The Poster Memorabilia blog

Going to Awards Shows with Indiana Jones

From the Governors Awards to the Dolby fan pit — a Last Crusade poster earns its icons.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Getting autographs from celebrities is an adventure in itself. Even if they're as public as Kim Kardashian, you still have to fight against fellow fans, paparazzi, and press people to get to them. I remember getting my poster of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade signed by the big men who made it. I had to go to the Oscars just to meet them.

You'd be surprised at how many icons worked on this Indiana Jones movie. Not only did Harrison Ford and the late Sean Connery star in it, but Steven Spielberg directed it, John Williams made the score, and George Lucas helped produce it. These men are some of the most respected figures in all of Hollywood, so getting their autographs was a bit of a challenge.

As I mentioned earlier, I only got to meet them when I would go to the fan pit at the Oscars. I guess I'm lucky that these guys are constantly invited to the ceremony, either as nominees or presenters. It also shows just how much the industry still loves them.

Technically though, I met George Lucas at the Governors Awards instead. It's still an Oscars-related event, but it's not the actual ceremony we watch on TV. Nonetheless, he still appeared with his wife on the red carpet, and that's where I got his autograph.

The following year, I met the great Harrison Ford next. He presented some of the Best Picture nominees at the 86th Academy Awards, so he was there posing on the red carpet with his wife, Calista Flockhart. I was worried I wouldn't get to him since the fan pit was so crowded that year, but I managed to push and shove my way to the front row.

I still remember the weird look on Ford's face when I asked him to sign my poster. It's no secret that he doesn't always like revisiting his old roles, no matter how iconic they were, so I'm not sure how he felt seeing my poster. In any case, I got his autograph, and he didn't snap at me, so it's still a win.

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Life happened right after that, so I wasn't able to go to the Oscars in the following years. I did, however, meet the rest of the cast and got their autographs. Through conventions and fan meets, I managed to get Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, and Julian Glover to sign the same poster. Unfortunately, I never got Sean Connery before he passed in 2020.

I finally returned to the Oscars in 2022, when COVID restrictions had lifted. The next year, I got to meet both Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Both men were nominated that night, so I knew to bring my Indiana Jones poster to finally get their autographs on it.

“It was like greeting an old teacher when you go back to school a decade later.”

Both men were so nice that I almost forgot how famous they were. They smiled at me, signed my poster, and shook my hand when I extended it. It was like greeting an old teacher when you go back to school a decade later. They were unlike any other celebrity I’ve met before.

Now that I got to meet them and got their autographs, I love Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade even more. It was already one of my favorite movies before I started this whole thing, but it shot up to the top of the list after everything.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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