Customer Reviews

King Solomon's Mines (1950)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An incredible movie for the time. First movie filmed on location in Africa. Scenes of wild life are incredible. You have to wonder how they were able to arrange them, ie the Elephant Hunt, the Zebra stampede. Probably the first film appearance of those tall natives, the Tutsi. If you compare to modern times, the acting is a little stilted, but the story is quite interesting and certainly provides the basis for all future movies featuring a Great White Hunter. Certainly has convinced me I have to read the book.

The DVD King Solomon's Mines starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr, from WB filmed in the Wilds of Africa, in beautiful technicolor,that is incomparable to the colour of movies today.
The movie is presented on its original full screen, with a run time of 103 min.
Lang, English and French and Subtitles in English, French and Spanish. What a shame
moviemakers nowadays don't make movies like they used to.

An old, but good movie that was purchased for my mother-in-law who enjoys old movies with great stories to watch.

This should be on every true film lovers top 10 adventure list What
is sad is that this is the only version still not avalible on disc.

The story is that of legendary hunter Allen Quatermain and his trip
into the deep, heart of Africa where he himself has never even been
Along with him are sister/brother Deborah Kerr & Richard Carlson
who hire him to find not only her lost husband and fabled treasure
of the title but perhaps Quatermain's lost soul as well.

Filmed on location this '50's jungle adventure is nothing less than
magnificent in it's techincolor glory and should have been one of
the first films to be released on dvd. I wish mgm would get their
pace together and release this gem. The vhs tape in the meantime
tries it's best to capture all the films splendor such as jungle
stampede by over 1000 animals and the native tribe ritual dances
to name a few. Come on mgm get the lead out!

Can a proper English lass and a reclusive game hunter find true romance amidst the backdrop of exotic Africa? Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger demonstrate in King Solomon's Mines (1950). Part travelogue, part adventure, part melodrama, this uneven blend, co-directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, stars Granger as Allan Quartermain. After losing his most trusted guide Khiva (Kimursi) in a needless safari accident, Quartermain resolves to take on no more expeditions. His mind, however, is changed by the staunch determination of Elizabeth Curtis (Kerr). She confronts Allan's inner demons and wins his fleeting respect. Her reward: hiring Allan at a great expense to track down her husband. Seems Mr. Curtis disappeared in the deepest recesses of the dark continent on route to a diamond mine; fortune and glory...same old story! Along the way to discovering the inevitable, the safari party pick up Umbopa (Siriaque), a prince in exile who acts as their guide into the land of the Watusis.

What is particularly disappointing about "King Solomon's Mines" is its overall predictability. From its faux "Gone With The Wind - ish" main title sequence through its lumbering and uneven pacing, the film is not one cohesive narrative, but four mixed up into behaving as one. Long before we reach the end of this story we've figured out that Elizabeth's husband is quite dead. The romance that develops between Granger and Kerr is stoic and flawed - cropping up from a bitter antagonism and out of blind necessity. Richard Carleson, as Liz's brother, John Goode, is wasted with bits of business that lead us into discovering the real reason why Mr. Curtis would ditch Mrs. Curtis for the wilds and unknown. The final sequence in the film, a laborious dance that belongs in an Arthur Freed musical but ends with a public execution is quite anti-climactic and, well...boring. There's little to no resolution for the main characters and little to suggest that this film could have won such overwhelming votes to be a DVD Decision Winner among other such fine contenders as "The Spirit of St. Louis" or "Bathing Beauty".

Of course, all of this fluff and nonsense would be slightly forgivable if the print quality of "King Solomon's Mines" was something to cheer about. It is not. The Technicolor negative exhibits an inconsistently rendered image with excessive amounts of age related artifacts throughout. Colors are, on the whole, weak, softly focused and poorly contrasted and balanced. Occasionally we are treated to a stunning sequence of color photography, as with the aformentioned dance of the Watusis, but for the most part we are given a dull palette onto which some color has been smeared. The travelogue footage - obviously shot long before the principle actors had arrived on location - is grossly out of focus and quite faded. There are nicks, chips and tears in the negative, making the footage appear much older than the rest of the film stock. The audio is mono but nicely balanced with limited spread but optimal audibility. A theatrical trailer is the only extra included.

Bottom line: "King Solomon's Mines" is not vintage MGM in the way that the studio's earlier African adventures like "Trader Horn" or "Mocambo" are. Instead it's a clap trap of events buttressed by a feeble tale of self discovery that strangely is never fully realized.

This colorful outdoor adventure is great entertainment and has excellent work by Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr. Ms. Curtis' search for her lost husband in Africa is the basis for the film's plot and she has all she can do to convince Mr. Quartermain that her map will help locate Mr. Curtis whom she believes is still alive and is waiting for a search party to rescue him. The safari braves several dangers from wild animals and savage tribesmen and happens upon a Watusi prince whose power and royal place in the tribe has been usurped by an evil king. Mr. Curtis' skeletal remains are later found in a diamond mine and the condemned party's safety hinges on a death duel between the Watusi prince and Twala. The location lensing in Kenya and the Belgian Congo is superb and the tension and antagonism between Mr. Quartermain and Ms. Curtis develops into a tender, romantic coupling at film's end.

This isn't bad, but where's the giany cooking pot? How can you have King Solomon's Mines without a giant cooking pot? Where's the giant spider? It's just not the same without the giant spider from the Richard Chamberlain movie. David McCallum's version gave us dinosaurs, but we don't get them either in this one. In LXG there were invisible men, monsters and vampires, but not in this one. It's just not the same as the other Quartermain movies, but it's not a bad movie.

This is a dull, stodgy, static version of Rider Haggard's superb adventure story. It is hard to beleive anyone could make this story dull, but the makers of this dreary film managed it. I mean, they even leave out Gagool the Witch, how CAN you have King Solomon's Mines without Gagool? Forget about this bland, tedious version, watch the 1937 version and see a REAL film.

I first saw this classic as a young boy, and it is still as fresh today. I can't believe that it isn't on DVD!!! The earlier version doesn't hold a candle to this one, and the Richard Chamberlain version shouldn't have even been made. I would love to see this digitally remastered and UNEDITED on DVD!!

I first saw this movie as a little girl and watched it on TV a couple more times over the years. It's absolutely the most thrilling, wonderful movie ever made. But WHAT HAPPENED??? There is at least one tribal dance that has just disappeared -- nowhere to be found in this video. There is one dance still left in the movie, near the end, that is also exciting, but the one I remember the most is where the natives do these incredible jumps and the most wonderful, amazing movements that were all synchronized and fascinating to watch. You could tell they were working themselves into a frenzy to attack the whites, and they were very hostile and truly frightening, so maybe that's not acceptable by today's standards. Did the PC police get to this tape? The VHS running time is 103 minutes. I wonder what the running time of the original film was. I would have given this 5 stars except for my awful disappointment about the omitting of the dancing. Does anyone know where I can get an uncut version? Also, why isn't there a DVD? Maybe there would be an explanation or even out-takes of the dancing.