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 marraskuu 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:

The same introductory African drums and chanting were used again 2 years later in Mogambo.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Von Brun (when Alan, Elizabeth and John first meet him) states that he hasn't seen a white face in "five years", but immediately after tells them that he saw Curtis a year earlier. Further, neither of the three question this inconsistency.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Arrebato (1980)

King Solomon's Mines and two others that are classics.

There are three classic movies about early colonial Africa. 'Trader Horn'; starring Harry Cary; 'King Solomons Mines'; Granger - Kerr and 'Out of Africa'; Redford - Streyp. In the first two, old Africa was available, in the last it was not. The Technicolour and acting of the 'Mines' was fantastic!, although many don't realize that the scenes of the cavernous mines were filmed in Carlsbad Nat'l. Park and the trek into the great desert before the Kalahari region was actually White Sands New Mexico. The romantic wonderment of Granger washing Kerr's hair at Murchison Falls was copied quite nicely by Redford and Streyp. The green hills of the Watusi highlands were copied nicely in Karen Blixens Nygong Hills estate. It will be some time before another film comes out to match the beauty and majesty of colonial Africa like the 'Mines' and 'Out of Africa'. Until then, these two stand alone.