The Man Who Would Be King

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

  • 96% of critics liked it
    (23 reviews)

  • 88% of users liked it
    (14,715 ratings)

The Man Who Would Be King opens with author Rudyard Kipling (Christopher Plummer) working in his study. His solitude is broken by the arrival of a tattered, half-mad derelict, who is soon revealed to be his old acquaintance Peachy Carnahan (Michael Caine). As Kipling listens in rapt fascination,… More

PG, 2 hr. 9 min.
Directed By
John Huston
Written By
John Huston, Gladys Hill
Genres
Action & Adventure
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1975 Wide
On DVD
Nov 18, 1997

Critic Reviews

  • Jay Cocks, TIME Magazine

    John Huston has been wanting to make this movie for more than 20 years. It was worth the wait.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    A too-broad comedy, mostly due to the poor performance of Michael Caine.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    It's a tall tale, a legend, of steadfastness, courage, camaraderie, gallantry and greed, though not necessarily in that order.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    It's been a long time since there's been an escapist entertainment quite this unabashed and thrilling and fun.

  • Sean Axmaker, MSN.com

    ... one of the most rousing adventures of the 1970s.

Read all 17 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Tim S


    The Man Who Would Be King tells the story of two men out to seek their fortunes as they go into a small village and build themselves up as people of importance in order to start their own nation. This is a film that I had been hearing about for a long time from various people that it… More

  • Jens S


    Good old fashioned adventure film after a lesser known Rudyard Kipling story. Two British soldiers decide to create an empire on their own by traveling from India into the wild Afghan mountains, soon finding traces of Alexander the great. There is plenty to see here, two excellent… More

  • xGary X


    Two likable rogues Michael Caine and Sean Connery hatch a scheme to conquer the untamed wilderness of Kafiristan using their military training to unite its warring tribes. Seeing Connery and Caine together is reason enough to recommend this film to anyone, but John Huston's… More

  • Anthony L


    Based on the brilliant book by Rudyard Kipling, The Man Who Would Be King was Huston last great adventure film (Not actual last, just last great) and undoubtedly one of the last great adventure films of an era. It's all jolly good fun, very British but also quite dark, I mean,… More

  • Bruce B


    An outstanding film, Be Prepared to sit a while and enjoy, Filxster write up says its 2hr 9 Min the version I watched was much longer. Sean Connery and Michael Caone are basically con-men in the British Empire Of India, They travel North where no white man has gone and come back, in… More

Read all 15 featured audience ratings

Cast

See full cast

facebook_logo

Now you can share movies with your friends on Facebook!

  • Discover movies your friends are watching
  • Keep track of what you want to see
  • Add your reviews to your Timeline