The film was originally known as Legend of the Incas. Paramount announced it as part of their 1953 slate in July 1952. Adventure films set outside America were popular in Hollywood at the time; producer Mel Epstein says that Paramount decided to make this film mostly because there had not been one shot in Peru before. Wendell Corey was originally announced as the leading star. In July 1953 Paramount took over Hal B. Wallis' contract with Charlton Heston and announced he would make the film after he finished The Naked Jungle. Secret of the Incas was filmed on location in Peru at Cuzco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed at this archeological site. A sixteen-person unit, including Heston, producer Mel Epstein and director Jerry Hopper, spent a month filming footage in Peru in 1953. Five hundred indigenous people were used as extras. The film also featured the Peruvian singer Yma Sumac as Kori-Tica. The female lead was to have been played by Viveca Lindfors. However, after the positive response to Nicole Maurey's performance in Little Boy Lost Paramount gave her the role. Thomas Mitchell was signed to play the villain. Studio filming started in October 1953. Shortly beforehand, Wendell Corey dropped out of the film. He was replaced by Robert Young. Filming ended on 22 November. The film caused a surge in tourism to Peru in 1954. Influence on Raiders of the Lost Ark The film is often cited by film buffs as a direct inspiration for the Indiana Jones film franchise, with many of the scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark bearing a striking resemblance in tone and structure to scenes in Secret of the Incas. Throughout Secret of the Incas, the main character, Harry Steele, can be seen wearing what would later become known as the "Indiana Jones" outfit: brown leather jacket, fedora, tan pants, an over-the-shoulder bag, and revolver. The character also sometimes wears a light beard, unusual for films of its time, and there is a tomb scene involving a revelatory shaft of light similar to the "Map Room" sequence in Raiders. Raiders''' costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis noted that the inspiration for Indiana's costume was Charlton Heston's Harry Steele in Secret of the Incas: "We did watch this film together as a crew several times, and I always thought it strange that the filmmakers did not credit it