The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

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

Release Date:

17 diciembre 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Frase comercial:

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:

Sergeant | Indian Empire | Polo | Rifleman | Undressing Scene

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Adventure! Excitement! Exotic Locales! You too can experience these in the Queen's Army!

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

También conocida como:

Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King (USA) (complete title)
Hombre que pudo reinar, El (Spain) [es]

Duración:

129 min

País:

UK | USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

4-Track Stereo

Clasificación:

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

Trivialidades:

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:

Peachy Carnehan: Danny's only a man. But he break wind at both ends simultaneous - which is more, I reckon, than any god can do.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "ALF: The Boy Next Door (#2.14)" (1988)

Adventure! Excitement! Exotic Locales! You too can experience these in the Queen's Army!

My friend threw this DVD at my head one night while we were arguing about film. I said all adventure movies left me feeling a little hollow - adventure movies tended to abandon story, really, in favor of plot (important distinction: stories are interesting, plots boring; consequently a film with a story to tell is better than a movie with a plot to move forward). I think he hurled the disc at me out of pure frustration with my point of view. In doing so, he also won the argument.

The Man Who Would Be King is the single greatest adventure film I've ever seen. It's a story - It's a tale - It's not a series of plot developments (to me, to go further with this plot/story dichotomy, a plot is mechanical (and sometimes that machine is well-oiled) while a story is organic and feels less contrived (though the story, as organic matter sometimes is, can be rotten)). It's a very good story at that. The Man Who Would Be King (I believe as a result of its derivation from Kipling) has a depth and development of character that is foreign to most adventure tales. Few films are as rousing as this and few films that are this rousing have nearly as much to say about mankind.

John Huston, of course, is a master of instilling greatness into traditionally tedious genres. He transformed the mystery, the western, the swashbuckler. Why not the adventure story too? As evidenced in The Maltese Falcon and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Huston can take what might wind up a plot and transform it into a story. He understands that characters - human, conflicted, devious characters - are essential to creating genre pictures that transcend their genre. Without Huston, this film would have undoubtedly faltered; his steady and determined hand guides this film from the hazards of superficiality without sacrificing entertainment and adventure.

He does not create a great film single-handedly though, as Connery and Caine, who both give tremendous performances, bestow upon Peachy and Daniel immense likability despite their scoundrel airs. Caine proves again why he may be the greatest living British actor and Connery reminds us that there's more to him than 007.

As I said, this is one of the greatest adventure tales brought to the screen. Though some may disagree, in particular my friend who threw the DVD at my head, it's better than any of the late 30s swashbucklers and better than most shoot-em-ups made since.