Indiana Jones Temple Of Doom

Five more movie nightclubs we'd like to visit

So here we go. The list is entirely subjective and based on only one rule: no real places. Since this all started with a director taking a fantasy and making it a reality, this piece had to work the same way. Picking places that really existed would be cheating. Hence you won't find 2001 Odyssey Disco from "Saturday Night Fever" below; it was an actual Brooklyn dance club (at 802 64th Street) spruced up with a little movie magic (the production brought in the signature light-up floor).

In one case, someone already has granted our wish and made one of these places. But it's in Morocco, so for the time being, it's going to remain a pipe dream. But that's fine. If reality was exotic and exciting as the worlds depicted in these movies, we wouldn't need to go to the movies in the first place. And now raise your glasses, for a toast to these great movie nightclubs.

Directed by Steven Spielberg

I love that this is a movie nightclub that operates entirely on movie logic. Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott is doing her show in 1935 Shanghai, and then she steps inside that dragon's mouth and suddenly we're transported into "Gold Diggers of Indiana Jones." Dozens of tap dancers on an enormous set of stairs, all performing inside this tiny dragon head, in a space that none of the audience in the nightclub can see. Truly, this is a place where anything goes. Plus, show up on the right night at Club Obi Wan (yes, we all get the reference George Lucas, thank you) and you might get to sit at the table over from Indy himself; maybe you could invite him over and then give him something very exciting on the Lazy Susan.

Directed by George Stevens

Here's another hotspot from the 1930s, which was clearly the Golden Age of Movie Nightclubs. With America suffocating under the Great Depression, movies lured audiences with tales of decadent escapism, replete with impossibly opulent nightclubs. These places look so expensive you wonder if the star could even afford to drink there. There are a lot of super-cool 1930s movie nightclubs -- "Hot Voodoo," anyone? -- but if I've got to pick just one, I give the nod to The Silver Sandal from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' "Swing Time." It's just so grand with that cavernous ballroom, enormous dance floor, swooping staircases, and iconic art deco design elements. Boozing it up in a tuxedo while you take in an evening's entertainment by Astaire and Rogers? There isn't a single way that's not awesome.

30 Years of Rip Roaring Adventure: The Indiana Jones Story «

, George Lucas began toying with the idea of making a film that would hark back to a long past era of cinema; the Saturday matinee adventure. These were low budget, high concept adventure series that would usually centre around some kind of Superhero, adventurer or scientist as they went on a quest to save the world. Each instalment would end on a cliff-hanger, compelling audiences to flock back the next week to see more. Lucas had two ideas to fit into that format that he wanted to develop. One was a sci-fi story about a young farm boy who finds himself on a quest to save the galaxy from an evil empire. The other was a tall tale of a university archaeologist who, in his spare time, goes on quests for legendary religious artefacts (in this case, The Ark of the Covenant); a rugged, classically styled hero named after Lucas’s dog. That story was quaintly called The Adventures of Indiana Smith Century Fox had Lucas under a two film contract), Spielberg was also looking for a new project to direct and Lucas managed to convince him Indiana Smith was the project for him. Spielberg however, didn’t like name so quick thinking Lucas suggested a change from Smith to Jones and Spielberg agreed it was a good fit. The following year Lawrence Kasdan was enlisted to write the screen play and Frank Marshall as producer. The four worked on the story and after a long casting process, which saw the likes of Tim Matheson and Tom Selleck vie to wear the famous fedora, Harrison Ford was cast as Dr Jones. The rest, as they say, is history.