The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

John Huston (screenplay) and
Gladys Hill (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 December 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Adventure in all its glory!

Plot:

Two British soldiers in India decide to resign from the Army and set themselves up as deities in Kafiristan--a land where no white man has set foot since Alexander.

Plot Keywords:

India | King | Soldier | Treasure | Friendship

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Daniel Dravot
Michael Caine	...	Peachy Carnehan
Christopher Plummer	...	Rudyard Kipling
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Billy Fish
Doghmi Larbi	...	Ootah
Jack May	...	District Commissioner
Karroom Ben Bouih	...	Kafu Selim
Mohammad Shamsi	...	Babu
Albert Moses	...	Ghulam
Paul Antrim	...	Mulvaney
Graham Acres	...	Officer
The Blue Dancers of Goulamine	...	Dancers
Shakira Caine	...	Roxanne

Also Known As:

Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

Karroom Ben Bouih (High Priest Kafu Selim) was the night watchman of an olive orchard near the filming location. He was hired after John Huston accidentally met him, and told to come to the set the following day. After he fell asleep a few times during filming, it was discovered that he had still kept his night watchman job. Huston had to explain to him that he didn't need that job any more - the film company would pay him enough that he could sleep at night.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In Kipling's office at the beginning of the film, Peachy states that according to Herodotus (pronounced "Harry-odotus"), Alexander the Great defeated King Oxyartes and took Roxanna as his wife. Herodotus actually died about 70 years before Alexander was born, thus making him unable to recount facts about Alexander's life history.

Quotes:

Daniel Dravot: The more tribes, the more they'll fight, and the better for us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Call It Magic (1975)

Exactly the kind of movie that they don't make anymore

Truly, truly brilliant. It is so rare that I see a film that I wouldn't change, and I honestly can't think of a thing. Huston's films so often include that quintessential scene -- the one where his characters realize that they've lost everything, and respond with unbridled true character. Those who cry or bemoan the loss are beyond redemption. But those who can laugh in the face of disaster, who can ask forgiveness for the patently unforgivable -- they are the greatest of Huston's figures, and perhaps the greatest characters of cinema. Just as Bogart and Hepburn laugh while they lie in the bottom of a boat awaiting death, Michael Caine and Sean Connery face certain death in this film and respond with complete honesty and complete honor. For all of their lies and arrogant ambitions, they are still a pair of b*****ds you would love to know.

Which brings me to the two incredible performances. It is nearly impossible for such recognizable actors to fade into the guise of their characters. But Caine and Connery manage it, and with perfect aplomb. As best friends, they are perfectly inseparable, and their innate connection makes for one of the most affecting male friendships in history. Surrounded, with no reasonable hope in the world, Danny asks Peachy to forgive him for being "so bleeding high and so bloody mighty." And, of course, Peachy forgives him. These are men who sing boldly in the last moments of life. God bless John Huston.