The Wind and the Lion1975
The Wind and the Lion (1975)
The Wind and the Lion Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Mulay el-Raisuli
as Eden Pedecaris
as Theodore Roosevelt
as Sec. of State John Hay
as Gummere
as Capt. Jerome
as The Bashaw of Tangier
as Sherif of Wazan
as Admiral Chadwick
as Alice Roosevelt
as Quentin Roosevelt
as Kermit Roosevelt
as William Pedecaris
as Von Roerkel
as Ugly Arab
as Gayaan the Terrible
as Dreighton
as The Sultan
as Sir Joseph
as Edith Roosevelt
as Marine Sergeant
as Henry Cabot Lodge
as Elihu Root
as Japanese General
as President's Aide
as Miss Hitchcock
as Sketch Artist
as President's Secretary
as Diplomat
as Mountain Man
as Station Man
as Gummere's Aide
as Station Woman
as Torres
as UK Military Adviser
as Pockmarked Arab
as Decapitated Arab
as Philippe
as Chef
as Jennifer Pedecaris
as Aide #2
as Aide #3
as Secret Service Man #1
as Secret Service Man #2
as Secret Service Man #3
as Reporter #1
as Reporter #2
as Reporter #3
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Critic Reviews for The Wind and the Lion
All Critics (16) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (6)
The Wind And The Lion is a neat mixture of romanticization and realpolitik [...] The film is memorable for its action scenes [...] but also for the reflective moments from which those action scenes are born.
The script is an embarrassment the directing is stilted; the editor must have felt he was watching a Ping Pong match.
A fascinating movie which brilliantly synthesizes traditional romantic concerns with an admirable understanding of American political ideology.
Milius is in love with everybody, there are no villains, and so there is no excitement.
The result is indecisive and erratic. [Full Review in Spanish]
Milius's incredible balancing act might have turned very rancid, yet miraculously his mixture of full-blown romanticism and a genial sense of its absurdity produces a deeply satisfying picture.
Audience Reviews for The Wind and the Lion
Movie making in the old style, with broad brush strokes substituting for detail (and Sean Connery as an Arab chieftain), here is the tale wherein hostages grow to care for their kidnappers. Connery is dashing as the bandit and Candice Bergen is sufficiently outraged at first, until she begins to admire the head chopping sheik who burbles those classic words of love, "You're a great deal of trouble, Mrs. Pedecaris," in a Scottish brogue. Okay, so there's some points of quibbling here, yet and still the overall effort is an winning one, successfully engaging the viewers into something akin to majesty. I like this politically incorrect bit of dash.
Super Reviewer
The action is great, the dialog crackles, and how can you not live a young Candice Bergen. Also watching Sean Connery playing Mulay Achmed Mohammed el-Raisuli the Magnificent with a Scottish accent is hilarious. But, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about all the characters. I mean this is a movie where we almost start WW1 over a girl and her two kids. It's a movie where I'm supposed to sympathize with a guy who beheads two guys almost directly after we meet him. Still great fun. And I believe this is the first instance of blood splattering on the camera lens, to the best of my knowledge.
Super Reviewer
Based on actual events, The Wind And The Lion is the story of a banished Moroccan chieftan who kidnaps an American woman and her two children in an attempt to rid his country of its occupying European forces resulting in a stand off between he and president Roosevelt. Written and directed by John Milius who was responsible for scripts as diverse as Apocalypse Now and Conan The Barbarian, this film contains his typically clever dialogue and political subtext as well as a healthy dose of rousing action. There is a satirical commentary on colonialism in general as well as America's role as self-appointed world policeman; Roosevelt is shown as a man more interested in self-aggrandisement and bluster than justice, all too ready to send in the troops to stamp his will on the rest of the world (the American's glorious "victory" is against a hugely inferior and unprepared force. Plus ca change...) His opponent is played by Sean Connery at his most charismatic, and Candice Bergen ably fills a role originally intended for Katherine Hepburn as the kidnapped woman who grows to understand the man and realises he is no savage, but an honourable and educated leader of men. Add a great supporting cast and a rousing score, it's in turns funny, clever and exciting making this adventure from the old school at it's most stirring.
Super Reviewer
The Wind and the Lion Quotes
| Raisuli the Magnificent: | We will all eat lamb in Paradise. |
| Raisuli the Magnificent: | Mrs. Pedecaris, you're a lot of trouble. |
| Raisuli the Magnificent: | (Telegram) To Theodore Roosevelt: You are like the Wind and i Like the Lion. You form the tempest, The sand stings my eyes and the ground is in parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I like the Lion must remain in my place, but you like the wind, will never know yours.(Signed) Mulai Ahmed Mohammed el Raisuli the Magnificent, Lord of the Rif, Sultan to the Berbers |
| Raisuli the Magnificent: | [telegram] To Theodore Roosevelt: You are like the Wind and i Like the Lion. You form the tempest, The sand stings my eyes and the ground is in parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I like the Lion must remain in my place, but you like the wind, will never know yours. [signed] Mulai Ahmed Mohammed el Raisuli the Magnificent, Lord of the Rif, Sultan to the Berbers. |
| Raisuli the Magnificent: | Ignorance is a steep hill with perilous rocks at the bottom. |