King Solomon's Mines (1950)

Directors:

Compton Bennett
Andrew Marton

Writers:

Helen Deutsch (screenplay)
H. Rider Haggard (novel)

Release Date:

24 November 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Action

Plot:

Adventurer Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an attempt to locate an explorer who went missing during his search for the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon.

Plot Keywords:

Diamond Mine | Africa | Guilt | Adventurer | Treasure

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 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
Kimursi	...	Khiva (as Kimursi of the Kipsigi Tribe)
Siriaque	...	Umbopa (as Siriaque of the Watussi Tribe)
Sekaryongo	...	Chief Gagool (as Sekaryongo of the Watussi Tribe)
Baziga	...	King Twala (as Baziga of the Watussi Tribe)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Munto Anampio	...	Chief Bilu (uncredited)
John Banner	...	Austin - Safari Client (uncredited)
Benempinga	...	Black Circle (uncredited)
Gutare	...	Kafa - Umbopa's Old Uncle (uncredited)
Ivargwema	...	Blue Star (uncredited)
Henry Rowland	...	Traum - Safari Client (uncredited)

Directed by
Compton Bennett
Andrew Marton

Writing credits
Helen Deutsch		(screenplay)
H. Rider Haggard		(novel)

Produced by
Sam Zimbalist	....	producer

Original Music by
Mischa Spoliansky		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig
Ralph E. Winters

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Paul Groesse

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carl 'Major' Roup	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
F. Keogh Gleason	....	associate set decorator (as Keogh Gleason)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor

Stunts
Michaela Denis	....	stunt double: Deborah Kerr (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	....	stunt double: Richard Carlson (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank V. Phillips	....	camera operator (uncredited)
John Schmitz	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera: Technicolor (uncredited)

Other crew
James Gooch	....	Technicolor color consultant
Henri Jaffa	....	Technicolor color consultant
Bunny Allen	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Eva Monley	....	script supervisor: Africa (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (USA) (theatrical) (as Metro Goldwyn Mayer)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (France) (theatrical) (35 and 16 mm)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Ibérica S.A. (1952) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1966) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (19??) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Government Officials of Belgian Congo  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless cooperation made this motion picture possible (as the Government Officials of: Belgian Congo)
• Government Officials of Kenya Colony and Protectorate  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless cooperation made this motion picture possible (as the Government Officials of: Kenya Colony and Protectorate)
• Government Officials of Tanganyika  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless cooperation made this motion picture possible (as the Government Officials of: Tanganyika)
• Government Officials of The Ugandan Protectorate  Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless cooperation made this motion picture possible (as the Government Officials of: Uganda Protectorate)

Also Known As:

"King Solomon" - Japan (English title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:U (passed with cuts) | USA:Approved (PCA #14499) | UK:PG (TV rating) | West Germany:12 | USA:Not Rated (video rating) | Belgium:Tous | France:U | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:PG (video rating) (2001) | Netherlands:AL (original rating) (1952) (one cut)

Filming Locations:

Biondo, Democratic Republic Of Congo

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Errol Flynn was originally cast as Quartermain, but turned it down, as he did not desire to sleep in a tent on location in Africa. Instead he did Kim (1950), which was filmed in India, but the accommodations for the actors were at a local resort.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The rifle that Quatermain finds on top of the mountain (Curtis's rifle) is a Winchester model of 1895. Given of period of the story, 1897, such a rifle could not have been in Africa.

Quotes:

Allan Quatermain:...in the end you begin to accept it all... you watch things hunting and being hunted, reproducing, killing and dying, it's all endless and pointless, except in the end one small pattern emerges from it all, the only certainty: one is born, one lives for a time then one dies, that is all...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Coming Attractions: The History of the Movie Trailer (2009)

The film that changed America's view of Africa

I've always maintained that this version of King Solomon's Mines along with The African Queen changed forever the face of Africa for the American audience. Our ideas of Africa were mainly developed by the Africa we saw created on studio back-lots for 20 years.

MGM had tried before to show a realistic Africa in Trader Horn, but the cost was prohibitive and the film never recouped the expense of making it, especially during the Depression. Audiences after World War II wanted a little more realism in their cinema. Fantasy they got from that machine they starting staring into in 1947 in their living rooms.

They also selected an excellent book to film. H. Rider Haggard had spent some years in the British Colonial Service in Africa. He was a pretty good observer of what was around him, even though his writing is tinged with the white man's burden attitude so common in the 19th Century.

The film is not a faithful adaption of Haggard's work, but it's pretty close to it. Deborah Kerr is a woman looking to hire Stewart Granger who's the best reputed guide in Africa. She's looking for her husband, not sure if he's dead or alive. Granger agrees to take her on safari along with one of her husband's friends played by Richard Carlson.

This allows for a certain amount of sexual tension between Granger and Kerr and in fact the two of them had an extra marital affair. Carlson's part is essentially colorless. I think he's along mainly to provide a sounding board for Kerr and her changing attitudes about Africa and Granger.

The jungle photography is fabulous, the film is worth it for that alone. Granger and Kerr create some good characterizations and the native Africans are good in their roles.

King Solomon's mines had such an impact that even the later Tarzan films had a more realistic look about them. An absolutely must see item.