Solomon and Sheba (1959)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Crane Wilbur (story)
Anthony Veiller (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Behold! The love story of the ages!

Plot:

Shortly before his death in ancient Israel King David has a vision from God telling him that his younger son Solomon should succeed him as king...

Plot Keywords:

King | Israel | Pharaoh | Tribe | Queen Of Sheba

Cast

Yul Brynner	...	Solomon
Gina Lollobrigida	...	Sheba
George Sanders	...	Adonijah
Marisa Pavan	...	Abishag
David Farrar	...	Pharaoh
John Crawford	...	Joab
Finlay Currie	...	David
Harry Andrews	...	Baltor
José Nieto	...	Ahab (as Jose Nieto)
Maruchi Fresno	...	Bathsheba
William Devlin	...	Nathan
Jack Gwillim	...	Josiah
Jean Anderson	...	Takyan
Laurence Naismith	...	Hezrai (as Lawrence Naismith)
Julio Peña	...	Zadok (as Julio Pena)

Runtime:

139 min | 141 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Edward Small Productions

Trivia:

One of the films included in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and how they got that way)" by Harry Medved and Randy Lowell.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There were no steps going from the outer court of the temple to the inner court.

Quotes:

Adonijah: You and your Sheban slut have defiled the fair name of Israel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Secret Life of Brian (2007) (TV)

A fanciful extrapolation of a very brief mention of Sheba in the bible

I saw this on its original release as a child. My mother, a great movie buff, was greatly excoriated by other members of the family for taking me along when she went shopping in downtown Manila and decided to see it. The reason? It was classified as either for adults only or more likely as "Objectionable in part for all" by the Legion of Decency. Why? There was this exotic belly dance by Gina Lollobrigida. Then there was this bathing scene which although did not show much skin had her rising out of the pool while her serving maids obstructed the view with a large cloth. As she wrapped the cloth around her shapely body, she said in a very sexy voice and tone: "Dry me." I narrated this scene to my poor friends who couldn't afford to go to a first run movie but they didn't get excited. I saw a re-run of the movie on a religious channel recently and I didn't see the belly dance scene.

This is the only other movie where I saw Yul Brynner with hair. He also had hair in The Sound and the Fury.

But now let's get serious. There is no mention in the bible of the Queen of Sheba as a temptress and spy for the Pharoah. All it says is that she was an admirer of Solomon who brought him lots of valuable gifts when she visited him to learn from his wisdom. If there should be a re-make of this film, it is suggested that Sheba be played by a black actress as we now know that Sheba was in what is now modern Ethiopia and even in those days, the inhabitants of that area were black. Also, Sheba was not the name of a queen but of the country that the "Kandake" (a title from which the name Candace is derived) ruled. Other than her title, therefore, we do not know the name of the Candace of Sheba.