☆ ☆ ☆
Secret
of the Incas (1954) – J. Hopper
The real reason for watching this is not
because Charlton Heston’s Harry Steele might be the inspiration for Indiana
Jones (complete with out-sized fedora and bomber jacket) but rather because of
the bewitching presence of Yma Sumac, the Peruvian exotica singer with the multi-octave
range. It’s true that Sumac only has a
bit part but she sings and that’s enough (you may know one of her songs from the
Big Lebowski soundtrack). The rest of
the film is a bit ho-hum. Heston is a cad
living off what he can scrounge up from tourists in Cusco who has dreams of
finding some missing Incan treasure. He
isn’t very likable, nor is his rival/antagonist Ed Morgan (played by famed character
actor Thomas Mitchell). When a young
woman in trouble (Nicole Maurey) enters the picture, Heston uses her to escape
Cusco in a stolen plane which they fly to Machu Picchu where Robert Young (soon
Father Knows Best) is conducting an archaeological dig. Location shooting is a plus. The only bit that seems vaguely like Raiders
of the Ark is when Heston figures out how to find the hidden treasure by
causing the moonlight to shine on exactly the right spot. He almost loses the girl to Young (and really
he should have) but all’s well that ends well, for the Peruvians (and Yma
Sumac) at least.
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