A particularly fascinating item is Tom Selleck's much-talked-about but never-before-seen screen test as Indiana. Not bad but today anyone but Harrison Ford in the role is unthinkable.  So what was it about these action films that makes them so durable and beloved? John Rhys-Davies, the ebullient, lusty-voiced Welsh actor who played Indy's pal Sallah in the first and third films, suggests it's quite simply bang for the buck, noting there's huge entertainment value in almost every frame. "The secret of making a successful movie is quite simple: give the audience $50 worth of entertainment for every 10 bucks they spend at the box office. "You have to imaginatively and creatively entertain and delight and please them." On the DVD extras, Lucas is heard saying he wanted to shoot the films "quick and dirty" much like the low-budget Saturday-matinee cliff-hanger serials they were emulating. But of course the films don't look that way at all. Rhys-Davies explains it was never their intention to make them cheesy-looking, but that the shoot was going to be quick, without the 60 or 70 takes that Spielberg often went for in his films to get scenes just right. The actor quotes Spielberg: "'What I want is a freshness and an immediacy that this film needs if we're to get away with it. Just an insouciance that comes from spontaneity.' And I think he not only captured that, he let it flower." The DVD extras also show the filmmakers conceding that the middle installment, The Temple of Doom, did turn out much darker, and less fun, than they anticipated. It may also have suffered from the absence of Sallah who was brought back for The Last Crusade." It was very gratifying, actually, to sit in the cinema and hear that great cheer when Sallah came on. It actually moved me, touched me greatly. I thought 'Oh gosh, I must have dome something right.' "Some trivia about the Indiana Jones movies, coming to DVD Oct. 21:Indiana was the name of George Lucas's dog. The line was later given to Sean Connery in the third film when he reminds Harrison Ford they called him Junior and "named the dog Indiana." The Marion Ravenwood character in Raiders of the Lost Ark was named after screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan's wife's grandmother, Marion, as well as a Los Angeles street, Ravenwood Court. SS leader Heinrich Himmler actually created an organization called the Ahnenerbe in 1935, with the mission to scour the world for archeological evidence of the superiority of the Aryan race. He was intent on finding the Holy Grail, too.  In Raiders, viewers who watch carefully during the Well of Souls scene can see hieroglyphs of Star Wars robots R2-D2 and C-3P0. And in The Temple of Doom, the Shanghai night club in the opening sequence is called Club Obi-Wan, from the Star Wars character.

The submarine used in the first film was constructed for the German war film Das Boot. The original title of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was to be Temple of Death.  Temple of Doom takes place in India but lack of co-operation from the Indian government moved the production to Sri Lanka. To get the required sound of slimy snakes, an audio technician ran his fingers through his wife's cheese casserole. Sean Connery played Indy's father in The Last Crusade but is actually only 12 years older than Harrison Ford.

The temple sequence in Last Crusade was actually shot at Petra, the Nabatean ruins in Jordan known as "the rose-red city half as old as time." Although the actors are seen entering the ruins, in fact there is no interior, it is just a relief on the side of a rock cliff. For his screen test as Indy, Tom Selleck read with actress Sean Young. Tim Matheson, meanwhile, read with Karen Allen, who eventually played Marion in Raiders. Raiders was filmed in Tunisia, at the same locations used for Star Wars.

Actor John Rhys-Davies, who played Sallah, admitted his strongest memory of the filming was the agonizing dysentery that struck the cast and crew.  Steven Spielberg admits that Temple of Doom was his least favorite of the Indy trilogy. But in the end he got the girl, marrying female lead Kate Capshaw.

Affleck avoids ‘f' word in reference to J-Lo. “Classy” choice of words, Ben. Accepting an award from the liberal People for the American Way Foundation, Ben Affleck didn't use the f-word — as in fiancée — when referring to Jennifer Lopez. “I only accept it in the hopes that the absurd amounts of publicity that I received lately, that as far as I can tell is chiefly because I have a pretty girlfriend, that's what I did, I am a champion of the American way with a pretty girlfriend — bring it on, paparazzi, news at 11 — in the hopes that some of that publicity might be pointed at something more significant, something more positive, productive and meaningful,” Affleck said, according to an Associated Press Television News tape. The actor made the remarks while accepting a Spirit of Liberty Award Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Lopez and Affleck, whose recent film “Gigli” bombed after abysmal reviews, had planned to marry Sept. 14 before abruptly calling off the wedding. It would have been the third marriage for Lopez, 33, and the first for Affleck, 31. Since then, media scrutiny has intensified, with everyone wondering, will-they-or-won't-they? When they bought a pickup truck in Georgia and attended a Red Sox game in Boston, it was news. Affleck and Lopez also co-star in the Kevin Smith movie “Jersey Girl,” set for release next year.