John Huston was one of the few old style Hollywood directors who produced interesting and at times very good films late in his career. The Man Who Would Be King was one of John Huston's dream projects. The film reminded many critics of his 40's film The Treasure of Sierra Madre with it's story of greed and adventure. It also has many similarities to Huston's famous Hepburn/Bogart film The African Queen.
To play a couple of former soldiers who are essentially crooks. Huston cast Sean Connery and Michael Caine a couple of larger than life screen personalities. Christopher Plummer was hired to play the actual author of the original story Rudyard Kipling.
This story has a very old fashioned feel to it. It could have easily been made in the late 40's or early 50's. There is a larger than life quality to the film which benefits a pretty tall tale even for Kipling who was also the author of The Jungle Book and Gunga Din. Huston's story telling skill kept this film moving along.
John Huston certainly had his bad or indifferent films such as Annie but The Man Who Would Be King is certainly mainstream Hollywood film making at its best although it would probably be considered a slow moving film for today's audience.
123 minutes, written by John Huston and Gladys Hill.
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