I.

Hollywood doesn’t make movies like The Man Who Would Be King anymore, and some people probably consider that a good thing. John Huston’s 1975 film, based on a short story by Rudyard Kipling, is a classic imperialist adventure. Two outcasts from the British army, Peachy (Michael Caine) and Danny (Sean Connery), set out from India, circa 1885, with two camels and twenty breach-loading rifles. Their destination: the remote region of Kafiristan, deep in Central Asia—a land not seen by any Westerner since Alexander the Great conquered it in 328 BC. Once there, they intend to use their modern weapons and military training to subdue the locals and rob the country six ways from Sunday.

At first, everything goes to plan. After a harrowing journey over the snow-capped Hindu Kush, they reach Kafiristan and begin uniting the country’s warring tribes. Fortune lends them a hand when an arrow, shot in battle, strikes Danny in his bandolier. The primitive Kafiris, seeing Danny fight on, surmise that he must be the son of the great Alexander, whom they worship as a god. The local priests concur, and Danny is crowned king of Kafiristan. Power, however, goes to Danny’s head. Rather than joining Peachy as he absconds with as much loot as he can carry, Danny decides to remain in Kafiristan and turn the country into a modern nation-state, with laws, bridges, and, one day, an heir to take his place on the throne. I won’t spoil the ending—not yet, at least—but suffice it to say that pride comes before the fall.

The Man Who Would Be King turns fifty this year, although, in a sense, it’s much older than that. The short story upon which it’s based was published in 1888, when Kipling was just 23, and Huston, the film’s director, spent more than two decades trying to bring it to the screen. Originally, it was supposed to be a vehicle for Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable, but both stars died before he could secure funding. And yet, even after all these years, the film is still remarkably spry—not youthful, exactly (a few of the effects shots now look dated), but timeless in a way that only the best movies are. It pairs the style of a classic studio-era picture with the excitement of a New Hollywood thriller like Jaws (which was released the same year). It’s an action movie, a buddy comedy, a travelogue, and an historical epic all in one.