Subtitles:

English, None

Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer (3:43)

In this historical adventure saga, Balam (George Chakiris) is the son of the ruler of the Mayan people; when his father is killed in battle, Balam succeeds his father as King and leads his followers out of Mexico to a coastal region. The Mayan's new home, however, is already the province of a hostile Indian tribe led by Black Eagle (Yul Brynner), who leads a raid against the Mayan's camp. Balam is severely injured, but Black Eagle's wife Ixchel (Shirley Ann Field) tends to his wounds, and eventually the two leaders agree to settle their differences and coexist in peace. Hunac Ceel (Leo Gordon), Balam's old nemesis, is not so forgiving. He has followed the Mayans to their new home, where he and his troops mount a furious attack, with the Indians and the Mayans leading a united front against the invaders. Kings of the Sun also features Richard Basehart, Brad Dexter, and Barry Morse.

Excerpt from MRQElocated HERE

After earning an Academy Award for Best Actor for the title role in The King and I (1956), Brynner cultivated his enigmatic but commanding presence in a number of distinctively different roles, from The Ten Commandments (1956) to Anastasia (1956) to The Buccaneer (1958). So playing the chief of a local Indian tribe in Kings of the Sun was no stretch for the Russian-born actor who at various times in his career had played the balalaika in Parisian nightclubs and worked as a trapeze artist.

Of course, the danger with Hollywood spectacles like Kings of the Sun is that the filmmakers sometimes play fast and loose with historical facts or make disastrous casting decisions. When Kings of the Sun opened theatrically, it was the director and former dancer turned dramatic actor George Chakiris, not Brynner, who was singled out for most of the negative critical notices. The New York Times wrote, "J. Lee Thompson, the director who foisted last year's Taras Bulba (1962) on unsuspecting Christmas audiences, has done it again." Still, the Variety critic found things to praise such as the "elaborately mounted" production and Elmer Bernstein's "adventurous score."

Gary Tooze

May 6th, 2015