstory for the character, such as what happened to her mother, her romance with Indiana at age 15 or 16, and her time in Nepal; Spielberg described it as "an entirely different movie".^[4]

After Raiders of the Lost Ark was released, Spielberg wanted Allen to return for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but George Lucas decided that Indy would have a different love interest in each film.^[2] Marion became a frequent supporting character in The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, a Marvel Comics title which ran for 34 issues from January 1983 until March 1986. During the 1990s, Lucas forbade author Rob MacGregor from including her in his novels for Bantam Books' Indiana Jones series. "How did Indy meet Marion? What happened in their earlier encounters? George apparently wanted to keep that for the future. Maybe we’ll find out in Indy 4," MacGregor speculated.^[6] Frank Darabont claimed it was his idea to bring back Marion for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, during his tenure as writer from 2002 to 2004.^[7]

References

1. ^ "Indiana Jones: Marshall College: Ravenwood, Marion". IndianaJones.com. http://www.indianajones.com/marshall/character/marionravenwood/. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} (2003). Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (DVD). Paramount Pictures.
3. ^ George Perry (1998). Steven Spielberg: The Making of his Movies. Orion. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-75281-848-1. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "25 Years of Indy!". Empire. October 2006. pp. 73, 78. 
5. ^ Gregory Kirschling, Jeff Labrecque (2008-03-12). "Indiana Jones: 15 Fun Facts". http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20183746,00.html. Retrieved 2008-03-15. 
6. ^ Aaron Gantt. "Interview with Rob MacGregor". The Indy Experience. Archived from the original on 2007-11-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20071110150643/http://www.theindyexperience.com/interviews/rob_macgregor_interview.php. Retrieved 2008-02-18. 
7. ^ "Comic-Con: Frank Darabont Talks ‘Indy’ Similarities". MTV. 2007-07-28. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/07/28/comic-con-frank-darabont-talks-indy-similarities/. Retrieved 2008-02-18.