Bernie Pollack's 'Indiana Jones' hat trick
It wasn't easy re-creating Indy's look for 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.'
WHEN audiences flock to see the fourth "Indiana Jones" installment in less than two weeks, chances are slim that the first sight of Indy's weathered fedora and leather jacket back on the big screen will elicit anything more than a quick smile of recognition. No one will ponder how tough it was, after nearly two decades, to re-create the archaeologist's signature look. Or who was charged with the task.
But just so you know, that would be Bernie Pollack.
Pollack's goal when he became involved with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" as Harrison Ford’s wardrobe designer was to re-create the classic costume so flawlessly that audiences would never question its authenticity. But he would quickly find out that making an identical outfit would be more difficult than he'd expected.
"The last film was made 18 years ago," says Pollack (yes, he's Sydney's brother). "Everybody that worked on it was out of business. The hat maker was gone. The costumer was gone. So I had to start from scratch. I had to find fabric, find people who could make it. I mean, I'm making an iconic movie. He has got to look as good or better than in the other films in the series. If he looks less than that, I'm an ass."
Steven Spielberg, upon seeing Ford in character, was relieved with what Pollack had pulled off after an exhaustive search for fabrics, styles and craftsmen. "The first day we went in to test the hat," Pollack recalls, "Steven said, 'Oh, thank God -- I lost sleep wondering if you were going to be able to come up with the look of the hat that I wanted.' "
Ford, who has worked with Pollack on multiple films (including "Firewall," "What Lies Beneath," "Random Hearts," "Sabrina" and "Clear and Present Danger"), was equally pleased. "He's not just a designer who can read a script and say, 'This would be appropriate for this character and I suggest this,' " the actor says by telephone. "I consider costume critical to the representation of the character and as clues to his identity. What people see is far more important than what they're told. . . . He has a sense of storytelling and drama."
Pollack has helped flesh out characters for some of Hollywood's most celebrated films ("Ordinary People," "All the President's Men," "Tootsie," "Rain Man"), working steadily with such talents as Ford, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. Interestingly enough, it's a career that he never planned to have.
