Customer Reviews

King Solomon's Mines

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There have been plenty of adaptations of "King Solomon's Mines," the first of H. Rider Haggard's adventure novels. And the 1937 version is a solid if uninspired adaptation, with some good-to-excellent acting and a fairly faithful script, although I'm not sure where the Irish pair came from.

A strange wagon arrives at the camp of hunter Allan Quartermaine (Cedric Hardwicke), who's escorting a group of Europeans to the African coast. An unlucky Irish prospector goes off with the wagon, and a copy of a treasure map that supposedly leads to King Solomon's diamond mines. When Quartermaine refuses to go back after him, the prospector's daughter Kathy (Anna Lee) secretly makes off with his wagons.

Led by a mysterious native named Umbopa (Paul Robeson), the little group faces a trek across a blistering desert that no one has (supposedly) crossed alive. But when they do make it to the other side, they find that there is something even more dangerous -- a tribe of natives ruled by a ruthless chief, who has a very personal connection to Umbopa...

This is actually a pretty faithful adaptation of the original novel, with plenty of good-ish acting and startlingly good special effects. If there's a problem, it's that there's no real character development except for Umbopa, and for an adventure tale, it's actually rather low on appreciable action (although there's one good battle scene).

But it's a magnificent spectacle, and I can only imagine what it would have looked like in color. Sweeping deserts, big African villages, and even a climax that takes place INSIDE a volcano, complete with bubbling lava and collapsing tunnels. And the slowly unfolding storyline is very well-drawn, whether it's the slow journey across the desert or the sumptuous tropics of the oasis near where the tribe leaves.

Though Hardwicke is the lead character -- and does a pretty good job -- it's Paul Robeson who really rules this movie, with his majestic demeanor and rich, rolling voice. Roland Young provides a bit of stodgy comic relief, but John Loder is forgettable and Lee is simply an embarrassing caricature of an Irish colleen. I'd love to know how she always stays spotless and perfectly coiffed too.

But viewers should be warned that time has had its way with this movie -- either it hasn't been restored, or it was in VERY bad condition to begin with. It's a bit fuzzy and crackly in places, and the sound is distinctly tinny. And when it's dark, it's very difficult to see what's going on.

"King Solomon's Mines" is a stately, well-made story that is a bit too slow to be an adventure story, but has good scenes, a taut climax, and a great performance by Robeson.

Over the years Gaumont British's ambitious 1937 version of King Solomon's Mines has developed a reputation as something of a stinker, which is rather unfair. It's certainly no more faithful to H. Rider Haggard's novel than any of the other screen adaptations, starting the trend for adding a female companion to the quest to attract a wider audience. Unfortunately in this case it's a rather annoying Anna Lee, complete with unconvincing Irish accent, who is particularly awkwardly grafted into the story. Yet in most other departments the film delivers rather well, with Cedric Hardwicke an older than usual but still convincing Allan Quatermain and Paul Robeson easily dominating the supporting cast as the exiled chief Umbopa (yes, he does get to sing). The African footage gives it a broader scale than most British films of its day, and the climax in the volcanic mines is still impressive stuff. Dated, certainly, but not without its pleasures by any means.

MGM /UA's DVD is a decent enough transfer considering the age of the material, but there are no extras.

Darn. Right off the bat - it's AlLan QUATERmain, NOT ALan QuaRtermain. Of the five film versions of this novel, Cedric Hardwicke is the ONLY actor even roughly approximating Haggard's hero in age and appearance. But what the....?!?! Who are these two O'Briens we have? The young lady (Anna Lee) has the worst stage brogue to date. I guess back in the 30's, the film industry thought EVERY film needed romance and comic relief. Be off you you, you and your shamrock medallions! Where's Umslopogaas? What do you mean, that singing dude over there? Paul Robeson may have a terrific voice, but here it's totally wasted, and besides, Umslopogaas is a mighty warrior, not some chant leader. (And why the name change to Umbopa, anyway? The bad part is that "Umbopa" stuck through ALL of the remakes, too.)

Even with all that, it remains the closest to the source novel. The thousands of Zulu extras brought in for the war scenes are great, and the mine is pretty convincing if not as grand as what the mind's eye would create.

Stll, this is really showing its age - after all, it's 75 years old, and much closer in time to the period it's representing than we are to it. Do yourself a favor and skip ALL of the film versions - read the novel, instead.

This version of K.S.M. is quite good. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is great in anything, you might remember him as Seti in The Ten Commandments or dozen of other films. He plays hero Allen Quatermaine, an adventurer who comes in contact with a young Irish woman and her father whom are seeking riches in Africa. They soon chance upon a map leading to the famed diamond mines. Along for the ride is singer Paul Robeson, who sounds a lot like James Earl Jones. Robeson's character seeks to regain his throne from a tribe that guards the entrance to the mines. There's also a tribal witch, whom chooses victims for sacrifice by swatting them with what looks like, an elephant's tale.Fun and adventure for all indeed.

I purchased this film for my mother as she is s huge fan of Paul Robeson. I thoroughly enjoyed the film myself & would highly recommend it to everyone. The picture & sound quality is very good for a film of this age. There are excellent performances throughout the film, but for my money Paul Robeson steals the show. His commanding presence & unique voice are the main things that viewers will remember afterwards. This remains the definitive film version of Rider Haggard's classic tale, and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

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classic movie, adventure, classic, classics, stevenson, treasure hunts, drama, dvd, robert


King Solomon's Mines by Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Roland Young, Anna Lee

This is a superb film version of Rider Haggard's thrilling adventure story. The actors all perform their roles with zest and conviction, with Paul Robeson outstanding as the rightful chief of the tribe returned to claim his birthright. Best of all, the film has a satisfactorily evil and terrifying Gagool, because what is King Solomon's Mines without Gagool the Witch?She is unbelievably left out of the bland and boring Stewart Granger version. This is the only version of the film worth watching, I cannot believe another reviewer thinks that the later versions are better. He obviously wouldn't recognise a good film if he fell over it.

The first of five (to date) adaptations of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel, the 1937 King Solomon's Mines hews closest to the source (apparently - I haven't read it) and is in many respects more impressive than the two later versions that I've seen (1950 with Stewart Granger as Quatermain, and 1985 with Richard Chamberlain). Sure the 1950 film has a marquee cast that looks better at first glance, and it's in color, but it doesn't on the whole have any better production values - and it doesn't have Paul Robeson as Umbopa.

The basic storyline is that Alan Quatermain, a rather cynical and world-weary big-game hunter (Cedric Hardwicke) in the southern part of Africa reluctantly gives a lift to a couple of treasure hunters, father and daughter Patsy and Kathy O'Brien (Arthur Sinclair and Anna Lee) as he takes his wagon towards the coast, and along the way they meet two men, Silvestra - who is seriously wounded and dies almost immediately - and Umbopa. Silvestra has a treasure map to the fabled King Solomon's mines, and Patsy sneaks off with Silvestra's wagon to find the mines on his own. Quatermain won't go after him despite his daughter's pleading; Umbopa is mysterious and seems to have his own angle to work but won't divulge it.

Soon Quatermain meets up with his clients, a couple of big-game hunters, Sir Henry Curtis and Cmdr Good (John Loder and Roland Young), but all get sucked into going after O'Brien and the mines and making a trek across a near-impassable desert. There is a tribe in the mountains on the other side of the wasteland who live just outside of the mines, and it turns out that Umbopa is the son of a former chief who was killed years before, and the rulership of the tribe is rightfully his; he makes a pact to help Quatermain and his group if they will help him get rid of the usurper, Twala. There's a nicely-done large-scale tribal battle, a hoary old trick that the white men have to use to impress the superstitious natives (I won't spoil it for you, but if you've seen this kind of film, you won't be surprised) and an exciting dash through an mountain cave that's falling apart before it all ends. Whew!

Directed with flair but also at a sometimes too-rapid pace (it's just 80 minutes long) by Robert Stevenson, near the beginning of a long career that included many fantasies and adventures - most notably Mary Poppins in 1964, and as I said, full of nice production values with a more seamless than usual mixing of studio and on-location work, this is in the end most notable for its acting. I've always liked Young, who brings just the right amount of comic relief to an otherwise relatively serious adventure story, and Lee is a more resourceful and competent female character than one finds in most of these films from this era - heck, even from much later eras; though it must be noted that the attitude towards the Irish here is on the hole more racist and stereotypical than that shown towards the Africans. Hardwicke is as I said a rather cynical Quatermain, more a shrewd businessman than man of action here, which suits the film well, as it is really in the end Robeson's performance that stands out and makes the film. Robeson got top billing - at least in English engagements, the American first-release poster would lead you to believe he's just a supporting actor - and his dynamic presence and booming voice help immensely in lifting this film to a deserved status as one of the better adventure films of the 1930s. Yes, the songs he sings are anachronistic and really just there to help market the film, but at least the lyrics make sense in the context of the story, and who doesn't want to hear Paul Robeson sing anyway? And he manages the mixture of wiliness, mystery and royal bearing beautifully - this is one of the very few films from this period that is nearly devoid of racism, and no doubt Robeson's presence and stardom helped matters in this regard.

The DVD is bare-bones; the quality is decent enough though nothing special - it'd be nice to see a really restored and cleaned-up edition of this film with some background materials on Haggard and Robeson, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Very much worth watching for classic adventure enthusiasts as is, in any case.

Given the uniformly awful standard of the more recent versions of Haggard's great tale, this one at least has a few elements of the original. What they all miss, however, is Haggard's sense of adventure and links, however flawed, to history. Also, why are Africans never credited with ability and self-respect. Haggard could do it, movie makers cannot. When this film was made, the popular perception of the Irish in the UK (and much of the US) was of a race of drunken, dishonest, half-wits. Though why it was necessary to include a couple of stereotypes in this movie defies reason. One can only guess at what people thought about black Africans! There are four good things about this movie, the scenery, Gagool, Twala, and Hardwick as Quatermain. Robeson simply can't act. The ending is crass, as if everyone became bored.

The picture quality of this video can only be described as AWFUL.
After only a few minutes viewing I trashed it. It is disgraceful that this rubbish can be sold as new when it is obviously a copy of many back generations.