Tue 19 Apr 2016
Reviewed by Jonathan Lewis: SECRET OF THE INCAS (1954).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[30] Comments
SECRET OF THE INCAS. Paramount Pictures, 1954. Charlton Heston, Robert Young, Nicole Maurey, Thomas Mitchell, Glenda Farrell, Michael Pate, Yma Sumac. Director: Jerry Hopper.
Before there was Indiana Jones, there was Charlton Heston in Secret of the Incas. A lackluster action movie filmed on location in Peru, the movie features Heston in khaki pants, a leather jacket, and a fedora. He portrays scheming smart aleck Harry Steele, a would-be adventurer and treasure seeker unhappily giving wealthy Americans tours of Cusco, Peru. Even more than women, Harry has one thing on his mind. Money.
All that begins to change when Romanian exile, Elena Antonescu (Nicole Maurey) arrives in town, the communist authorities hot on her trail. When he and Elana steal a private plane and head to Machu Picchu to steal an Incan treasure (his plan, not hers), it feels as if you’re about to take part in a great adventure and a character’s radical moral transformation.
Except you’re not.
Truth be told, Secrets of the Incas is, with a few exceptions, an epic bore. The on-location photography, including some truly breathtaking mountain vistas, is wasted on a lackluster script and strikingly unoriginal direction.
Heston, who was more than capable of portraying men with villainous streaks, does his best with what he was given. His character, thought by many to be the basis for Indiana Jones, hardly has Indy’s rapscallion charm. Harry Steele isn’t a particularly interesting character; indeed, when he finally realizes that there’s other things in life other than money, it’s with the type of bitterness Heston was so capable of emoting. But truthfully it’s difficult to care all that much: another day, another modernist epiphany.
All of which leaves the viewer with the question: if it weren’t for Indiana Jones, would anyone anywhere care about Harry Steele?
April 19th, 2016 at 9:01 pm
Jonathan,
How large a part did Glenda Farrell have in this movie? Just wondering if she aged well since her early days at Warners. Love her in those Torchy Blane movies.
April 19th, 2016 at 9:32 pm
Sounds like it could make an interesting double feature with THE NAKED JUNGLE which also has Heston in a kind of adventure hero role. THE NAKED JUNGLE is actually a lot of fun – a definite must-see for Heston fans.
April 19th, 2016 at 10:23 pm
I reviewed this one earlier this year, and I agree with Jonathan. http://billcrider.blogspot.com/2016/01/overlooked-movies-secret-of-incas.html
April 19th, 2016 at 10:57 pm
Agree completely with Jonathan and Bill, nothing much here unless you are a Yma Sumac fan. I won’t give anything away, but the villain proved interesting for time period because of the actor.
I really can’t imagine this inspired much of anything save an allergy to Yma Sumac’s voice and sleeping in the theater.
Some nice scenery, but far too much is clearly shot on set.
Paul,
Farrell has a decent role, her usual from this period. She did not age all that well, but not spectacularly badly either. Think in terms of the older Claire Trevor or Mary Astor and you have the general idea. She was still recognizably Glenda Farrell though not as brassy as her younger roles.
I fault the screenplay and not Heston, but his character is mostly unpleasant for most of the film, not tough or unsentimental, just an unpleasant ass. Thanks to that and the flawed screenplay his conversion is not only unconvincing, it seems to come out of left field even though you know from scene one it is coming.
Robert Young is cast much older than he was usually playing at this time period.
Michael Pate is his usual capable British Indian.
April 19th, 2016 at 11:07 pm
I don’t remember Glenda Farrell as having a particular stand out role in this one. Admittedly, it’s been a while since I watched the movie (wrote this months ago and just got around to posting it)
April 20th, 2016 at 4:27 am
Everyone involved seems to have their mind on something else.
April 20th, 2016 at 7:10 am
I prefer THE NAKED JUNGLE – killer ants and no Yma Sumac.
April 20th, 2016 at 7:22 am
I absolutely disagree in every way with the harsh review written by Jonathan Lewis. SECRET OF THE INCAS is a wonderful 1950’s adventure movie. It blew my mind when first seeing it in 1963. The dialogue is full of juicy double entedres, the location footage is totally stunning, Heston as the greedy gringo Harry Steele makes Clark Gable look like Liberace, and Yma Sumac’s singing is indescribably magnificent. SECRET OF THE INCAS is the best adventure movie of the whole of the 1950’s.
April 20th, 2016 at 8:29 am
I think the movie is another good example of a 1950s adventure thriller that was filmed on some foreign location to take advantage of being able to film on location and failing to come up with a story that’s worthy of the location.
Other examples previously reviewed on this blog are PLUNDER OF THE SUN (1953), with Glenn Ford
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=27570
and LISBON (1956), with Ray Milland
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=38565
There must be others.
April 20th, 2016 at 8:34 am
James, Comment #8
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you don’t mind my giving everyone a direct link to your website dedicated to the movie:
http://www.secretoftheincas.co.uk/
I am impressed!
April 20th, 2016 at 9:09 am
Thanks Steve, that’s a nice comment to receive. If you are interested, there are hundreds of comments on SECRET OF THE INCAS here, on the Charlton Heston Forums.
http://charltonhestonforums.freeforums.org/secret-of-the-incas-t26.html
April 20th, 2016 at 12:14 pm
One of my past jobs was Customer Host at the AMC Movie theatre in Century City (L.A.). One of my duties was to answer people’s questions about the movies playing. I learned there that no matter how great a movie was there would be people who saw it as the worst movie ever made, and no matter how bad a movie was there would be people who considered it their favorite movie of all time.
April 20th, 2016 at 2:23 pm
It isn’t an attack on the quality of Yma Sumac’s talent to not appreciate it. I don’t like much country music either. She had a magnificent voice and a following for a while, she just doesn’t appeal to me.
Despite the setting though her numbers do seem forced into the proceedings. I grant though I was much happier with Doris Day doing a fully orchestrated version of QUE SERA SERA in a hotel room in Tangiers than Sumac singing on a pyramid in this. Just a matter of personal taste. The Day number was at least an important plot point.
PLUNDER IN THE SUN works better as a film and has a much better screenplay by Jonathan Latimer and terrific book by David Dodge going for it though it also suffers from some of the same problems as this. John Farrow though is a much better director than Jerry Hopper, or at least more interesting.
An opinion is only an opinion from any of us, that’s what makes horse races. I’ve no argument if someone really loves this film, that is their taste, but mine agrees with Jonathan and Bill on this one, and here the critics are pretty much on our side for what it is worth.
James, enjoyed your take on the film.
Steve,
For a fifties action film that did the location thing better either GARDEN OF EVIL or RUN FOR THE SUN work better.
Jonathan,
Farrell’s role isn’t big, but she is a featured player, and pretty much the kind of roles she played most of her career, ie, tough outspoken and cynical.
April 21st, 2016 at 3:37 am
Glenda Farrell is great in SECRET OF THE INCAS. Take a look at the airport scene again when Heston greets the tourists, its full of innuendo. Glenda stares at Heston’s groin and purrs, “Mmmmm …. your the big one!” Glenda was the very first cougar in the movies, I discount Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmonde because she was barking mad! Lets just say that Glenda played the first cougar who was still sane.
April 21st, 2016 at 1:42 pm
Re: THE NAKED JUNGLE – I’d almost swear that every time Heston and Eleanor Parker are on screen together the camera lens fogs up.
And Wikipedia says Michael Pate (one of the all-time great character actors) was born and passed away in Australia not quite eight years ago.
April 22nd, 2016 at 9:09 am
Jonathan Lewis ended his review by asking
“All of which leaves the viewer with the question: if it weren’t for Indiana Jones, would anyone anywhere care about Harry Steele?”
If it wasn’t for Heston as Harry Steele, there wouldn’t even have been an Indiana Jones, Mr. Lewis.
April 22nd, 2016 at 9:39 am
I would not have believed anyone could be inspired by this abysmal motion picture and the angry, mindless and petulance of Harry Steele as portrayed by Charlton Heston, certainly not Indiana Jones. The Jones character comes directly from these sources, according to his creator: Personal elements in the life of Stephen Spielburg. Various Republic serials, and the look of Alan Quatermain as portrayed by Stewart Granger in King Solomon’s Mines. We should all feel free to think and believe what we like, but you cannot, or should not, just make it up.
April 23rd, 2016 at 4:32 am
Barry, with due respect to you Sir, I haven’t made anything up regarding Spielberg ‘borrowing’ many aspects from SECRET OF THE INCAS to create the Indiana Jones. The Raiders crew all sat and watched the Heston movie a number of times to get inspiration, Deborah Nadoolman has been quoted in three separate interviews that she copied Heston’s Harry Steele costume. If you think Indiana Jones looks more like Stewart Granger in KING SOLOMON’S MINES than Heston in SOTI then you should go to your opticians immediately!
April 23rd, 2016 at 11:43 am
James,
Of course wardrobe matters, and it is certainly clear that some influence exists in that department. But almost any, even superficial research indicates that Spielberg and company based Indiana Jones in part on Allan Quatermain. Certainly, in reading Rider Haggard’s novel, or its sequel, the only screen interpretation that comes close to matching its literary counterpart is Sir Cedric Hardwicke’s performance in the 1937 film version, and by no stretch is that a visual or stylistic ancestor to Indiana Jones. Stewart Granger played a character synthesizing Quatermain and Sir Henry Curtis, to some success. Be that as it may, I appreciate your response, And I have been to an optician.
Also, to an audiologist, a dentist, and a barber shop. I can, after an hour or so of weight training, do upwards of 230 push ups, so rest assured, your correspondent is as fresh as a 77 year old daily can be.
Oh, Clark Gable doesn’t seem at all like Liberace. At least not to these tired old eyes.
April 23rd, 2016 at 5:20 pm
Re above: That should read ‘…77 year old Daisy…’ should anyone care.
April 28th, 2016 at 7:02 am
re David Vineyard, #13
“An opinion is only an opinion from any of us, that’s what makes horse races. I’ve no argument if someone really loves this film, that is their taste, but mine agrees with Jonathan and Bill on this one, and here the critics are pretty much on our side for what it is worth”.
The 1954 general public disagreed with you SOTI- haters, it made good money on its initial release, and is one of the most eagerly awaited movies to get a dvd release.
April 28th, 2016 at 9:02 am
James, I admire your passion for your favorite movie. We all feel strongly about certain movies. My favorite movie is WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? but it doesn’t make my top ten of “great” movies. So I am not being mean when I ask what is your source for it being “one of the most eagerly awaited movies to get a dvd release”?
April 28th, 2016 at 9:25 am
My source is three petitions that were on the net for some time but have now sadly disappeared. Every fan of the movie seems to have given up the fight – except me!
April 28th, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Good luck James in getting it to DVD, Currently it is available on YouTube so lets share it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20TAGRElvfE
April 29th, 2016 at 5:34 am
Michael – SECRET OF THE INCAS has been released on dvd in two European countries in the past couple of years, so I cannot fathom why it hasn’t been released in America or England yet. I contacted Paramount but received no reply … so its a bit of a mystery. Conspiracy buffs claim that Spielberg has put a halt to SECRET OF THE INCAS being released because of the many similarities between his Indiana Jones creation and the Heston movie – but I’m not one of them.
What is your opinion of SOTI, Michael?
April 29th, 2016 at 3:45 pm
I am sorry to read it is controlled by Paramount. Certain studios such as WB is working hard to get its library out there, but Paramount is not one of them.
Is it still on Netflix? DVD market still interest the studios but it is a market that is weak from the studios POV. So streaming may prove an alternative.
I doubt the Spielberg conspiracy story since no one behind the creation of Indiana Jones claims he is an original character without old movie serials and old movies influences. If Paramount had any brains it would release it and tie it to Indiana Jones (Paramount is studio behind Jones).
Sadly though there seems little interest in the genre with direct ripoffs of Indiana such as TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY getting a DVD release that was met with great indifference.
I have not watched the movie but wonder about its PC level for modern DVD viewers. I am more interested in television these days than films. I have disliked Heston in everything I have seen him in. And find few things from the 50s that appeal to me. But if I can find the time I will give it a try.
April 30th, 2016 at 7:43 am
Netflix pulled the movie a couple of years ago, Michael. The print they used was very inferior so it’s no loss.
Spielberg mainly quotes Bogart in TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE for his inspiration for Indiana Jones, which is hard to accept when you view the movie. I reckon Heston and Thomas Mitchell in SECRET OF THE INCAS resemble the SIERRA MADRE characters much more.
I love the fact that SECRET OF THE INCAS isn’t politically correct – that’s just one of the many good things about it which I find refreshing.
I am slightly puzzled about your reply Michael – you haven’t watched the movie and you dislike Heston!
Why on earth are you looking at a blog about SECRET OF THE INCAS then?
April 30th, 2016 at 12:08 pm
This is a blog about a little of everything while somewhat focused on mysteries. I post my reviews of forgotten TV series here.
I try to be open to all things. You never know what will become the exception to the rule. I see Heston’s talent but he just doesn’t appeal to me. Like many actors of the era his persona overwhelms any character he plays.
But I like reading opinions I disagree with because they may have seen something I missed.
I do hope you check this blog out and find other posts to comment and share your opinions.
July 8th, 2017 at 4:47 pm
Do you know in which year was the film made? Thanks
July 8th, 2017 at 7:07 pm
From the AFI page:
Release Date: Jun 1954
Premiere Information: New York opening: 28 May 1954; Los Angeles opening: 16 Jun 1954
Production Date: mid-Oct–late Nov 1953; addl shooting completed early Dec 1953
http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=51343
Hope this helps!