Indiana Jones: 15 Fun Facts

Image credit: © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved

INDY VS. THE SWORDSMAN Dysentery was Harrison Ford's more formidable foe the day this scene was filmed (see fact No. 4)

FIVE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK FACTS

1. Tom Selleck was originally cast as Indy, but Magnum, P.I.'s producers wouldn't release him from his contract. Fortunately, Harrison Ford swung in to fill the role.

2. The biplane in the opening of the film has the identification letters OB-CPO, a shout-out to Star Wars' Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO. Also, in the Well of Souls, C-3PO and R2-D2 are among the figures on the wall of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

3. Debra Winger reportedly turned down the Marion Ravenwood role that eventually went to Karen Allen.

4. The movie's funniest scene came about by accident. During the shoot in Tunisia, Ford caught dysentery and was too ill to film a long fight scene with an Egyptian swordsman. ''Let's just shoot the f---er,'' he said to Spielberg. So they did.

5. The monkey in the film was so uncooperative that hidden wires were needed to wrangle it around the set.

NEXT PAGE: Five facts about Temple of Doom