Dr. Elsa Schneider is the secondary antagonist of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. She is an Austrian art professor who desires the Grail, and like Walter Donovan, she keeps her involvement with the Nazis a secret. Unlike Jones' other two love interests in his previous adventures, Marion Ravenwood and Willie Scott, Elsa is an evil and conflicted woman. She is revealed to have seduced both Joneses throughout the film, Henry first and then Indiana. Elsa was also an ally of Indiana Jones first and last.
Background[]
Physical Appearance[]
Elsa has a tall, feminine figure with blue eyes and blonde hair done in various styles. She's a stylish woman who wears multiple outfits throughout the movie.
Personality[]
Elsa is an intelligent woman and a well-educated historian who is devoted to knowledge, but is ambitious and willing to take advantage of any situation, including tricking and seducing Indiana. Yet, Elsa is very conflicted where she wept at the sight of so many books being consigned to the flames during a Nazi rally in Berlin, Germany. She was also quite ruthless, as demonstrated by her deliberately choosing a false Grail for Donovan, and seduced both Joneses to get closer to them and the Grail. She was capable of qualities like sympathy, sorrow and compassion – having reacted in horror when Donovan shot Henry Jones Sr. – but ultimately her lust for the material gain of the Grail corrupted her where instead of giving in to being helped by Indiana, she decided to get the Grail which led to her death.
Appearance[]
Wikipedia:Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade[]
Elsa first meets Indiana Jones and Marcus Brody in Venice, Italy. She guides him to the library in search of the hidden tomb. She was also an ally first. Indiana discovers the secret entry to the tomb and with Elsa, discover the other half of King Richard's inscription. The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword follows them and sets the tomb's petroleum on fire. Elsa escapes with Indiana and two flee from the Brotherhood in a speedboat. Ultimately, Indiana and Elsa clear up the major misunderstanding with Kazim, the Brotherhood's leader, who informs them that Indiana's father is held up at Brunwald Castle in Austria. Indiana checks on Elsa in her hotel room and finds everything trashed. The two then argue over the grail diary and end up having passionate sex as a result.
At Brunwald, Elsa helps Indiana infiltrate a Nazi-controlled castle, but the two are separated when Indiana swings between buildings to reach his father. Once he rescues his father, he finds Elsa held up at gunpoint by Colonel Vogel, who threatens to kill her if Indiana doesn't surrender. Henry Sr. tells Indiana that Elsa is a Nazi, but Indiana gives up his gun anyways. Elsa runs up to Indiana and takes the grail diary. She finally reveals her true allegiance. Elsa is told she must return to Berlin for a Nazi rally and she departs, but not before giving Indiana an "Austrian style" kiss. However, the two Joneses managed to escape from Vogel's clutches. At the book burning rally, Elsa is seen crying and Indiana finds Elsa walking aimlessly. He grabs her and demands she give up the grail diary. After a heated argument, Indiana takes the diary and basically tells Elsa off. Threatened argument was over.
During the battle in Hatay, Elsa informed Donovan that Indy had escaped from their clutches. However, during Indiana's fight against Vogel, which resulted in the death of the latter, both Elsa and Donovan, along the Nazis, managed to find and get in the Temple of the Grail before the Joneses and their allies arrived. Indiana and company arrive, which allows Donovan to "persuade" Indiana to find it for them by shooting Henry Sr. Elsa is upset by Donovan's actions, but hangs back to follow Indiana through the three trials. Elsa was willfully insulted and threatened by Donovan. Once inside the chamber, Elsa tells Donovan to let her choose the true grail from the various fakes. She picks a fancy cup, knowing that it's a fake. Donovan, believing it to be the real one drinks from it and ages to death instantly. He shatters himself into shattered bones, turned into dust. Elsa then watches Indiana choose the true grail, and after Indiana heals his dad, Elsa tries to take the grail from the temple. Indiana warns her not to, but she crosses the magical seal anyways. The temple falls apart and Elsa drops the grail. She chases after it, but trips and knocks it into a crack in the ground. She nearly falls in too, but Indiana grabs her. Knowing the grail survived the fall, she tries to reach for it rather than giving Indiana both her hands. While she comes up just short of getting it, her other hand starts slipping from Indiana's hold because she's wearing leather gloves. Elsa keeps trying, despite Indiana's urgent warnings, when the glove on her hand comes off and she falls into the foggy chasm to her death, Henry later told Indy after they escaped the temple that Elsa never really believed in the Grail, but rather she thought she'd found a prize.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Alison Doody, before playing Elsa, portrayed Jenny Flex in the James Bond film series. Also, Sean Connery (Henry Walton Jones, Sr.), John Rhys Davies (Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir), Julian Glover (Walter Donovan) and Michael Byrne (Ernst Vogel) also appeared in different Bond films. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade director Steven Spielberg once said that he would have liked to direct a James Bond film, but he was restricted from obtaining the rights, for which he created Indiana Jones film series.
- Amanda Redman was originally asked to play the role of Elsa Schneider, but she declined the offer due her real-life fear of rats, so Doody was cast instead.
- Elsa could have taken the Grail by running as fast as she can after passing the Great Seal since it will take some time for the temple to collapse completely. Unfortunately, Elsa didn't possess enough experience or skill to deal with dangerous situation like a seasoned treasure hunter like Indiana Jones.
- Elsa was far more ruthless and villainous in Jeffrey Boam's earlier drafts of the film's script. In this version of the film, Elsa didn't feel any remorse over betraying the Joneses and she was the one who would shot Henry Jones, Senior during the Temple of the Sun scene and later die upon drinking from the False Grail (as Donovan was initially intended to die in the tank chase instead of Vogel). However, when Tom Stoppard was brought to rewrite the script, he modified Elsa's character and changed the manner of her demise.
- Due to her name and her appearance, there are theories about her as the character from Disney's blockbuster film Frozen.