The Man Who Would Be King

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The Man Who Would Be King

PG

Released Dec 17, 1975

2h 9m

Adventure

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Based on a short story by Rudyard Kipling, this adventure film follows the exploits of Peachy Carnehan (Michael Caine) and Danny Dravot (Sean Connery), English military officers stationed in India. Tired of life as soldiers, the two travel to the isolated land of Kafiristan, where they are ultimately embraced by the people and revered as rulers. After a series of misunderstandings, the natives come to believe that Dravot is a god, but he and Carnehan can't keep up their deception forever.

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Helen Frizell

Sydney Morning Herald

Very good, indeed, it is mysterious, sometimes chilling, and always attention-holding.

Feb 25, 2025

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

The director's love of the material is palpable; it makes one smile.

Oct 25, 2023

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Geoff Brown

Sight & Sound

The result, as one might expect, is lively, totally assured, and certainly one of Huston's more bracing movies, though inevitably the story emerges much expanded, with different emphases.

Jan 28, 2020

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Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

There is no point to The Man Who Would Be King-- it's just for fun, like the movie epics they used to make.

May 9, 2023

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David Dugas

United Press International

Huston finally has realized his ambition with the pretty much perfect teaming of Sean Connery and Michael Caine. Christopher Plummer is excellent as Kipling himself and it's a bloody good show.

Aug 3, 2022

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Director John Huston had wanted to adapt Rudyard Kipling's story for decades, but the adage "better late than never" certainly applies here, given the splendid results.

Rated: 3.5/4

Apr 16, 2021

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Stephen C

Success in 2 hours and 9 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/08/25

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Fer S

It is quite good. Very interesting. I found the beginning to be confusing. I also think it got kind of slow. I wanted it to end already.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/01/25

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Audience Member

A true adventure, a story of friendship and daring. Connery and Caine give their best performances. This film picks you up at the beginning and doesn't let you go.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/23/25

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bob c

Top boys own stuff from the long forgotten British Empire

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/25

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Martin B

I seem to never tire of this one, as many times as I've seen it. The actors are totally in their element, the directiing wonderful, the scenery and cinematography are both spectacular, the plot is unbeatable. So much fun! Of course we have to thank Kipling, who created it from the getgo.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/26/25

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Robert R

It's fine, but it falls into the all-too-specific trap that a lot of similar films of the era fall into — being way too slow of a flick for my attention-deficit-having ass. Personal preference is personal preference and, yes, I understand this is based on a 19th century short story, not some graphic novel or pulp comic strip. I guess I just require a little bit more meat to an adventure film than "watch as these two swindlers hoodwink a bunch of brown people." That's the other thing, too (and you're gonna run into this kind of issue with pretty much any material of Rudyard Kipling's lol); the problematicism is kinda just baked into this cake, and while I'm not necessarily the kind of person that's as sensitive to that sort of thing as I could be, even I found some elements to be worthy of a wince or two. Still, it's cool enough to see two UK film icons onscreen together for a decent chunk of time. Mildly worth the watch.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/20/25

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John Huston

Director

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Daniel Dravot

Michael Caine

Peachy Carnehan

Christopher Plummer

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Synopsis

Based on a short story by Rudyard Kipling, this adventure film follows the exploits of Peachy Carnehan (Michael Caine) and Danny Dravot (Sean Connery), English military officers stationed in India. Tired of life as soldiers, the two travel to the isolated land of Kafiristan, where they are ultimately embraced by the people and revered as rulers. After a series of misunderstandings, the natives come to believe that Dravot is a god, but he and Carnehan can't keep up their deception forever.

Director: John Huston
Producer: John Foreman
Screenwriter: John Huston, Gladys Hill
Distributor: Allied Artists Pictures
Production Co: Allied Artists, Devon/Persky-Bright, Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 17, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 14, 2014
Runtime: 2h 9m

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