This weekend Harrison Ford proves you're never too old to raid arks as he returns to the big screen as the original tomb raider, Indiana Jones. In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Jones will take a break from battling face-melting Nazis and heart-stealing Thuggees in order to stomp out a Soviet plot said to involve extraterrestrials.

It wouldn't be an Indiana Jones film, though, if he was doing it alone. Dr. Jones' proclivity toward sidekicks is as much of a trademark as fedoras, bullwhips and racial stereotypes as bad guys.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): In the original Indiana Jones movie, actress Karen Allen pulled double-duty and served as both sidekick and love interest. Allen played Marion Ravenwood, a childhood sweetheart of Indy's who is thrown back into his life during a search for the Ark of the Covenant.

While Allen was absent from the following two films, she will reprise her character in this week's new Indy film.

Besides Allen, Raiders also introduced recurring allies Sallah, an excavator played by John Rhys-Davies, and Marcus Brody, a museum curator played by Denholm Elliott. Neither character will return for the new film. In his film debut, future Spider-Man villain Alfred Molina taught Indy not to trust all of his sidekicks when he played the treacherous jungle guide Satipo.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): In his second theatrical adventure, Indy was joined by two new friends: Willie Scott, an easily frightened singer played by Kate Capshaw, and Short Round, a highly unintelligible orphan played by Jonathan Ke Quan.

Capshaw later married Indy director Steven Spielberg. No word on whether chilled monkey brains were served at the wedding reception. Ke Quan, who also appeared in the cult '80s film The Goonies, has gone on to have a career as a Hollywood fight coordinator.

Also appearing in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him role is Dan Aykroyd, who can be spotted just before Indy and his crew board a cargo plane after the film's opening scene.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): For the third movie, Sean Connery was cast as Indy's father, providing the catalyst for another adventure.

After Temple of Doom's relatively dark content matter, producer George Lucas and Spielberg sought to increase the levity in the third film, mainly through Connery's stumbling, bumbling Professor Henry Jones.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): For the latest film of the series, Indiana Jones has been given a sidekick with an impressive resume. In his short career, Shia LaBeouf has amassed quite a list of references -- sidekicking for most of Hollywood. LaBeouf has assisted the heroes of such movies as Transformers; Constantine; I, Robot; and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

In Crystal Skull, LaBeouf plays a greaser who may or may not be Indy's son. Interviews with Lucas suggest plans to spin off LaBeouf's character into his own film.

Also joining the fun is Ray Winstone as a rival archaeologist and John Hurt as a colleague of Indy.

• Robert Saucedo will throw you the whip if you throw him the idol. E-mail him at robsaucedo2500@yahoo.com.

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