| King Solomon's Mines | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
|
| Directed by | Compton Bennett Andrew Marton |
| Written by | H. Rider Haggard (novel) Helen Deutsch (screenplay) |
| Starring | Deborah Kerr Stewart Granger Richard Carlson |
| Release date(s) | 1950 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Watusi |
| IMDb profile | |
King Solomon's Mines is a 1950 MGM movie based on the 1885 novel by the same name by Henry Rider Haggard. It was adapted by Helen Deutsch from the novel, starring Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. Directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, the movie won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Color and Best Film Editing and was nominated for Best Picture. This adaptation was mostly serious in tone and quite faithful to the novel. In 1959, a sequel titled Watusi was made by the same studio.
Plot summary
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. When they finally reach the region, 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 people, while Allan, Elizabeth and John travel to a tense meeting with Twala. With his last rifle bullet, Allan kills a would-be attacker, temporarily quelling the natives. The king's closest advisor, Gagool (Sekaryongo), communicates that they had seen a white man before. He offers to lead them to him. He takes them to a cave, in which they find the skeleton of Elizabeth's husband. While they are distracted by this discovery, Gagool takes the opportunity to trigger a booby trap that seals them off in the cave. However, they find a way out through an underground stream and return to the settlement, just as Umbopa and his supporters arrive. Umbopa's people have an unusual method of deciding the kingship. The two claimants engage in a duel to the death. Despite cheating by one of Twala's men, Umbopa wins. Afterwards, he provides an escort for his friends' return trip.
