The Wind and the Lion

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The Wind and the Lion
promotional poster for The Wind and the Lion
Directed by	John Milius
Produced by	Herb Jaffe Phil Rawlins (associate)
Written by	John Milius
Starring	Sean Connery Candice Bergen Brian Keith John Huston
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Billy Williams
Editing by	Robert L. Wolfe
Distributed by	- USA - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer United Artists - non-USA - Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	1975
Running time	119 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston. It was based on the real-life Perdicaris incident of 1904.

This movie blends historic facts into a fictional adventure in which an American woman, Eden Perdicaris (played by Bergen), and her two children are kidnapped by Berber brigand Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli (Connery) prompting American President Teddy Roosevelt (Keith) to wield the "Big Stick" of American diplomacy to launch an armed invasion and rescue mission.

Though Raisuli, most of the supporting characters, and of course Roosevelt, are historical characters, the real-life victims were Ion Perdicaris and his step-son Cromwell Varley, and the "rescue mission" shown in the film is fictional. Roosevelt did send Navy ships and a small contingent of Marines to Tangier, who essentially held the Bashaw under house arrest; but it was pressure from the French and British which caused Perdicaris to be released. However, the respectful and even friendly relationship between Eden Perdicaris and Raisuli was essentially factual, as the real Perdicaris and his captor grew to be friends during the incident.

Milius' cast of character actors included the film director John Huston as Secretary of State John Hay, frequent Milius collaborator Geoffrey Lewis as Samuel R. Gummere, the US envoy to Tangier, football player-turned-actor Roy Jenson as Admiral French Ensor Chadwick, Vladek Sheybal (of From Russia With Love fame) as the Bashaw of Tangier, Marc Zuber as Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco, and Steve Kanaly (who later appeared in the Dallas TV series) as the fictional Captain Jerome. Milius himself cameos as a one-armed German officer (in the scene where the Sultan test-fires his Maxim gun). In contrast, Polly Gottesman (Jennifer Pedicaris) apparently never made another film.

Brian Keith's portrayal of Theodore Roosevelt was widely acclaimed by viewers and is often considered (along with Edward Herrmann's performance as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin) as being among the best portrayals of an American President. The film incorporates many of Roosevelt's favorite activities - boxing, archery, target-shooting, hunting - as well as anecdotes (such as his being blinded in his left eye during a boxing match, though it happened several years after the events of the film). 22 years later, Milius cast Keith as President William McKinley in the cable TV film The Rough Riders, starring Tom Berenger as Roosevelt. It was Keith's last film, as he died in 1997.

Filming took place in Spain, with the towns of Seville, Almeria, and Madrid all doubling for Tangier and Fez, and the "Washington" scenes being filmed in and around Madrid. The U.S. Marines and sailors were Spanish special forces troops, along with a handful of USMC advisors, who marched with precision through the streets en route to the Basha's palace. According to Milius (on the DVD commentary), the US Marine Corps actually shows this scene to its advanced infantry classes at Annapolis.

The Wind and the Lion debuted in New York in May 1975 and Britain in October. It received considerable industry recognition, including Academy Award nominations for best music and best sound. Jerry Goldsmith's score also was nominated for the Grammy and the British Academy Film Awards. Additionally, the Writers Guild of America nominated Milius' screenplay. The film was also a box-office success, though the blockbuster status of Steven Spielberg's Jaws overshadowed it.

Milius' next projects were uncredited dialogue in Jaws (also in 1975) and direction of Big Wednesday, a surfing film released in 1978.

[edit] DVD releases

In Region 1, Warner Home Video released the film on DVD on January 6, 2004. While there has been no Region 2 release, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment did release a DVD in Australia.

[edit] Trivia

Many of the sets in the film were previously used in Lawrence of Arabia (1962). The Bashaw's palace was the Jerusalem HQ in Lawrence (the Palace of the Americas in Seville), and the final battle scene was filmed in the Aqaba set which had been constructed for Lean's film. John Milius also stated that the battle scenes and the set decoration was based on Lean's films, including the "larger-than-life" paintings and artifacts in the Tangier embassy. Several scenes, including the Sultan's testing of the machine gun and the climactic showdown between the American and German troops, were inspired by The Wild Bunch.
Faye Dunaway was the original choice to play Eden Pedecaris, but became ill and was replaced by Candace Bergin.
According to John Milius, virutally all of the film's stunts were performed by Terry Leonard, who also has a bit part as Roosevelt's boxing opponent early in the film. Milius claims that only four stuntmen were used in the entire final battle scene.
The Bashaw, Sultan, and Raisuli are all based on real characters, but contrary to the film's depiction, none of them were related in real life.
Filming of the climactic battle was frequently delayed because actor Antoine Saint-John, who played the German general, was terrified of horses and tried to hide from Milius when his swordfight with Sean Connery was being filmed.