Sallah
Encyclopedia
Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir, better known as Sallah , is a fictional character
played by John Rhys-Davies
in two of the four Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark
and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
. He also appears in various comics and novels, and in the preshow video for the Disneyland attraction Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye & Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
where he is involved in the attraction's storyline and voices the safety announcement.
excavator. He lives in Cairo
and is a close friend of Indiana Jones
. He is a dedicated family man with a wife named Fayah and nine children, all of whom seem to have a fondness for Indiana (at one point they all surround him to save him from a group of Nazis who have their guns drawn on him). Sallah is depicted as being jovial, good natured, and occasionally cowardly (when seeing the numerous asps
inside the room that houses the Ark of the Covenant, he suggests to Indiana, "You go first"), although Sallah does not suffer from a fear of snakes
as does Indy. He seems to be extremely strong, although he is apparently unaware of his enormous strength (at one point, he gives Indiana a bear hug
, causing him a great deal of discomfort, probably because Indy had just been shot in the arm). He has a strong baritone
voice and he seems to have an affinity for Gilbert and Sullivan
. He is often seen singing tunes from H.M.S. Pinafore
when he is in a good mood. In Raiders of the Lost Ark he is mostly seen wearing a turban
(perhaps to blend in with the other diggers working for the Nazis), and in The Last Crusade he is seen wearing a fez.
(1981), where he helps Jones decipher the inscription on the back of Marion Ravenwood
's medallion by taking him to an old wise man. They learn that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location for the Ark of the Covenant
—due to them only having access to one side of the medallion—so Sallah and Jones infiltrate the Nazi dig and they discover the real location of the Well of Souls
, where the Ark is kept. He reluctantly joins Jones in the snake-infested tomb, and they move the Ark to the surface. However, the Nazis discover the secret dig and capture the Ark and Sallah. They also throw Marion into the tomb with Jones, and seal it shut. Jones and Marion escape, however, and he tells Sallah to secure some transportation back to England
. He makes a deal with the captain of the Bantu Wind, a tramp steamer
, for bringing Jones, Marion, and the Ark back to the States, referring to the two of them as his family.
He reappeared in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989), where he fails in stopping Marcus Brody being captured by the Nazis at İskenderun
. Sallah later takes Jones and his father, Henry to the Nazi convoy near the Holy Grail
's location. He borrows his brother-in-law's car, which is destroyed in the ensuing battle between the Nazis and the Grail's guardians. Indy tells Sallah "No camels" and Sallah takes horses from the killed guardians for the return trip, as well as camel
s to compensate for his brother-in-law's loss. At the film's end, Sallah inquires what "Junior" means, and Henry Jones Sr. explains that it is his name: "Henry Jones, Jr.". Indiana (who apparently does not like his given name) reveals that he nicknamed himself "Indiana" after his dog, leaving Sallah roaring with laughter.
Sallah appeared in Marvel Comics
's The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, where he helps Indiana recover the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol in Marrakech
(that Rene Belloq stole in the Raiders opening sequence). The 1990 novel Young Indiana Jones and the Tomb of Terror details his first encounter with Indiana in 1913, and his full name is given as Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir. Sallah reappeared in the ninth and twelfth Bantam Books
novels set before the films: in 1933 Sallah helped Indiana find the Philosopher's stone
, and the following year he provides sanctuary for Jones on his way to the Great Sphinx of Giza
.
, while Steven Spielberg
envisioned him as "a small creature from the Star Wars cantina
in an earthbound adventure film". He offered the role to Danny DeVito
, who passed because of his commitment to Taxi
. Spielberg saw John Rhys-Davies
in Shōgun
, and changed the role accordingly, advising the actor portray Sallah as a cross between his role in Shōgun and Falstaff
. Kevork Malikyan
, who played Kazim in Last Crusade, also expressed interest in the role, but a traffic jam meant he missed his audition.
When Davies reprised his role for Last Crusade, he imagined Sallah had become richer since Raiders, leaving excavation in favor of selling antiques. He wanted to convey Sallah "has gotten older and a little fatter. This time, we see him without the appurtenances of his wife and children. He's a little more resolute now, and he's more ready to have a physical go at the Germans himself. But other than that, he's still the same old Sallah".
There are two scenes deleted during filming of Raiders of the Lost Ark featuring Sallah. One is an extension of the scene where Sallah loses the rope into the map room, after two Nazi soldiers demand help from him in freeing their truck from the sand. The entire scene also involved several Nazi soldiers demanding to be served water, while Sallah panics and spills water on their uniforms. The scene was supposed to have smoke in the background, but tires used in the scene made it too dark. Spielberg cut the scene to avoid spending half a day reshooting. The other scene depicted Sallah's fate after Jones and Marion's entrapment with the asps. The Germans decide to execute Sallah, but a young soldier put in charge of the operation has second thoughts.
There were also two scenes featuring Sallah cut from the finished cut of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. During the scene where Sallah fends off the German kidnappers, he hits a camel which spits mucus over the Nazis, and another shot with Sallah fighting the Nazis. The other depicts Indy and his father meeting Sallah at the İskenderun train station. It was deleted because of showing a minor transitional plot element.
s list of the best sidekick
s. They recalled his line, "Asps, very dangerous – you go first", citing it as "not the words of a coward, but rather, of a faithful (and perfectly honest) companion". Empire
named him their thirtieth favorite element of the films, citing "his indomitable spirit", a "lovely singing voice" and "a roguish streak to match Indy’s own".
Kenner
released a 3.75" action figure in 1983. He was included in a TSR, Inc.
collection of metal miniatures the following year. In 2008, Hasbro
released a 3 ¾" Sallah figure that included shovel and a torch accessories. An Adventure Heroes figurine, which comes with a cobra and a mummy, was also released.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
played by John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
in two of the four Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
. He also appears in various comics and novels, and in the preshow video for the Disneyland attraction Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye & Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, a motion simulator dark ride adventure, based on the Indiana Jones films, opened September 4, 2001 at Tokyo DisneySea theme park in Chiba, Japan...
where he is involved in the attraction's storyline and voices the safety announcement.
Character
Sallah is a hefty, bearded EgyptianEgyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
excavator. He lives in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and is a close friend of Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
. He is a dedicated family man with a wife named Fayah and nine children, all of whom seem to have a fondness for Indiana (at one point they all surround him to save him from a group of Nazis who have their guns drawn on him). Sallah is depicted as being jovial, good natured, and occasionally cowardly (when seeing the numerous asps
Asp (reptile)
Asp is the modern Anglicisation of the word aspis, which in antiquity referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile region. It is believed that the aspis referred to in Egyptian mythology is the modern Egyptian cobra....
inside the room that houses the Ark of the Covenant, he suggests to Indiana, "You go first"), although Sallah does not suffer from a fear of snakes
Ophidiophobia
Ophidiophobia or ophiophobia is a particular type of specific phobia, the abnormal fear of snakes. Fear of snakes is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles and/or amphibians...
as does Indy. He seems to be extremely strong, although he is apparently unaware of his enormous strength (at one point, he gives Indiana a bear hug
Bear hug
In wrestling, a bear hug, also known as a bodylock, is a grappling clinch hold and stand-up grappling position where the arms are wrapped around the opponent, either around the opponent's chest, midsection, or thighs; sometimes with one or both of the opponents arms pinned to the opponent's body...
, causing him a great deal of discomfort, probably because Indy had just been shot in the arm). He has a strong baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
voice and he seems to have an affinity for Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
. He is often seen singing tunes from H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
when he is in a good mood. In Raiders of the Lost Ark he is mostly seen wearing a turban
Turban
In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...
(perhaps to blend in with the other diggers working for the Nazis), and in The Last Crusade he is seen wearing a fez.
Appearances
Sallah appears in Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
(1981), where he helps Jones decipher the inscription on the back of Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood 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...
's medallion by taking him to an old wise man. They learn that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location for the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
—due to them only having access to one side of the medallion—so Sallah and Jones infiltrate the Nazi dig and they discover the real location of the Well of Souls
Well of Souls
This article describes the cave in Jerusalem. For the series of novels by Jack Chalker see Well World.The Well of Souls is a natural cave located immediately beneath the Foundation Stone, under the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem...
, where the Ark is kept. He reluctantly joins Jones in the snake-infested tomb, and they move the Ark to the surface. However, the Nazis discover the secret dig and capture the Ark and Sallah. They also throw Marion into the tomb with Jones, and seal it shut. Jones and Marion escape, however, and he tells Sallah to secure some transportation back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He makes a deal with the captain of the Bantu Wind, a tramp steamer
Tramp steamer
A ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule or published ports of call. As opposed to freight liners, tramp ships trade on the spot market with no fixed schedule or itinerary/ports-of-call...
, for bringing Jones, Marion, and the Ark back to the States, referring to the two of them as his family.
He reappeared in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
(1989), where he fails in stopping Marcus Brody being captured by the Nazis at İskenderun
Iskenderun
İskenderun is a city and urban district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The current mayor is Yusuf Hamit Civelek .-Names:...
. Sallah later takes Jones and his father, Henry to the Nazi convoy near the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
's location. He borrows his brother-in-law's car, which is destroyed in the ensuing battle between the Nazis and the Grail's guardians. Indy tells Sallah "No camels" and Sallah takes horses from the killed guardians for the return trip, as well as camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
s to compensate for his brother-in-law's loss. At the film's end, Sallah inquires what "Junior" means, and Henry Jones Sr. explains that it is his name: "Henry Jones, Jr.". Indiana (who apparently does not like his given name) reveals that he nicknamed himself "Indiana" after his dog, leaving Sallah roaring with laughter.
Sallah appeared in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
's The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, where he helps Indiana recover the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol in Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
(that Rene Belloq stole in the Raiders opening sequence). The 1990 novel Young Indiana Jones and the Tomb of Terror details his first encounter with Indiana in 1913, and his full name is given as Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir. Sallah reappeared in the ninth and twelfth Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
novels set before the films: in 1933 Sallah helped Indiana find the Philosopher's stone
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...
, and the following year he provides sanctuary for Jones on his way to the Great Sphinx of Giza
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza , commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt....
.
Concept and creation
The script specified Sallah as a thin 5'2" BedouinBedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
, while Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
envisioned him as "a small creature from the Star Wars cantina
Mos Eisley Cantina
The Chalmun's Cantina is a fictional bar of the Star Wars universe located in the "pirate city" of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine...
in an earthbound adventure film". He offered the role to Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
, who passed because of his commitment to Taxi
Taxi (TV series)
Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...
. Spielberg saw John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
in Shōgun
Shogun (TV miniseries)
Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the namesake novel by James Clavell. As with the novel, the title is often shown as Shōgun in order to conform to Hepburn romanization. The miniseries was broadcast over five nights, between September 15 and September 19, 1980 on NBC in the...
, and changed the role accordingly, advising the actor portray Sallah as a cross between his role in Shōgun and Falstaff
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is...
. Kevork Malikyan
Kevork Malikyan
Kevork Malikyan is an English character actor of Armenian descent, perhaps best known for his role as Kazim in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade....
, who played Kazim in Last Crusade, also expressed interest in the role, but a traffic jam meant he missed his audition.
When Davies reprised his role for Last Crusade, he imagined Sallah had become richer since Raiders, leaving excavation in favor of selling antiques. He wanted to convey Sallah "has gotten older and a little fatter. This time, we see him without the appurtenances of his wife and children. He's a little more resolute now, and he's more ready to have a physical go at the Germans himself. But other than that, he's still the same old Sallah".
There are two scenes deleted during filming of Raiders of the Lost Ark featuring Sallah. One is an extension of the scene where Sallah loses the rope into the map room, after two Nazi soldiers demand help from him in freeing their truck from the sand. The entire scene also involved several Nazi soldiers demanding to be served water, while Sallah panics and spills water on their uniforms. The scene was supposed to have smoke in the background, but tires used in the scene made it too dark. Spielberg cut the scene to avoid spending half a day reshooting. The other scene depicted Sallah's fate after Jones and Marion's entrapment with the asps. The Germans decide to execute Sallah, but a young soldier put in charge of the operation has second thoughts.
There were also two scenes featuring Sallah cut from the finished cut of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. During the scene where Sallah fends off the German kidnappers, he hits a camel which spits mucus over the Nazis, and another shot with Sallah fighting the Nazis. The other depicts Indy and his father meeting Sallah at the İskenderun train station. It was deleted because of showing a minor transitional plot element.
Reception
Sallah ranks at number 47 on Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s list of the best sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
s. They recalled his line, "Asps, very dangerous – you go first", citing it as "not the words of a coward, but rather, of a faithful (and perfectly honest) companion". Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
named him their thirtieth favorite element of the films, citing "his indomitable spirit", a "lovely singing voice" and "a roguish streak to match Indy’s own".
Kenner
Kenner
Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.Kenner introduced its...
released a 3.75" action figure in 1983. He was included in a TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
collection of metal miniatures the following year. In 2008, Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
released a 3 ¾" Sallah figure that included shovel and a torch accessories. An Adventure Heroes figurine, which comes with a cobra and a mummy, was also released.
External links
- Sallah at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...