zardoz-13 Jerry Hopper's escapist escapade "Secret of the Incas" is a harmless little action-adventure thriller with Charlton Heston cast as a soldier of fortune. Many film aficionados have argued that this colorful little 97-minute epic 'inspired' the Indiana Jones film franchise because Heston's adventurer Harry Steele (talk about a metaphorical name!) dressed himself in an outfit that closely resembled the apparel that Harrison Ford's daring archaeologist donned for his cliff-hanging shenanigans. Mind you, scenarists Ranald MacDougall of "Mildred Pierce" (he received an Oscar nod for the Joan Crawford murder-mystery) and Sydney Boehm of "The Big Heat" put our reckless hero in tense situations as he searches for fabled hidden treasure in the Peruvian jungles. Early in this carefree opus, our hero commanders a small, propeller-driven aircraft with the heroine aboard, Elena Antonescu (the exotic French actress Nicole Maurey of "The Day of the Triffids"), and they take off with the authorities pursuing them in a jeep with pistols blazing futilely in an effort to stop them. Equipped with eight hours of fuel, Harry sets the aircraft down in a high mountain pasture just shy of the intended airport so that they won't be arrested. Afterward, he digs up a conveniently stashed inflatable raft that Elena and he use to ply the river rapids with. This in itself is reminiscent of the breathless opening in Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Mind you, the tame "Secret of the Incas" isn't a high-octane, white-knuckled exercise in cliffhanging suspense, but you can see how it is comparable to such fare. Of course, Hollywood had not attained the summit of technical perfection in the depiction of such antics back in 1954 when "Secret of the Incas" came out, but this simply means that Hopper and his scenarists can be credited with breaking the ice. Heston had starred earlier in Hopper's "Pony Express," and the director and star would re-team after "Secret of the Incas" with "The Private War of Major Benson." Hopper was strictly a contract director who endowed with films with a polish that reflected his competence. During the twilight of his career, he turned to helming television shows such as "Naked City," "The Rifleman," and "Have Gun-Will Travel." Charlton Heston toiled in B-movies like this until he got his big break in "Ben-Hur." Altogether, "Secret of the Incas" is a dandy little melodrama co-starring Oscar winning character actor Thomas Mitchell as Steele's treacherous adversary while Robert Young appears as an archaeologist who spends more time in his camp tent than on the trail of adventure.

Spikeopath Secret of the Incas is directed by Jerry Hopper and written by Sydney Boehm and Ranald MacDougall. It stars Charlton Heston, Nicole Maurey, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Young and Glenda Farrell. Music is by David Buttolph and cinematography by Lionel Lindon.Harry Steele (Heston) is an adventurer searching for a hidden piece of Incan treasure in the Peruvian lands. But others are interested in the item as well, for differing reasons...I have to wonder if I have just watched a different version to some other on line reviewers? I have seen quotes attributed to Secret of the Incas that range from rip-roaring action to ebullient adventure, odd, then, that it really is neither of those things. Oh it's fun enough, bolstered by a rugged Heston and a shifty Mitchell, but it's hardly action orientated. In fact it doesn't gather pace until the last twenty minutes. The dialogue is often twee, the characterisations atypical of the genre, while a shift in attitudes for our hero is sadly unsurprising. There's no bad performances, mind, just that what they are given to work with is bordering on the mundane.Where the pic scores highly is with its stunning Peruvian vistas, awash with Technicolour, it's high end photography from Lindon (Oscar winner for Around the World in Eighty Days). Also of note is Hopper's good use of extras, hundreds of them, he knows how to craft a good scene and keeps the pic interesting when the flaccid screenplay threatens to sink the interest value without trace. Correctly cited as one of the biggest influences on Indiana Jones (specifically Raiders of the Lost Ark), anyone who has seen both films will know "Incas" influence is great. They will also know why "Raiders" is so beloved by the action/adventure film fan, it's because it "IS" an action/adventure film of some substance. Sadly "Incas", as watchable as it is, is pretty run-of-the- mill stuff that finds decent enough characters struggling to find any action or indeed, any adventure. 6/10

agustave I first saw this movie in my early teens to say the the beautiful pic of Peru took my breath away would be and understatement. I have been waiting for it to be put to DVD for years!! I had hoped that since they release the CD soundtrack for it the movie would be coming soon after... unfortunately no such luck ..... I believe that a lot of the old movies have great story and actors and it's a shame that the kids now can appreciate the good older movie even if the wanted too there not out to see on VHS or DVD but if given the chance to see this it great actors like chuck Heston could show a lot of new actor how to play a role

MARIO GAUCI Despite the intriguing title, this is a tedious potboiler with very little to commend it save the evocative Peruvian locations. A stiff, pre-stardom Charlton Heston is an arrogant opportunist whose dress code might well have inspired Indiana Jones but his adventures, unfortunately for the viewer, are nowhere near as exciting. Robert Young (unconvinging as a belatedly introduced archaeologist), Thomas Mitchell (as Heston's double-crossing partner) and Michael Pate (ridiculously decked out in a Rumpelstiltskin hat as the Inca High Priest or something) are on hand to lend the film some much needed support but the female cast is very weak: Nicole Maurey tries too hard as the damsel-in-distress heroine, Glenda Farrell is wasted as an American tourist with an eye on Heston, and Peruvian singer Yma Sumac almost sinks the film with her embarrassing over-the-top chanting!