This delightfully corny film mixes genres. On one level, it's a story about Indian conflicts in the days before Europeans arrived in America. That's pretty special in itself, as there aren't many films exclusively about Indians. With one exception, everyone in the cast is a real Indian. The exception, of course, is the lead parts--all of which are played by non-Indians. Yul Brynner, for example, plays the chief of an unnamed Gulf Coast tribe. As you know, he wasn't a real Indian; he was Siamese. (In this film he looks and walks very much like the king of Siam, except that he doesn't wear a gold earring and never utters, "Is a puzzlement!")
The true star of the film, however, is George Chakiris, who--despite his Greek name--is a Puerto Rican. I know that's true because he wears exactly the same hair style in this film that he had in WEST SIDE STORY, made two years earlier. (He must have used industrial strength hair spray: Not only did his hairdo survive intact from WSS, in KINGS OF THE SUN it is unscathed through a several-week-long ocean voyage in an open boat.)
Speaking of hair styles, check out the 'do on Richard Basehart. Apart from its gray color, it looks like something Little Richard might have cooked up in one of his wilder moments.
Getting back to genres ... this film also has aspects of the '50s biblical epic--the kind of film in which the good guys renounce killing, appeal to a gentler god, make heroic sacrifices, and end up converting the bad guys to their new religion. KINGS OF THE SUN has all of that, except that the new religion ain't Christianity, it's something along the lines of Reformed Mayan Water God Worship. Now to the story.
As chief of a section of Yucatan's Maya people at an unspecified but apparently remote time in the past, Chakiris has a falling out with a more powerful chief and has to flee from Yucatan with his followers in boats. They head west, across the Caribbean, and--after several near mutinies--finally reach land bordering the Gulf of Mexico (apparently in Texas, judging by the maps that flash across the screen).
There the grateful refugees begin building a village, complete with substantial adobe-brick houses, advanced crafts such as weaving and looms and glazed pottery, and even a small-sized Maya pyramid. The amount of work they accomplish in a short time is phenomenal--especially considering that they get most of the work done before they think about such prosaic matters as planting crops or securing a freshwater supply. And where the find all their building materials and craft supplies so quickly is a mystery, as there's little evidence that they ever go far from camp.
Meanwhile, Yul Brynner (adorned only in loincloth and body oil) is patrolling along the coast, where he finds the newcomers' strange, giant boats. He figures people who brought the boats must be in the vicinity, so he goes back to his tribe (by the way, since when did Gulf Coast Indians live in tepees and hunt buffalo?) to report his findings. He then goes back to find the boat people (if I had been chief, I would have delegated that job to several teams of scouts). This is a nice bit, incidentally, as it takes Brynner at least a week to find the new Maya village, even though the immigrants erected the place near where they landed their boats, and their pyramid can be seen from five miles away. So much for Indian scouting prowess. (But then, Brynner was Siamese, not Indian.)
When Brynner finally meets some of the Maya, he naturally comes face to face with King George himself. They duke it out: Brynner with something like a tomahawk, I think, and Chakiris with a metal sword. (Huh? Since when did the Maya have metal swords?) Chakiris, with help, finally prevails. Brynner is captured and taken back to the Maya village, where he is imprisoned in a room (complete with barred windows!) that looks big and comfortable enough to rate as a three-star hotel room (in Texas, at least).
What follows is pretty predictable. Brynner eventually learns that he is being kept alive only to serve as a human sacrifice atop the new pyramid. Chakiris wants to end human sacrifices and proclaims Brynner free to go at the moment he is to be sacrificed. (Of course, the fact that Brynner looked capable of tossing everyone else off the top of the pyramid may have influenced Chakiris's decision.) Brynner rejoins his people, who suddenly appear, poised to attack the village. He talks his people out of waging war, and he and Chakiris pledge peace and friendship.
The film then gets a bit warm and fuzzy and everyone discovers that it's possible for the buffalo man and farmer to be friends. Happily, some dramatic tension is restored, due to Brynner and Chakiris's rivalry over the film's only major babe, and it looks like there will be a war after all. Doesn't happen, though. The reason? King George's old Maya nemesis shows up in an armada (though how the hell they could have found Chakiris's people across the Caribbean is one of the film's many mysteries). Now there really is a war, but Brynner's people come to King George's aid and beat the bejeezus out of the invaders' forces.
SPOILER!
I hope it won't ruin the film for you if I reveal that Brynner is mortally wounded while fighting to protect Chakiris. After the battle ends, he's carried to the top of the pyramid for a dramatic death scene, which gives him a chance to tell Chakiris to marry the babe. Good ole Yul! Although he suffers a nasty wound that would leave even Hulk Hogan gasping for breath, he still delivers his lines in a commanding baritone, right up to the moment he checks out.
The true star of the film, however, is George Chakiris, who--despite his Greek name--is a Puerto Rican. I know that's true because he wears exactly the same hair style in this film that he had in WEST SIDE STORY, made two years earlier. (He must have used industrial strength hair spray: Not only did his hairdo survive intact from WSS, in KINGS OF THE SUN it is unscathed through a several-week-long ocean voyage in an open boat.)
Speaking of hair styles, check out the 'do on Richard Basehart. Apart from its gray color, it looks like something Little Richard might have cooked up in one of his wilder moments.
Getting back to genres ... this film also has aspects of the '50s biblical epic--the kind of film in which the good guys renounce killing, appeal to a gentler god, make heroic sacrifices, and end up converting the bad guys to their new religion. KINGS OF THE SUN has all of that, except that the new religion ain't Christianity, it's something along the lines of Reformed Mayan Water God Worship. Now to the story.
As chief of a section of Yucatan's Maya people at an unspecified but apparently remote time in the past, Chakiris has a falling out with a more powerful chief and has to flee from Yucatan with his followers in boats. They head west, across the Caribbean, and--after several near mutinies--finally reach land bordering the Gulf of Mexico (apparently in Texas, judging by the maps that flash across the screen).
There the grateful refugees begin building a village, complete with substantial adobe-brick houses, advanced crafts such as weaving and looms and glazed pottery, and even a small-sized Maya pyramid. The amount of work they accomplish in a short time is phenomenal--especially considering that they get most of the work done before they think about such prosaic matters as planting crops or securing a freshwater supply. And where the find all their building materials and craft supplies so quickly is a mystery, as there's little evidence that they ever go far from camp.
Meanwhile, Yul Brynner (adorned only in loincloth and body oil) is patrolling along the coast, where he finds the newcomers' strange, giant boats. He figures people who brought the boats must be in the vicinity, so he goes back to his tribe (by the way, since when did Gulf Coast Indians live in tepees and hunt buffalo?) to report his findings. He then goes back to find the boat people (if I had been chief, I would have delegated that job to several teams of scouts). This is a nice bit, incidentally, as it takes Brynner at least a week to find the new Maya village, even though the immigrants erected the place near where they landed their boats, and their pyramid can be seen from five miles away. So much for Indian scouting prowess. (But then, Brynner was Siamese, not Indian.)
When Brynner finally meets some of the Maya, he naturally comes face to face with King George himself. They duke it out: Brynner with something like a tomahawk, I think, and Chakiris with a metal sword. (Huh? Since when did the Maya have metal swords?) Chakiris, with help, finally prevails. Brynner is captured and taken back to the Maya village, where he is imprisoned in a room (complete with barred windows!) that looks big and comfortable enough to rate as a three-star hotel room (in Texas, at least).
What follows is pretty predictable. Brynner eventually learns that he is being kept alive only to serve as a human sacrifice atop the new pyramid. Chakiris wants to end human sacrifices and proclaims Brynner free to go at the moment he is to be sacrificed. (Of course, the fact that Brynner looked capable of tossing everyone else off the top of the pyramid may have influenced Chakiris's decision.) Brynner rejoins his people, who suddenly appear, poised to attack the village. He talks his people out of waging war, and he and Chakiris pledge peace and friendship.
The film then gets a bit warm and fuzzy and everyone discovers that it's possible for the buffalo man and farmer to be friends. Happily, some dramatic tension is restored, due to Brynner and Chakiris's rivalry over the film's only major babe, and it looks like there will be a war after all. Doesn't happen, though. The reason? King George's old Maya nemesis shows up in an armada (though how the hell they could have found Chakiris's people across the Caribbean is one of the film's many mysteries). Now there really is a war, but Brynner's people come to King George's aid and beat the bejeezus out of the invaders' forces.
SPOILER!
I hope it won't ruin the film for you if I reveal that Brynner is mortally wounded while fighting to protect Chakiris. After the battle ends, he's carried to the top of the pyramid for a dramatic death scene, which gives him a chance to tell Chakiris to marry the babe. Good ole Yul! Although he suffers a nasty wound that would leave even Hulk Hogan gasping for breath, he still delivers his lines in a commanding baritone, right up to the moment he checks out.