The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

The Man Who Would Be King
Directed by John Huston
Written by John Huston and Gladys Hall from a story by Rudyard Kipling
1972/UK/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime Rental

Daniel Dravot: In any place where they fight, a man who knows how to drill men can always be a King. We shall go to those parts and say to any King we find – “D’you want to vanquish your foes?’ and we will show him how to drill men; for that we know better than anything else. Then we will subvert that King and seize his Throne and establish a Dynasty.

John Huston shows his continued mastery of the craft in this well-acted and written adventure set during the British Raj.

The setting is colonial India.  Scoundrels Daniel Dravnot (Sean Connery) and Peachy Carnahan have finished their service in Her Majesty’s army.  They consider that India is “too small” and decide the pickings will be richer in another country.  And they have one in mind – Kafiristan – an isolated mountainous land which last saw white men when Alexander the Great came to call.

Danny cooks up a scheme to extort the money needed to purchase 20 rifles and smuggle them to Kafiristan. The pair will use these to train a small army of locals to defeat village after village on their way to see the religious leader of the country.

Danny’s schemes get more and more dangerous.  Drunk with power, he makes a few mistakes.  Peachy is loyal to his friend throughout.  With Saeed Jaffrey as an interpreter/side kick and Christopher Plummer as Rudyard Kipling.  The gorgeous Shakira (Mrs. Michael) Caine has a non-speaking part as Sean Connery’s intended bride.

This movie is great fun.  There’s plenty of exciting action, the dialogue crackles, and no expense was spared on production values.  Sean Connery is particularly good.  Recommended.

The Man Who Would Be King was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; and Best Film Editing.