It has been a long held belief that Indiana Jones and the “Raiders” franchise was inspired by the Tintin adventures. But now there is a growing chorus questioning this position, caused in large part by this movie by Charlton Heston released in the 1950′s: Secret of the Incas.
The general plot revolves around the character Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) who is a tough young American soldier of fortune, eking out a living as a tour guide in Cuzco, Peru. He has heard the legend of the Inca treasure, a fabulous golden Sunburst which has been missing for centuries, and his intention, when he can get hold of a private plane, is to head for the long lost Inca city of Machu Picchu.
View the movie here.
Certainly sounds more like Indiana Jones than Tintin to me.
For me the issue is not to look for some strong similarities (or plagiat) between some specific Tintin adventures (e.g. Prisonner of the sun) and Indy’s ones but just to point out that there is some common ground : epic action, quick travelling from one place to another, description of places. A bit like in the french movie “l’Homme de Rio” where there are evident echos to Tintin’s adventures.