SECRET OF THE INCAS

Harry Steele is a tough young American soldier of fortune, eking out a living as a tour guide in Cuzco, Peru. He has heard the legend of the Inca treasure, a fabulous golden Sunburst which has been missing for centuries, and his intention, when he can get hold of a private plane, is to head for the long lost Inca city of Machu Picchu.

There is a legend among the Quechua Indians that the Inca Empire will be restored when the Sunburst is found. It is believed to be hidden in the tomb of Manco, last of the Inca chiefs. Harry has come into the possession of a fragment of an ancient stone map which points to the secret location of the treasure.

Steele is bored with his tour guide work and supplements his tedious job with a bit of gigolo work in his spare time. Bored tourists, like the middle-aged Mrs Winston, keep him busy with this extra occupation. Treacherous wheeler-dealer Ed Morgan occasionally does business with Harry, even though they mistrust and despise each other. Morgan knows that Harry has the stone map, and after being rebuked on a partnership deal, sends a sniper after Harry to ‘frighten’ him. Obviously shocked by the near miss from the gunman, Steele threatens the old guy and only calms down when he’s told that Morgan has lined up a little deal for him.

Morgan tells Harry that a Romanian refugee is coming to Cuzco by truck from La Paz and she needs help to get to Mexico. The Romanian Consul, Anton Marcu, has pursued her to Peru to take her back behind The Iron Curtain.

Harry meets the beautiful Elena in Cuzco Hotel, but when he finds out that she is short of cash, he isn’t interested in helping her escape. Only when Elena tells him that the Rumanian Consul has persued her to Peru in a private plane is Harry willing to help her. Having telephoned the consul giving him Elena’s whereabouts, Harry strikes a deal with Elena, knowing that she’s now helpless to refuse.

He asks her to steal the plane keys from Anton Marcu and they fly to the mystical village in the Andes, Machu Picchu. Having to land ten miles outside the Inca village, they set off on an arduous trek through the jungles of Peru. When they arrive at the ruins of Machu Picchu, they see that an archaeological expedition, headed by Dr Stanley Moorehead, is encamped on the spot. Pachacutec, the leader of the local Quechuan community, and his sister, Kori-Tica, both mistrust the pair, but the others in the expedition give them a warm welcome. Harry explains their presence by saying they were forced down when their plane ran out of gas.

In the evening while watching a sacred Inca ritual ceremony performed by Kori-Tica in the ruins, Dr Moorehead expresses his love for the beautiful refugee Elena. Ed Morgan arrives at the camp, and forces Steele to hand over the stone map, but is forced to go fifty-fifty with Harry because he doesn’t know how to read it. Dr Moorehead proposes marriage to Elena at the Intihuantana but she is more attracted to the rough, tough Harry Steele, but his lying, scheming nature prove to be a barrier.

The archaeological expedition mistakenly think they have finally discovered the long lost Sunburst, but it is only a stone replica. While Ed Morgan is asleep, Harry retrieves the stone map and enters the tomb discovering the real jewel encrusted golden Sunburst. Morgan follows him and shoots at Harry, making off with the Sunburst. The noise wakens the whole camp and they chase Morgan to the top of Machu Picchu.

Steele takes a short cut and is waiting for Morgan, after a brief scuffle Morgan falls to his death and Steele returns the Sunburst to the Quechuan community. He and Elena then head off to make a new life together.