Who is this weary looking, sun-baked fisherman with no shoes, no shirt and of course, no problems? Surprise, it’s no fisherman! It is Harrison Ford in San Pedro during the filming of a famous movie, Mosquito Coast in 1986. This movie employed some 100 Sanpedranos to dig canals, build structures and backdrops against which scenes of a tropical storm were filmed. This scene required strong waves, thunderstorm, lightning and torrential rain for Harrison Ford to perform his heroic acts.
Only one Sanpedrano boy, Adolfo Cruz was recruited to act in this movie and, as you can expect, he was quite a celebrity for a while. For some two or three weeks, Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and River Phoenix strolled the streets of the village of San Pedro and surprisingly nobody accosted him for interviews or autographs. Actors and artists had not yet become something to arouse public interest as they do today with our paparazzi and fans. Shortly afterwards Harrison came out with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989. Wow! Should have filmed that one in San Pedro or better yet Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 using our maya temples. After all the most famous and enigmatic skull “The Skull of Doom” was allegedly discovered in 1924 by Anna Le Guillon Mitchell-Hedges, as she says she found the skull buried under a collapsed altar inside a temple in Lubaantun, in British Honduras, now Belize.
The location where the movie The Mosquito Coast was filmed has now become a beach side park and it is maintained by the San Pedro Lions Club.
Harrison Ford did return to San Pedro on vacations in 2007 and our reporters managed to meet and quickly chat with him as he sat down for lunch at the Sunset Grill. We reminded him of his early movie career as he shot a segment of the movie The Mosquito Coast in 1986 on the island; he smiled as he recollected.
After lunch he took off with his family, Calista Flockheart and son, on golf cart to explore the town that he strolled around on foot. We imagine what went through his mind on his recent trip to La Isla Bonita. We hope to see him back someday.
Filming of the movie The Mosquito Coast
Filming the hurricane scene of The Mosquito Coast
Harrison Ford vacationing in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye
Young Sanpedrano Adolfo Cruz had his 5 minutes of fame on the film Mosquito Coast.
Flashback pictures of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye are welcomed! Please send pictures to Ambergris Today at: ambergristoday@yahoo.com
