Influenced by Alexander Mackendrick's High Wind in Jamaica (1965), in which a group of children are left to fend for themselves aboard in pirate vessel, John Milius wanted to make a film in which children would play an active part in the making of a myth. In The Wind and the Lion, he mixes fact with fiction to create an old fashioned romance-adventure with a modern bent. It is based on a true incident--Teddy Roosevelt's 1904 invasion of Morocco to rescue a wealthy American citizen named Perdicaris. This gentleman is transformed in the film into a woman (Candice Bergen), who, along with her children, is held captive by the Berber chieftain Raisuli (Sean Connery). Raisuli's machismo is pitted against that of Roosevelt (portrayed by Brian Keith), who is depicted as “audacious, energetic...and dangerous” (Milius), and acting in defiance of international law in the name of some higher value. Milius' fascination with Roosevelt, is evident. “He did things his way,” states the director, who also opens his newest film, Red Dawn, with a quotation from Roosevelt.
In their book, The Movie Brats, Lynda Myles and Michael Pye write, “The film advances by a series of contrasts, between cultures and between characters.... The past--desert duels, cooking meat killed that day, execution by sword, Berber warriors--is ousted by the future--diplomats and admirals discussing policy, marines with bayonets fixed, a tasteful birthday cake, an anticlimactic fading of characters once seen as strong.”