King Solomon's Mines (1950) [VHS]
by Andrew Marton, Compton Bennett
![King Solomon's Mines (1950) [VHS]](/images/King-Solomon-Mines-1950-VHS-6301971167-L.jpg)
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Deborah Kerr, Hugo Haas, Lowell Gilmore, Richard Carlson, Stewart GrangerDirector: Andrew Marton, Compton Bennett
Cinematographer: Robert Surtees
Editor: Conrad A. Nervig
Editor: Ralph E. Winters
Producer: Sam Zimbalist
Writer: H. Rider Haggard
Writer: Helen Deutsch
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 103 minutes
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Studio: MGM (Warner)
VHS Movie Reviews of King Solomon's Mines (1950) [VHS]
Movie Review: Fine, beautifully photographed African adventure
Summary: 4 Stars
I had fond if fairly dim memories of both the1937 Paul Robeson film, and this 1950 version of H. Rider Haggard's African adventure story; having really loved a recent rewatch of the earlier version starring the majestic Robeson as the warrior-prince Umbopa and Cedric Hardwicke as English safari guide and adventurer Allan Quatermain, I was fully prepared to be similarly enchanted on rewatching this color remake, with a native African actor, Siriaque, in the Robeson role and Stewart Granger replacing Hardwicke. Ultimately I was a just a little bit disappointed, though it was still worth a rewatch.
The essential plot isn't all that different from the earlier film (I've yet to read the novel which lies mouldering on my shelf) - Quatermain is wearily contemplating retiring from his grueling career as a safari leader in 1890s sub-Saharan Africa, but is lured into helping an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Curtis (Deborah Kerr) into finding her lost husband (her father in the 1937 version). He accompanies Mrs. Curtis and her brother John Goode (Richard Carlson) into unknown territory with a large group of bearers, gradually losing most of them before they reach the village of the Kukuanas with the help of the mysterious Umbopa - who turns out to be the rightful chief of the village.
They've travelled in this direction because the lost Mr. Curtis was looking for the legendary "King Solomon's Mine", a fabulous diamond treasure; in the earlier film, it was something of a magical, mystical place guarded by a witch - in this version it's just journey's end, where Quatermain's cynicism about white man's greed will be fulfilled, even as he helps Umbopa to achieve his savage kingship. The point of this version is the journey itself, with elephant charges and poisonous snakes, desert thirst and charging herds of antelopes and zebras all gloriously conveyed by Robert Surtees' outstanding Technicolor cinematography - but all getting a bit tedious after a while, at least for me. And the chaste affection growing between Quatermain and Mrs. Curtis didn't fascinate me all that much either, though I will say that Kerr rarely looked more beautiful.
Still, between the great on location photography, Granger's frequently bare-chested masculinity and Kerr's beauty, and reasonably fluid and competent direction by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, this is worth a watch for fans of this kind of old-school adventure. But Robeson and Hardwicke staked out the territory first, and I think best. There are also later versions from the 1980s featuring Richard Chamberlain, and from the 2000s with Patrick Swayze.
Summary of King Solomon's Mines (1950) [VHS]
Adventure yarns don't come more ripping than King Solomon's Mines, the classic Great White Hunter tale. Novelist H. Rider Haggard's hero, Allan Quatermain (Stewart Granger), reluctantly agrees to lead an Englishwoman (Deborah Kerr) and her brother (Richard Carlson) deep into uncharted territory in Africa, in search of the lady's lost husband. What follows is a cavalcade of boys' adventure stuff: charging rhinos, cannibals, an incredible wildlife stampede, and the back-of-the-neck-tingly thrill of venturing into unmapped lands. The location shooting, including tribal rituals, is marvelous throughout, and the movie manages to pack a great deal of material into 102 minutes without ever seeming rushed. A remake of a 1937 film, King Solomon's Mines was itself remade badly, with Richard Chamberlain, in 1985, and Quatermain was essayed by Sean Connery in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but purists will prefer Stewart Granger's stalwart-yet-sardonic hero--his career never quite got over the role. --Robert HortonAction & Adventure VHS Video
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