Noted in Dave Kehr's blog: commenting on the death of the great Heston, the long-memoried expert on pre Star Wars film writes "one of Heston's most influential roles remains one of his least known: that of Harry Steele. Dashing though cynical adventurer who wears a fedora and a leather jacket, as he searches for Incan treasure in a manner that distinctly suggests a certain later day hero created by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The film is Jerry Hopper's 1954 Secret of the Incas and Paramount has been strangely reluctant to release it to TV or DVD ... reportedly, Spielberg and Lucas screened it for members of the production team planning Raiders of the Lost Ark." One Raiders of the Lost Ark fansite, theraider.net. has already commented: "the atmosphere of the story is so similar that any Indiana Jones fan will be smitten with this film."
Why doesn't Paramount fess up and re-release this? It'd be worth $20 to see Heston as Steele, searching for a jeweled relic in the Inca Temple of the Sun among real life locations in Machu Picchu (as visible above, but here's a better look at the poster). He's up against a first-rate villain (Thomas Mitchell, of Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, and many other classics). And then there's the matter of the film's discovery, the debuting "bird girl of the Andes" Yma Sumac. Seen here at YouTube demonstrating her world-famous 5 octave pipes in one of her numbers from the film. Don't believe the horrible lie that Yma Sumac is really Amy Camus from Brooklyn!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-08-2008 @ 1:50PM
Angie said...
Interesting! While For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) is a different plot than all the Indiana Jones films, Gary Cooper is dressed just like him. In fact the only thing he's missing is a whip. Here's a couple of links to pics from the film.
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=76481&rendTypeId=4
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=77210&rendTypeId=4
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4-08-2008 @ 5:16PM
Mary Ellen Kelly said...
Heston's Harry Steele in Secret of the Incas is, beyond a doubt, the Ur-Indiana, but there are also touches of Indiana Jones in Heston's portrayal of the circus boss in the 1953 (or '52?) Cecil B. DeMille film The Greatest Show on Earth. Not only does Heston's character wear the trademark fedora; in extreme circumstances (bleeding, near death, lying in the wreckage of a train crash) he's heard to remark, "Where's my hat?" (!!!) Interestingly, Spielberg has said that The Greatest Show on Earth was the very first film he ever saw.
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4-08-2008 @ 5:19PM
Richard von Busack said...
It's also the first Hollywood movie with Heston in it. It must have left a mark on Spielberg, but apparently he got rather badly treated by Heston during his days of hanging around Universal studios. According to Joseph McBride's bio, Heston had wanted to be in Jaws but Spielberg ruled against him...
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4-09-2008 @ 12:22AM
dddd said...
Your fans all over the world will miss you. Rest in peace! I just find you on the celebrity and millionaire dating site wealthysoulmate.com and wanna have a chat with you there. What a shame.
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4-12-2008 @ 9:06AM
James Byrne said...
Check out my site on SECRET OF THE INCAS
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4-12-2008 @ 10:33AM
James Byrne said...
Silly me ... didn't include the website link. Here it is:
http://incas.mysite.orange.co.uk
If you like SECRET OF THE INCAS, you will love my site.
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4-12-2008 @ 1:33PM
James Byrne said...
Silly me ... forgot to leave the link to my website on SECRET OF THE INCAS.
http://incas.mysite.orange.co.uk
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4-22-2008 @ 5:41PM
WALTER BOSLEY said...
We ran an article in my LOST CONTINENT LIBRARY Magazine with an exclusive FRASER HESTON interview before his dad passed away:
http://www.mottimorphic.com
Scroll down and click on the covers. The Heston article is in the premier issue. IT'S FREE!
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4-24-2008 @ 11:43AM
James Byrne said...
Walter, loved the article on SECRETOF THE INCAS. Great read mate, well done.
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4-24-2008 @ 1:05PM
James Byrne said...
Walter Bosley, really enjoyed the article on SECRET OF THE INCAS in your "Lost Continent" magazine. Excellent, especially the interview with Fraser Heston.
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