Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

LeonLouisRicci Two Outstanding Set-Pieces, the "Orgy" Ritual and the Final Battle Highlight this Slow, Talky, sometimes Dull Display of Hebrews, Egyptians, and for Spice the "Queen of Sheba" around a Thousand Years B.C.Taken from a few Snippets in the "Old Testament" it tells the Extra-Biblical Story of Solomon (Yul Brynner) and the Queen of Sheba (Gina Lollobrigida). "Sheba" (as she is called here) is sent by Pharaoh to Spy and Seduce Solomon into Revealing His Secrets.Speaking of Revealing. Sheba is Shown in an Array of Alluring Apparel to the Delight of Solomon and 1950's Audiences. There is much Prancing and Dancing.The Movie is Typical Cornball for the Genre that was about to End its Cycle a Year Later with "Ben-Hur" (1959) and although that Film Swept the Oscars the "Biblical Epic" and the Cheap Sword and Sandal Imitators were Designed for the Dustbin of Hollywood History after a Ten Year Run.This one is Worth a Watch with Low Expectations and for Eye-Candy Enthusiasts.Note...Tyrone Power died of a heart-attack during filming and was replaced by Brenner. The production does have a faded glow residue.

Spikeopath Solomon and Sheba is directed by King Vidor and collectively written by Anthony Veiller, Paul Dudley, George Bruce and Crane Wilbur. It stars Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, Marisa Pavan, George Sanders, David Farrar, Harry Andrews, John Crawford and Laurence Naismith. Music is by Mario Nascimbene and cinematography by Fred A. Young.A fictionalised screenplay cribs from parts of the Bible, where the story here follows the relationship between Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba, a problem because initially Sheba is in league with Israel's enemy, Egypt. All that and Solomon has to deal with his nefarious brother, Adonijah, who is a little miffed that Solomon has inherited the crown of Israel. Famously it was the production that saw the sad death of the leading man, Tyrone Power, while Vidor was so disillusioned about the whole film he quit making feature length films. It's a very mixed bag, very much showing the good and bad sides of the big historical epics that dominated Hollywood back in the day. In part it's a grandiose melodrama, in others it's cheap looking and given to campy histrionics (the orgy operatics sequences are just awful), while the screenplay jostles with itself as to being biblical blarney or potent pontifications.Costuming and colour photography smooths the eyes, but then the optical nerves are shredded by set design so poor a child making paper mache boulders could have done better. The cast are also in and out, Brynner is fine as Solomon (broody, brainy but troubled), as is the lovely Lollobrigida as Sheba (stoic, smart and sexy), but the support slots barely convince. Sanders is badly miscast as Solomon's warrior brother Adonijah (he was 53 at the time), 10 years earlier in Samson and Delilah his villain turn worked, but not here.Sword fighting choreography is poor, as are the miracle effects work, but conversely the big battle that crowns the story is smart in writing and in execution, where not even the model work can dim the thrill of it all. Released in the same year as Ben-Hur obviously does it no favours by comparison! But then so many other big swords and shields epics would also struggle as well. Vidor's movie is just above average in the genre pantheon, but the faults are irritable and hardly render it as a must see film for genre enthusiasts. 6/10

kevin_s_scrivner I marked "spoilers" but other reviewers have already mentioned the highlights."Solomon and Sheba" was made in 1959, the same year as "Ben Hur." Yul Brynner (with hair!!!) plays a Solomon so wise and serious he never smiles, not even when he's kissing the Queen of Sheba, portrayed by Italian sexpot Gina Lollobrigida. The screenplay bears no relation to Scripture, grabbing biblical names and running with them. In this tale, Sheba (her given name is never provided) is an agent of the Egyptian pharaoh, visiting Solomon in order to find a way to trip him up so her sponsor can gain the upper hand in the ongoing rivalry between the two kingdoms. She determines that a successful seduction will cause the Israelite king to break the Covenant, destroying his popular support and splintering the Twelve Tribes into vulnerable factions. Meanwhile, Solomon's jealous and militaristic older brother (George Sanders) would welcome any excuse to grab the throne he feels he was cheated of.Solomon, being the wisest man on earth and all, knows Sheba is up to no good. He can't resist falling for her undeniable charms anyway, even though he's got a harem stuffed with scantily clad beauties. Over the protests of Nathan the prophet and the tribal leaders, he agrees to allow Sheba to hold a festival in honor of her people's fertility god (the one she's been praying to for success throughout her seduction campaign). Solomon's struggle with temptation is the most realistic part of the movie. He broods alone in his room as the drums of the orgy begin outside, stalks moodily through the harem filled with lovely women eager for his attention, brushes off the admonitions of his devout, youthful ward (who confesses her own chaste love for him), and finally stumbles, dazed, to where the visiting Shebans are prancing around underdressed.Although there are several vigorous battle scenes between Egyptian chariots and Israeli cavalry and a final confrontation between Solomon and his scheming brother, the pagan fertility festival is the true climax (pun intended) of the movie. The king stands mesmerized as Sheba gyrates before him in a non-outfit that would do credit to one of Conan the Barbarian's girlfriends (according to the Internet Movie Database, Lollobrigida was nude from the waist up in the European version). Finally, they join the other crazed couples in running off into the bush to find a place to make whoopee. Just as they consummate their lust in a convenient cave, an angry Jehovah sends lightning bolts that zap the fertility idol into charcoal and smash the upper levels of his own ziggurat-like temple. The rubble-strewn Holy of Holies stands exposed for the rest of the movie, lit dramatically by a new divinely created skylight.Fortunately, my son was busy in the garage repairing my daughter's bicycle while all this was going on on screen. I'd been worried about the scene, which I'd previewed and found pretty racy even for today, especially in a supposedly religious movie. It must have been downright shocking in 1959, and apparently did negatively affect the financial success of the film.Does Solomon repent? Does Sheba repent? Do they really love each other? Do the Israelites manage to unite in time to beat the Egyptians? Hey, it's a Fifties biblical epic. But after that orgy (which makes the Golden Calf scene in "The Ten Commandments" seem positively dull by comparison), not much else really matters, not even the plots of George Sanders. On a positive note, God is active and involved throughout the story, even during the bittersweet ending. But none of it ever really happened.According to Wikipedia, the kingdom of Sheba was located either in modern Yemen (Arabian peninsula) or Ethiopia (immediately across the Persian Gulf). It may have encompassed both areas, as the nation's borders shifted around over time. Archaeological evidence is scarce but Ethiopian tradition claims the Queen of Sheba as one of their own.

blanche-2 Yul Brynner and Gina Lollabridgida are "Solomon and Sheba" in this 1959 Biblical epic directed by King Vidor. Also starring are George Sanders, Marisa Pavan and Finlay Currie.The main problem with "Solomon and Sheba" is that a) it's bad; and b) no one infuses any energy into it, understandably. When Tyrone Power died during the swordfight with George Sanders, the producers decided to cash in the insurance check and start over. A mistake. It's hard to imagine what these actors went through, standing in a freezing cold Madrid studio, watching the 44-year-old star, who had a pregnant wife, die suddenly, and having production shut down amidst tremendous publicity. On top of which, Brynner asked for rewrites, and believe me, they weren't for the better.Lloyds of London stipulated, on payment of the insurance, that Power could not appear in any part of the film. Obviously the producers weren't about to shoot those battles scenes again, so Power IS in the longshots.Tyrone Power was a co-producer of this movie, and it was part of his deal with Arthur Hornblower, who wanted him for Witness for the Prosecution and this. Power knew that audiences were used to seeing him in this type of film, and he had given up on Hollywood and committed himself to theater work. This was his one film a year where he could make big bucks and then spend the rest of his time doing plays.One thing about Power that no one can ever take away from him - he could make the world's worst dialogue sound absolutely believable. Brynner, alas, though very dignified in this role, didn't have that gift. Power had to develop it fast working for Zanuck. I've seen some of the footage of Power in this role - he was much more energetic and intense than Brynner. Having done Shakespeare and recorded poetry, he had a real feel for this language as well. It's not Brynner's fault - I'm sure no one wanted to do the movie once Power died. Brynner couldn't have known how it would have felt to be in that atmosphere ahead of time.There are spurts here and there - one of the battle scenes is very good, and Gina is gorgeous (Power referred to her as "Lolly" in his letters). She's just not really into it. The audiences who saw it in the theater undoubtedly weren't either.