Solomon and Sheba (1959)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

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

Release Date:

25 December 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

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 | Queen | Israel | God | Pharaoh

Awards:

1 win

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Claude Dantes	...	Mother of Disputed Child (uncredited)
Félix de Pomés	...	Egyptian General (uncredited)
Tyrone Power	...	Solomon (visible in long shots) (uncredited)
Alejandro Rey	...	Sittar (uncredited)
Anne Scott	...	Girl (uncredited)
Virgilio Teixeira	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
King Vidor

Writing credits
Crane Wilbur		(story)
Anthony Veiller		(screenplay) and
Paul Dudley		(screenplay) and
George Bruce		(screenplay)

Produced by
Ted Richmond	....	producer
Tyrone Power	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Mario Nascimbene
Malcolm Arnold		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Freddie Young		(as Fred A. Young)

Film Editing by
Otto Ludwig

Art Direction by
Richard Day
Luis Pérez Espinosa		(as Luis Perez Espinosa)
Alfred Sweeney

Set Decoration by
Dario Simoni

Costume Design by
Ralph Jester

Makeup Department
Anne Box	....	hair stylist (as Ann Box)
John O'Gorman	....	makeup artist
Tom Smith	....	makeup artist
Thomas Tuttle	....	makeup artist (as Tom Tuttle)

Production Management
Eduardo García Maroto	....	production manager (as Eduardo G. Maroto)
Richard McWhorter	....	production manager (as Richard F. McWhorter)
Tadeo Villalba	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Noël Howard	....	second unit director (as Noel Howard)
Joseph E. Kenney	....	assistant director (as Joseph Kenny)
José María Ochoa	....	assistant director (as Jose Mario Ochoa)
Bernard Vorhaus	....	assistant director (as Piero Mussetta)

Art Department
Robert Goodstein	....	property master
José María Alarcón	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Ángel Arzuaga	....	assistant set decorator (uncredited)
Julián Martín	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Hildyard	....	sound
Fred Hughesdon	....	additional sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Alex Weldon	....	special effects

Stunts
Terry Yorke	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Léo L. Fuchs	....	still photographer (uncredited)
John von Kotze	....	photography: second unit (uncredited)
Paul Wilson	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eric Seelig	....	wardrobe coordinator
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Franco Ferrara	....	conductor
Mario Nascimbene	....	music arranger

Other crew
Jeroslav Berger	....	choreographer
Jean Pierre Genet	....	choreographer
Kenneth Lee	....	wrangler (as Kenny Lee)
Harriet Medin	....	dialogue coach (as Harriet White Medin)
Elaine Schreyeck	....	script supervisor
Edward Small	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Edward Small Productions (as Theme Pictures)

Distributors

• United Artists (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1963) (USA) (TV)
• Key Video (1985) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan for CBS/Fox Video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• ClassicLine (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Schuberth of Rome  Miss Lollobrigida's costumes executed by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

139 min | 141 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (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:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Several characters refer to God as "Jehovah," which is the Latin name for God. "Yahweh" is the Hebrew name.

Quotes:

Solomon:From the first, I knew that behind those lovely eyes is the brain of a very clever woman, who could never have traveled eight hundred leagues without a purpose.
Sheba:You have found me out. How could I hope to deceive you? I have been trying to entrap you, with these (shakes arms), to bind you with soft chains, so that I may do with you as I will.
Solomon:Every woman demands a price from a man.

Movie Connections:

Version of Haring Solomon at Reyna Sheba (1952)

Expensively mounted Biblical production with all star-cast and spectacularly filmed in Spain

Breathtaking story set in Biblical times with emphasis in lavish costumes and crowds . Justly before his death in ancient Israel King David (Finlay Currie) has a vision from God saying him that his younger son Solomon (Yul Brynner) should succeed him as king . His other son Adonijah (George Sanders) is mean and promises to achieve the kingdom by whatever way . King David names his younger son, Solomon his heir , facing his older son Adonijah. King Solomon acts with wisdom and benevolent and his government is seen as a threat to more tyrannical monarchs in the region . Meanwhile the Egyptian Pharoah agrees to give up a Red Sea port to the Queen of Sheba (Gina Lollobrigida) if she can encounter a manner to overthrow Solomon . Sheba, Pharoah, Adonijah, the leaders of the Twelve Tribes and his own God make life dangerous for Solomon . Meantime the Queen of Sheba arrives in Jerusalem, supposedly for a friendly meeting , Solomon slowly falls in love with her. In fact, the Queen is in covenant with the Pharaoh of Egypt (David Farrar) and her aim is to destroy the twelve tribes of Israel and he utilizes the ambitious Prince Adonijah in her schemes .

An overblown all-star treatment of the stories in the Old Testament dealing with David , Salomon , Sheba and Adonijah . Lavish spectacle about Solomon and his lover Sheba based on hokey historical events. Brynner and Lollobrigida play a sultriest couple , including some sexy scenes very erotic for the 50s . Tyrone Power died during the shooting in Spain and some shots still show him , he was replaced by Brynner who remade his early scenes .There's so much visual padding full of armours , weapons, carriages , feathers and crowd scenes . Director Vidor gives this film the feel of a Cecil B. De Mille spectacle , but there is little human touch to any of the deeds. Very good photography in super Technirama 70 by the classic cameraman Freddie Young filmed in Madrid, Valdespartera, Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain . Evocative and impressive musical score by Mario Nascimbene . King Vidor's last movie that is recently restored to 139 minutes . Vidor realized an excellent career plenty of classics as ¨Bird of paradise , Champ , Our daily bread , The citadel , Duel in the sun ; also directed another super-production as ¨War and Peace¨ . Rating : 6 , passable and acceptable.