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By
WADE GOSSETT
Warner Home Video and Turner
Classic Movies asked viewers which movies they
were desperate to see transferred to DVD. Viewers
voted, and "King Solomon's Mines" was one of the
picks -- along with the 1968 Cold War thriller
"Ice Station Zebra," "Ivanhoe," "The Letter" and
"Random Harvest." As I noted in my "Ice
Station Zebra" review, I can see nothing
thematically similar between these films.
Now, from what I know of 1950's safari adventure
movies, I expected "King Solomon's Mines" to be
decidedly racist and bloodthirsty when it comes to
dispatching big game. The story is set in 1885,
based on H. Rider Haggard's stories about the
great white adventurer Allen Quatermain. Starring
Stewart Granger as Quartermain (for some reason an
"r" has been added to the name), the film indeed
starts with the shooting of an elephant. It looks
very real, and I think it is -- I don't think
there was a sizable animal rights movement in the
'50s. In any case, it was real enough to be
disturbing. However, I was quite surprised to
realize that this safari scene was there to firmly
establish how disgusted Quartermain was with the
senseless killing of animals and how upset he was
with the death of one of his African guides. While
both elements may come across as patronizing to
our sensibilities, they seem quite brave for films
from that era, especially ones set in the 19th
century when it seemed plainly obvious to
Europeans that Africans were an inferior race. Yet
many of the Africans are depicted as dignified,
and Quartermain obviously cares for natives that
work for him -- cares as a friend.
From that point the film got even better. Deborah
Kerr shows up as a wealthy woman who's looking for
her husband -- he's disappeared in an unexplored
part of Africa looking for King Solomon's diamond
mine. She wants Quartermain to lead an expedition,
but he won't, until she pays him a lot of money.
During their discussions we get to know
Quartermain better, and he's a cynical man who
thinks life is meaningless, a game we play between
birth and death -- at one point he develops these
points in a rather intellectually rigorous manner.
Philosophy was the last thing I expected from this
film.
Obviously, "King Solomon's Mines" is a product of
its era. There are sexist comments (e.g. "women
don't belong in a safari," to paraphrase) and some
of the African tribes are little more than
stereotypes. But overall I found it almost
enlightened. And as an adventure I also enjoyed
it. It's really a quest, punctuated by a chaste
romance. Many of the nature shots were
extraordinary for the time, and will still
astound. The film was shot on location and there's
nothing fake about the stampeding wildlife.
The image seems mostly clean, although some
scratches are noticeable here and there. It is
soft though and the colors fluctuate somewhat. I'm
not certain this is a problem with the transfer.
The softness seems a product of the original
cinematography. The aspect ratio is the original
1.33:1 and the sound is monophonic -- weak, but
with clear dialogue.
The original trailer is included as the only extra
-- unless you insist in counting the teaser for
Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," which you will
encounter before you get to the menu, as a
supplement. |
