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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Can a proper English lass
and a reclusive game hunter find true romance
amidst the backdrop of exotic Africa? Deborah Kerr
and Stewart Granger demonstrate in "King Solomon's
Mines" (1950).
Part travelogue, part adventure, part melodrama,
this uneven blend, co-directed by Compton Bennett
and Andrew Marton, stars Granger as Allan
Quartermain. After losing his most trusted guide
Khiva (Kimursi) in a needless safari accident,
Quartermain resolves to take on no more
expeditions. His mind, however, is changed by the
staunch determination of Elizabeth Curtis (Kerr).
She confronts Allan's inner demons and wins his
fleeting respect. Her reward: hiring Allan at
great expense to track down her husband. Seems Mr.
Curtis disappeared in the deepest recesses of the
Dark Continent on route to a diamond mine, going
after fortune and glory. Along the way to
discovering the inevitable, the safari party pick
up Umbopa (Siriaque), a prince in exile who acts
as their guide into the land of the Watusis.
What is particularly disappointing about "King
Solomon's Mines" is its overall predictability.
From its faux "Gone with the Wind-like" main title
sequence through its lumbering and uneven pacing,
the film is not one cohesive narrative, but four
mixed up together. Long before we reach the end of
this story we've figured out that Elizabeth's
husband is quite dead. And the romance that
develops between Granger and Kerr is stoic and
flawed -- cropping up from a bitter antagonism and
out of blind necessity (Richard Carleson, as Liz's
brother, John Goode, is wasted with bits of
business that lead us into discovering the real
reason why Mr. Curtis would ditch Mrs. Curtis for
the wilds and unknown). The final sequence in the
film, a laborious dance that belongs in an Arthur
Freed musical but ends with a public slaying is
quite anti-climactic and, well... boring. There's
little to no resolution for the main characters
and little to suggest that this film could have
won such overwhelming votes to be a DVD Decision
Winner among other such fine contenders as "The
Spirit of St. Louis" or "Bathing Beauty."
Of course, all of this fluff and nonsense would be
slightly forgivable if the print quality of "King
Solomon's Mines" was something to cheer about. It
is not. The Technicolor negative exhibits an
inconsistently rendered image with excessive
amounts of age related artifacts throughout.
Colors are, on the whole, weak, softly focused and
poorly contrasted and balanced. Occasionally we
are treated to a stunning sequence of color
photography, as with the aforementioned dance of
the Watusis, but for the most part we are given a
dull palette onto which some color has been
smeared. The travelogue footage -- obviously shot
long before the principal actors had arrived on
location -- is grossly out of focus and quite
faded. There are nicks, chips and tears in the
negative, making the footage appear much older
than the rest of the film stock. The audio is mono
but nicely balanced with limited spread but
optimal audibility. A theatrical trailer is the
only extra included.
Bottom line: "King Solomon's Mines" is not vintage
MGM in the way that the studio's earlier African
adventures like "Trader Horn" or "Mocambo" are.
Instead it's a claptrap of events buttressed by a
feeble tale of self-discovery that strangely is
never fully realized. |
