The Man Who Would Be King

Two British scoundrels (Sean Connery and Michael Caine) in India set off to plunder Kafiristan, a country no white man has returned from since Alexander.

The Man Who Would Be King is a grand adventure, made even more so by the wonderful casting of Connery and Caine in the leads. Caine in particular—who does much of the narration—is simply brilliant in a role requiring even more charisma than Connery. That’s no small feat.

Director John Huston drenches the film in atmosphere. Unfortunately, several scenes serve no other purpose than to establish the strange and exotic nature of Kafiristan, scenes that should be advancing the story at the same time. But this, and a few special effects shots that show their age, are the film’s only real flaws. Huston does a good job of telling a solid story and eschews a more crowd-pleasing ending for a more satisfying (and realistic) one helps the film hold up to repeat viewings.