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Summary: The rod by which other Africa/Romance stories are measured
Review: As with many of the great ones this is a remake of the 1937 movie and was made again in 1985. Just as we all know that Moses looks like Charleston Heston, we also know that Allan Quatermain looks like Stewart Granger. The movie also has many other greats as Richard Carlson of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" fame.Basic story is an adaptation from H. Rider Haggard, in which Elizabeth Curtis comes to Africa in search of her lost husband and eventually uses a large sum of money to recruit Allan Quatermain against his better judgment to lead the search. Naturally the two people even thought chaperoned have to resist nature taking its course. Eventually picking up a stranger (Umbopa) going their way they run into danger from animals, natives, and unscrupulous people. The title gives away the reason that the husband (Curtis) was in Africa to begin with. Will Curtis be found and what effect will it have on Allan and Elizabeth?
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Summary: MIDDLE OF THE ROAD TRANSFER OF AN ADVENTURE YAWN
Review: 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.
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Summary: King Solomon's Mines
Review: Guide Allan Quartermain helps a young lady (Betty) find her lost husband somewhere in Africa. It's a spectacular adventure story with romance, bcause while they fight with wild animals and cannibals they fall in love. Will they find the lost husband and finish the nice connection?
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Summary: Still the benchmark for all future African adventure films
Review: 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!!
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Summary: Classic Hollywood Blockbuster
Review: I was about 9-years old when this was released. Double-pagefull-color ads in the major news-feature magazines and billboardseverywhere.Everyone--but everyone--saw it. And I fell in love withit. I have rented it several times on video and it is always asentertaining as can be. This was, indeed, the "Raiders of theLost Ark," of its day. The first time I saw a poster for"Raiders," I practically whopped out-loud. I knew it wouldbe another "King Solomon's Mines," and it was. The Africanlocation color photgraphy is magnificent, the story wonderful fantasyand Kerr never looked more gorgeous. Note, that there is no studiomusic score, but only the music recorded in Africa. And it createsjust the right mood. If you like real adventure, with the best kindof M-G-M craftsmanship, to spare, this is for you. Get comfy andenjoy what an adventure film can be. A Saturday matinee film that mostadults love. The sexual inuendo is fun and innocent.
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Summary: PROTOTYPE FOR INDIANA JONES?
Review: KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1950) not only introduced adventurer Allan Quartermain, but also provided the prototype for Indiana Jones. The screen adaptation of Sir Henry Rider Haggard's famous first novel stars Stewart Granger as Quatermain, the disgruntled British hunter in Africa, persuaded by a whopping cash advance by a British woman (Deborah Kerr) to locate her missing husband.
While searching together in unmapped territory among the wild animals and cannibals, they -- surprise! -- find themselves falling in love.
Richard Carlson plays Kerr's brother who tags along for man hunt and Solomon's fabled diamond mines.
Beautifully filmed on African locations, this somewhat talky, meandering film won an Academy Award® for cinematography. Note: the opening scenes include the cruel slaughter of an elephant.
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Summary: king solomons mines
Review: one of the great adventure movies- coming to disc with xtras next year- superb scenery and one of stewart grangers best roles next to moonfleet
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Summary: One of the greatest adventure movies ever filmed!
Review: The combination of authentic locales, stalwart heroes, beautiful heroine, and a search for a mythical treasure yield adventure in every sense of the word. You would follow Granger's Allan Quartermain anywhere! The locations are beautiful and treated with respect. Although the plot departs greatly from Haggard's original story, the spirit of adventure and self-sacrifice remain. This film is what going to the movies use to be all about. I'd love to see this in a theatre again! Its incredible that the earlier version of the film was given the DVD treatment and not this one. I'm not sure how many of the principals involved in the making of this film are still alive, but the potential production notes and "making of" trivia would be fascinating. If you like adventure and old-fashioned entertainment, this is your movie.
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Summary: Jungle adventure is a Hollywood classic
Review: 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.
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Summary: Not Chamberlain's version, but OK
Review: 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.
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