King Solomon's Mines (1950) [VHS]
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VHS Movie Reviews of King Solomon's Mines (1950) [VHS]
Movie Review: Cinematic Safari
Summary: 3 Stars
This classic movie appeared when I was about ten, and I can remember laughing at some of the more unlikely moments in the film. Now that I'm a geezerly age I feel rather nostalgic about it. I have a friend who told me he gets together annually with a buddy to view King Solomon's Mines yet again. There is much stock studio footage of central Africa used here, and it shows peoples and traditional dancing that I suspect is no longer present on today's African continent. The storyline is just barely plausible, but compelling enough to have been filmed at least three times: first in the '30s, then this version circa 1950, and most recently in the '70s. Maybe it's not the acting or the story, but all that wonderful African scenery that captivates me. One disadvantage for me now is that all the actors are dead...Deborah Kerr just recently...and I wonder what the hell has happened and where did my life go.Movie Review: Living White Man Superiority
Summary: 3 Stars
A 1950-year movie (first in the line of the followed?) is a perfect example of how viewers' taste shifted from the middle of the last century, even not since 1897 the story is of.
Splashing money inherited on finding her husband lost in his search for "terra nullius" treasures, a brave young London female went Africa to save a spouse.
However, this place is not Piccadilly and different values required to survive.
A really nice folklore, interesting depicting of wild animals and landscapes exotic for non- Africans could hardly much entertain contemporary kids used to Hi-Tech effects as sex-hints combined with white man superiority arrogant on modern merits, annoy a maturer viewer.
Three star rating is for then technical advances of an ancient movie.
Movie Review: "A woman? A woman on safari?! No thank you!!" Allan Quatermain is about to learn a thing or two
Summary: 4 Stars
Henry Curtis, an Englishman who arrived in Africa to search for the legendary King Solomon's mines, has not been heard from in two years. Now, in 1897, his wife, Elizabeth Curtis (Deborah Kerr), has arrived with her brother, John Goode (Richard Carlson), to find him. She will spare no expense, undertake any danger, to rescue her husband. Allan Quatermain (Stewart Granger), rugged, resourceful, decent and experienced, is just the big game hunter and old Africa hand she needs. It will take money, deposited up front, to overcome this widower's reluctance (he has a young son in England to provide for) to go on a dangerous wild goose chase. If her husband hasn't been heard of in two years, Quatermain tells Mrs. Curtis, he is undoubtedly dead. He also has doubts about her motives. They dislike each other on sight...but off into darkest Africa they go in one of Hollywood's grand adventure romances.
The adventure part, for modern audiences, may seem a bit old fashioned. The trio encounter stampeding zebras, strange tribes, spiders the size of saucers, slimy centipedes, army ants, lions, crocodiles...and, as Quatermain points out to Elizabeth Curtis and her brother, in Africa human beings are just meat like every other animal. Still, the on-location color photography is nicely done. It might have been unusual in 1950 but it still holds up well nearly sixty years later. The whole concept of Africa at the turn of the century as a place of Victorian imagination and danger is hard not to enjoy. Africa was a place of lost cities, lost Roman legions, lost fabulous treasures, and even an ancient, forever-young queen who ruled without mercy -- a kind of `she-who-must-really-be-obeyed' She, as Horace Rumpole might say.
The romance part is handled with a great deal of charm. Elizabeth Curtis and Allan Quatermain find a good deal to bicker over, and bicker they do. Granger handles the he-man stuff with aplomb, and just as easily handles the back-and-forth with Kerr. It is Kerr, however, who brings delight to the movie. She's stuck with the requisite fainting and the turning away from death, but Kerr makes Elizabeth Curtis a woman with spine and character. Kerr shows us with subtlety how Curtis is beginning to learn from and enjoy her adventures, as frightening as they might seem at times. Her gradual appreciation of Quatermain is low key and endearing. Soon after King Solomon's Mines, MGM turned Deborah Kerr into a classic MGM-style lady. What a loss, although her skill and talent as an actress still shown through. For me, I'll remember Deborah Kerr best as Bridie Quilty in I See a Dark Stranger, Sister Clodagh in Black Narcissus and, much later, as Miss Giddens in The Innocents.
For poignancy, see if you can spot Hugo Haas. He plays a seedy, dirty renegade in an isolated African village. It's not much of a part but he handles it well. Haas in the Thirties was a popular and celebrated star in Czechoslovakia. He acted, wrote, directed and produced. He was his own man. When the Nazis took over he had to flee and went to America. There, he was an unknown with no celebrity. He had to start over, not an auspicious thing for a portly, round-faced actor with a sharp nose. His name meant nothing. He made something of a reputation as a character actor in usually not-so-good movies. Haas used his money in the Fifties to start making his own movies, starring, writing and directing, just like the creative force he had been in Czechoslovakia. The movies, however, were just cheap quickies, reeking of lurid storylines. He died in 1968, his reputation in tatters, homesick and depressed. Just for nostalgia, go to Youtube and type in Hugo Haas and look for the clips from his 1935 movie At Zije Neboztik. You'll find one with Haas in evening dress at the bar of a posh club. He sings/acts that great song "Me To Tady Nebavi." (No, I don't know what it means.) Hugo Haas could be very good.
Movie Review: What a GREAT movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
At age 52, I have just watched King Solomon's Mines for the first time; Wow!, what a great movie-I loved it. I can't believe I had never seen it before. It is now one of my favorites; it's definitely worth watching (again & again).Movie Review: King Solomon's Mines
Summary: 5 Stars
King Solomon's Mines is truly one the best movies about Africa. The scenery is spectacular. The story seemed to be a never-ending confrontation with wild animals however it was interesting to see the
the variety. The native tribes were also interesting, especially the very tall Watusi and their dance. The actors portrayed believable roles and the movie deserved the two Oscars it received. I will watch it again and again.