Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Desertman84 King Solomon's Mines is the second of the five film adaptations of the novel by Henry Rider Haggard.It stars Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. Granger portrayed the fearless-explorer Alan Quartermaine, and Kerr was the spunky Irish lass who hires him on to locate her husband. Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton directed this 1950 film.This was definitely an expensive remake of the classic film when it was released many years ago.The African scenery was something to behold.It was also an exciting and slam bang action film from beginning to end.Added to that,this could also be enjoyed by the whole family if seen today.Overall,this is definitely an adventure classic and remains one of the best adaptation of the Haggard's novel.

Robert J. Maxwell This movie marked the end of Africa as the Dark Continent, as it was seen in the 19th century. In the movies of the period, there were always blank spots on the map -- Terra Incognita and Hereabouts There Be Dragons. The movies treated Africa as a kind of theme park designed for viewers who had only seen lions and giraffes in the zoo, if they saw them at all. "King Solomon's Mines", like the films that preceded it, contain a kind of colorful travelogue in which the narrator -- here, the protagonist Stewart Granger as the Great White Hunter -- explains to us what we're about to see."And now the natives in their colorful garb celebrate a religious ritual with an exotic dance. Afterward they sit down to a feast. The fact that the roast gnu still has hair on it doesn't seem to interfere with their appetites!" After "The African Queen" this Dark Continent model more or less disappeared from the screen. There wasn't a single lion or rhinoceros in "The African Queen," and the worst living menace that Bogart and Hepburn faced were an apparently limitless cloud of biting gnats.Yet, "King Solomon's Mines" is more than just a travelogue. That old-fashioned element is gotten out of the way rather quickly, and what follows is a tip-top adventure story of a long and dangerous journey in search of a missing husband and a fortune in diamonds -- and the "natives" are treated with respect.It was a popular picture in its time. I was sick and missed the class visit to its premier at Radio City Music Hall. It's well acted, as well as nicely plotted. Stewart Granger is a disillusioned white guide who manages to sport a nice Malibu sun tan. His melodious and theatrical voice was impressive. Deborah Kerr in, I think, her first American film is breath-takingly beautiful in a winsome way that makes you want to take care of her between nuzzles. Richard Carlson is his standard screen persona with a slight British accent.The novel on which the film is based was written by H. Rider Haggard, 1856 to 1925, who had lived in South Africa and knew how to write cracking good adventure stories. I was addicted to them in adolescence. This was perhaps his most popular; this and "She", which gave us the phrase, "She who must be obeyed," which I don't like to remember because it reminds me of my marriage. I read some of Haggard's work more recently and -- well, I think it helps to be a teen ager to get the most out of them.The location shooting was done partly in Africa, most of it by a second-unit crew, and it's convincingly African -- even the parts that were shot in California.The film was hugely popular in 1950 and it's worth watching now because it still glows with some of the old magic.

dbdumonteil Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr are a good looking couple but she is a little cast against type ,being too cerebral,too intellectual to play this simplistic part .She ,however ,tries,to give her character substance,with her nightmares and when she talks about her husband .Granger and Kerr,as actors,would do ,IMHO,a much better job in 'the prisoner of Zenda" .The real star of the movie is Africa and the fact that the interest is sustained without a villain (or almost:the one baddie's presence do not exceed 10 minutes)makes "King Solomon's mines a good adventures movie.Predating the superior Cornell Wilde's "naked prey" ,the directors do not show the conventional country:they show all that fights and struggles for life .The action stops to allow Granger to give his companions a true mini-lecture on wildlife .

TheLittleSongbird While it could have done with more characterisation, King Solomon's Mines is a lively and beautifully photographed film. The cinematography and scenery is fabulous and the editing is crisp and Mischa Spolainsky's score is rousing and beautiful. The film goes along at a good pace, has a good script and has an engaging story full of animal action, frenzied tribesmen and sentimental love scenes. The direction from Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton is strong, while Stewart Granger is very likable and the lovely Deborah Kerr is watchable as she always was. In conclusion, a very good film worth seeing for the leads and the visuals. 8/10 Bethany Cox