King Solomon's Mines (1950)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Compton Bennett
Andrew Marton

Writers:

Helen Deutsch (screenplay)
H. Rider Haggard (novel)

Release Date:

24 November 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Action

Plot:

Guide Allan Quatermain helps a young lady (Beth) find her lost husband somewhere in Africa. It's a spectacular adventure story with romance...

Plot Keywords:

Treasure | Africa | Guilt | Diamond Mine | Skeleton

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Elizabeth Curtis
Stewart Granger	...	Allan Quatermain
Richard Carlson	...	John Goode
Hugo Haas	...	Van Brun aka Smith
Lowell Gilmore	...	Eric Masters, District Commissioner
Kimursi	...	Khiva, Chief Bearer in Red Fez (as Kimursi of the Kipsigi Tribe)
Siriaque	...	Umbopa, Tall Prince-in-Exile
Sekaryongo	...	Chief Gagool, Witch-like Guide to Diamond Mines
Baziga	...	King Twala, Usurper (as Baziga of the Watussi Tribe)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:PG (TV rating) | West Germany:12 | USA:Not Rated (video rating) | Belgium:Tous | France:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #14499)

Filming Locations:

Biondo, Democratic Republic Of Congo

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In 1958, MGM reissued this film on a double bill with Rogue Cop (1954).

Goofs:

Continuity: When they are floating in the water, escaping the mountain, Elizabeth goes underwater. When she and her brother meet up with Quatermain at the end of the tunnel, her hair is dry and set.

Quotes:

Allan Quatermain: The only way out of this is... suffocation.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Arrebato (1980)

The film that changed America's view of Africa

I've always maintained that this version of King Solomon's Mines along with The African Queen changed forever the face of Africa for the American audience. Our ideas of Africa were mainly developed by the Africa we saw created on studio back-lots for 20 years.

MGM had tried before to show a realistic Africa in Trader Horn, but the cost was prohibitive and the film never recouped the expense of making it, especially during the Depression. Audiences after World War II wanted a little more realism in their cinema. Fantasy they got from that machine they starting staring into in 1947 in their living rooms.

They also selected an excellent book to film. H. Rider Haggard had spent some years in the British Colonial Service in Africa. He was a pretty good observer of what was around him, even though his writing is tinged with the white man's burden attitude so common in the 19th Century.

The film is not a faithful adaption of Haggard's work, but it's pretty close to it. Deborah Kerr is a woman looking to hire Stewart Granger who's the best reputed guide in Africa. She's looking for her husband, not sure if he's dead or alive. Granger agrees to take her on safari along with one of her husband's friends played by Richard Carlson.

This allows for a certain amount of sexual tension between Granger and Kerr and in fact the two of them had an extra marital affair. Carlson's part is essentially colorless. I think he's along mainly to provide a sounding board for Kerr and her changing attitudes about Africa and Granger.

The jungle photography is fabulous, the film is worth it for that alone. Granger and Kerr create some good characterizations and the native Africans are good in their roles.

King Solomon's mines had such an impact that even the later Tarzan films had a more realistic look about them. An absolutely must see item.