Kings of the Sun
Encyclopedia
Kings of the Sun is a 1963
movie
directed by J. Lee Thompson
set in Mesoamerica
at the time of the conquest of Chichen Itza
by Hunac Ceel
. The story is about Mayan refugees who sail to the Mississippi River Valley and lay the foundation for the Mississippian culture
complex. The film stars Yul Brynner
(Black Eagle), George Chakiris
(Balam), Shirley Anne Field
(Ixchel), Richard Basehart
(head priest), Barry Morse
, Brad Dexter
, Armando Silvestre
, Victoria Vetri
(Ixzubin), and Leo Gordon
as Hunac Ceel
. It was produced by Lewis J. Rachmil
, with a music score by Elmer Bernstein
, and released by United Artists
.
edges). His father is killed in battle against steel-blade armed rivals led by Hunac Ceel. Balam succeeds to the throne, but is convinced by his advisers, including the head priest, to lead his followers away from the Yucatán, sail to the American Gulf Coast region, so they might regain their strength and fight again another day.
This new land, though, is a province occupied by an Indian tribe led by Black Eagle, and they are none too pleased about these strange, uninvited immigrants. In a small raid to capture one of the Mayans, Black Eagle is wounded and taken captive to the Mayans' fortified settlement. Balam's love interest Ixchel tends to the Indian's wounds and gains an interested suitor, one who is more forthcoming with his love for her. Eventually, the two leaders agree to coexist in peace. However, they quarrel, and the Indians depart, just as Hunac Ceel finds him. His army mounts a furious attack, but is eventually defeated by the united front of Indians and the transplanted Mayans. Black Eagle is killed in the fighting, resolving the love triangle.
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
set in Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
at the time of the conquest of Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
by Hunac Ceel
Hunac Ceel
Hunac Ceel Cauich was a Mayan general from Telchaquillo who conquered Chichen Itzá and founded the Cocom dynasty...
. The story is about Mayan refugees who sail to the Mississippi River Valley and lay the foundation for the Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
complex. The film stars Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
(Black Eagle), George Chakiris
George Chakiris
George Chakiris is an American-Greek dancer, singer and actor.-Early life:Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio, to Steven and Zoe Chakiris, immigrants from Greece. Chakiris studied at the American School of Dance....
(Balam), Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field is a British actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955.-Early Life:...
(Ixchel), Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
(head priest), Barry Morse
Barry Morse
Herbert "Barry" Morse was an Anglo-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999...
, Brad Dexter
Brad Dexter
Brad Dexter , was an American actor.-Life and career:Dexter was born Boris Malanovich , in Goldfield, Nevada, of Serbian parentage. He spoke Serbian as his first language. Burly, dark and handsome, Brad Dexter was usually given supporting roles of a rugged character...
, Armando Silvestre
Armando Silvestre
Armando Silvestre is a Mexican film actor. He has appeared in over 190 films since 1948.-Selected filmography:* Hiawatha * Rosanna * Santo Contra los Zombis * Geronimo...
, Victoria Vetri
Victoria Vetri
-Biography:Vetri was born in San Francisco, California to parents who were immigrants from Italy. She attended Hollywood High School in Hollywood, California between 1959 and 1963 and later studied art at Los Angeles City College. She began acting and modelling in her teens. Vetri is a singer and...
(Ixzubin), and Leo Gordon
Leo Gordon
Leo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television....
as Hunac Ceel
Hunac Ceel
Hunac Ceel Cauich was a Mayan general from Telchaquillo who conquered Chichen Itzá and founded the Cocom dynasty...
. It was produced by Lewis J. Rachmil
Lewis J. Rachmil
Lewis J. Rachmil was an American film producer and art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Our Town. In the mid and late 1940s, he produced several of William Boyd's popular Hopalong Cassidy B-Westerns...
, with a music score by Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
, and released by United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
.
Plot
Balam is the son of the ruler of a Mayan tribe who use wooden swords (with obsidianObsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...
edges). His father is killed in battle against steel-blade armed rivals led by Hunac Ceel. Balam succeeds to the throne, but is convinced by his advisers, including the head priest, to lead his followers away from the Yucatán, sail to the American Gulf Coast region, so they might regain their strength and fight again another day.
This new land, though, is a province occupied by an Indian tribe led by Black Eagle, and they are none too pleased about these strange, uninvited immigrants. In a small raid to capture one of the Mayans, Black Eagle is wounded and taken captive to the Mayans' fortified settlement. Balam's love interest Ixchel tends to the Indian's wounds and gains an interested suitor, one who is more forthcoming with his love for her. Eventually, the two leaders agree to coexist in peace. However, they quarrel, and the Indians depart, just as Hunac Ceel finds him. His army mounts a furious attack, but is eventually defeated by the united front of Indians and the transplanted Mayans. Black Eagle is killed in the fighting, resolving the love triangle.