This is a selection of stills and the UK press kit from Steven Spielberg’s remarkably dark follow-up to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Temple is actually a prequel to Raiders. It kicks off with a fantastic opening sequence, set to “Anything Goes”, sung in Mandarin, and climaxes with an amazing set-piece rail car chase through a mineshaft. But in between we get human sacrifices, hearts ripped out, forced child labour and a memorable ‘fine’ dining scene, where the guests tuck into various disgusting food-stuffs, culminating in chilled monkey brains.

Spielberg and George Lucas took quite a bit of criticism for these darker overtones at the time, and when it came to the third instalment, Last Crusade, the tone was notably jauntier. (I will avoid much comment on the belated fourth film, which I hated).  

There are also some unsavoury ‘white saviour’ overtones to the plot. Much of the movie is set in India, but the government there found the script offensive. So the movie was largely filmed in Sri Lanka, where I was fortunate enough to live and work for a year.

I picked up these items when the movie was first released and I got to review it for my university paper. The late-night press screening ended up becoming a successful first date for me and my long-term girlfriend at university – so thank you for that Mr Spielberg and Dr Jones!