Rating: 
Summary: Scenic and Stirring Adventure
Review: This is the second of three film adaptations of H. Rider Haggard's novel (1885) of the same name and, in my opinion, the best of them. Curiously, the other two are available in both VHS and DVD formats whereas the VHS of this film is currently out-of-print and it is not yet available as a DVD. With all due respect to the excellent first version (1937), such neglect is unconscionable. Thanks to Amazon, a few used VHS copies can be purchased; also, the film continues to be shown on cable television.
Co-directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton who worked with a screenplay written by Helen Deutsch, this film offers solid acting as well as stunning cinematography which earned Robert Surtees an Academy Award. Here's the basic situation: Elizabeth Curtis (Deborah Kerr) hires Allan Quartermain (Stewart Granger) to organize and then lead a search to locate her husband who departed months ago to find the fabled diamond mines in East Africa. They are accompanied by her brother John (Richard Carlson) who is obviously intimidated by his matrician sibling. Although Quartermain is the quintessential "rugged individualist," he receives an offer too good to refuse (i.e. a 5,000 £ fee) and reluctantly agrees. During the course of the narrative which develops, his apprehension is more than justified by the various dangers they encounter but the group presses on. And then....
Seeing it recently, I again found it to be visually spectacular, certainly comparable with later films such as Out of Africa. However, this time around I was especially aware of the absence of chemistry between Granger and Kerr. This is significant because the primary focus is on their relationship and the promise of eventual (inevitable?) romance whereas in the previous film version, the primary focus is on a native bearer, Umbota (brilliantly portrayed by Paul Robeson), who struggles to reclaim his tribal throne. That said, the film has lost none of its impact as an adventure tale well-told and, as indicated, the exteriors shot on location in Africa are (again) spectacular. That is why this film must have had a major influence on the development of others, notably the Indiana Jones trilogy. I also suspect that Haggard's novel was among the major influences on later literary works such as Hemingway's novella The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.
Let's all hope that it will soon be available in a DVD format.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the jungle epics
Review: 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!
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