| King Solomon's Mines | |
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Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Compton Bennett Andrew Marton |
| Produced by | Sam Zimbalist |
| Written by | H. Rider Haggard (novel) Helen Deutsch (screenplay) |
| Starring | Deborah Kerr Stewart Granger Richard Carlson |
| Music by | Mischa Spoliansky |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Editing by | Ralph E. Winters Conrad A. Nervig |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | November 24, 1950 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,258,000 million[1] |
| Box office | $10 million[2] |
King Solomon's Mines is a 1950 adventure film loosely based on the 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard, starring Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. It was adapted by Helen Deutsch, directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Colour and Best Film Editing and was nominated for Best Picture.
Like virtually all film versions, it changes Haggard's plot to include a female lead. But this version strays even further from the novel than the 1937 British adaptation King Solomon's Mines. There are several African characters in the book, particularly Umbopa, a king in disguise. In the earlier film, Paul Robeson received top billing for the role, whereas in this version, Umbopa's importance is greatly reduced.
Filming took place at the following locations in Africa: Murchison Falls in Uganda; Astrida, "the land of giant Watusis"; Volcano Country and Stanleyville in the Belgian Congo; Tanganyika; and Rumuruti and Machakos in Kenya.[3][4] The film marked the marked the beginning of Eva Monley's career as a Hollywood location scout and producer, specializing in Africa.[4] Monley received her first film job as a script supervisor and assistant during production of King Solomon's Mines.[4]
In 1959, a sequel titled Watusi was made by the same studio.
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Allan Quatermain (Stewart Granger), an experienced hunter and guide, is reluctantly talked into helping Elizabeth Curtis (Deborah Kerr) and her brother John Goode (Richard Carlson) search for her husband, who had disappeared in the unexplored interior of Africa on a quest to find the legendary mines. They have a copy of the map he used. A tall, mysterious native, Umbopa (Siriaque), joins the safari. During the grueling journey, Elizabeth and Allan begin falling in love.
The party encounters Van Brun (Hugo Haas), a lone white man living with a tribe. They learn that he met Curtis. However, when Allan recognises him as a fugitive who cannot afford to let them go, they take him hostage to leave the village safely. Van Brun tries to shoot Allan, killing his faithful right hand man Khiva (Kimursi). Allan dispatches Van Brun and the party flees from the angry villagers.
When they finally reach the region where the mines are supposed to be, they are met by people who resemble Umbopa. They discover that their companion is royalty; he has returned to attempt to dethrone the evil King Twala (Baziga). Umbopa leaves with his supporters, while Allan, Elizabeth and John travel to a tense meeting with Twala. With his last rifle bullet, John kills a would-be attacker, temporarily quelling the natives.
The king's advisor, Gagool (Sekaryongo), communicates that they have seen Curtis and leads them to a cave that contains a trove of jewels and in which they find the skeleton of Elizabeth's husband. While they are distracted by this discovery, Gagool takes the opportunity to leave and triggers a booby trap that seals them in the cave. However, leaving the jewels behind, they find a way out through an underground stream and return to the settlement, just as Umbopa and his followers arrive.
Umbopa's people have an unusual method of deciding the kingship. The two claimants duel to the death. Despite cheating by one of Twala's men, Umbopa wins. Afterwards, he provides an escort for his friends' return trip.
According to Robert Osborne, Errol Flynn was offered the role of Quatermain, but chose instead to star in Kim. This paved the way for Granger's rise to stardom, as King Solomon's Mines proved to be much more popular.
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