Very good, indeed, it is mysterious, sometimes chilling, and always attention-holding.

The director's love of the material is palpable; it makes one smile.

The result, as one might expect, is lively, totally assured, and certainly one of Huston's more bracing movies, though inevitably the story emerges much expanded, with different emphases.

There is no point to The Man Who Would Be King-- it's just for fun, like the movie epics they used to make.