Secret of the Incas Secret of the Incas Secret of the Incas is a 1954 adventure film starring Charlton Heston as adventurer Harry Steele, on the trail of an ancient Incan artifact. Shot on location at Machu Picchu in Peru, the film is often credited as the inspiration for "Raiders of the Lost Ark". The supporting cast features Robert Young, Nicole Maurey and Thomas Mitchell, as well as a rare film appearance by Peruvian singer Yma Sumac. American adventurer Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) earns a living as a tourist guide in Cusco, Peru but plans to make his fortune by finding the Sunburst, an
Charlton Heston of killer ants. He played the lead in "Secret of the Incas", which was shot on location at the archeological site Machu Picchu and had numerous similarities to "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Filmed a quarter-century before the latter film, ""Incas"" included a tomb scene with the revelatory shaft of light pointing out a clue on a map and featured Heston's roguish antiquities thief's costume and light beard; "Raiders" costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis noted that it was "almost a shot for shot similar" to the film on which she worked. Heston played William Clark, the explorer, in "The Far