King Solomon's Mines (1937 film)

King Solomon's Mines

Film poster
Directed by Robert Stevenson (lead)
Geoffrey Barkas (African exteriors)
Written by H. Rider Haggard (novel)
Screenplay by Michael Hogan
Roland Pertwee (dialogue)
Charles Bennett (uncredited)
A. R. Rawlinson (uncredited)
Ralph Spence (uncredited)
Based on King Solomon's Mines (1885)
Starring Cedric Hardwicke
Anna Lee
Paul Robeson
Roland Young
Music by Mischa Spoliansky
Cinematography Glen MacWilliams
Edited by Michael Gordon
Production
company
Distributed by General Film Distributors
Release dates
 17 June 1937 (UK)
26 July 1937 (US)
Running time
 80 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

King Solomon's Mines is a 1937 British adventure film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, John Loder and Roland Young. The first of five film adaptations of the 1885 novel of the same name by Henry Rider Haggard, the film was produced by the Gaumont British Picture Corporation at Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush. Sets were designed by art director Alfred Junge. Although versions of King Solomon's Mines were released in 1950 and 1985, this film offering is considered to be the most faithful to the book.[1]

Plot

In 1882, Irish dream chaser Patrick "Patsy" O'Brien (Arthur Sinclair) and his daughter Kathy (Anna Lee) have failed to strike it rich in the diamond mines of Kimberley, South Africa. They persuade a reluctant Allan Quartermain (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) to give them a lift to the coast in his wagon.

Along the way, they encounter another wagon carrying two men in bad shape. Umbopa (Paul Robeson) recovers, but Silvestra (Arthur Goullet) dies after boasting to Quartermain that he has found the way to the fabled mines of Solomon. Patsy finds the dead man's map. He sneaks off during the night, unwilling to risk his daughter's life. Kathy is unable to persuade Quatermain to follow him. Instead, they rendezvous with Quartermain's new clients, Sir Henry Curtis (John Loder) and retired navy Commander Good (Roland Young), out for a bit of big game hunting.

Kathy steals Quartermain's wagon to go after her father. When they catch up with her, she refuses to go back with them, so they and Umbopa accompany her across the desert and over the mountains, as shown on the map. During the arduous trek, Curtis and Kathy fall in love. On the other side of the mountains, they are surrounded by unfriendly natives and taken to the kraal of their chief, Twala (Robert Adams), to be questioned. Twala takes them to see the entrance of the mines, guarded by the feared witch doctor Gagool (an uncredited Sydney Fairbrother).

That night, Umbopa reveals that he is the son of the former chief, who was treacherously killed by the usurper Twala. He meets with dissidents, led by Infadoos (Ecce Homo Toto), who are fed up with Twala's cruel reign. Together, they plot an uprising for the next day, during the ceremony of the "smelling out of the evildoers". However, Umbopa needs Quartermain to come up with something that will counter (in the natives' minds) the magic of Gagool.

During the rite, Gagool chooses several natives, who are killed on the spot. Recalling making a bet on last year's Derby Day, Good notices in his diary that there will be a total solar eclipse that day at exactly 11:15 A.M. The quick-thinking Quartermain predicts it as Gagool approaches Umbopa. Umbopa reveals his true identity to the people during the height of the eclipse and the rebellion erupts. Both sides gather their forces; during the ensuing battle, Curtis kills Twala, ending the civil war.

In the fighting, Kathy slips away to the mine to look for her father. She finds him inside, immobilised by a broken leg, but clutching a pouch full of diamonds. It was revealed that the mine was connected to a volcano. Quartermain, Curtis and Good follow her, but Gagool sets off a rockfall to seal them in. Umbopa pursues Gagool back into the mine, where the witch doctor is crushed by falling rocks. The new chief manages to free his friends and gives them an escort to help them cross the desert.

Cast

Production

Charles Bennett is credited as one of the writers but he says he "didn't really" contribute to the screenplay. He says he was opposed to idea of a woman going along on the trip ("it was a damn silly idea") and took himself off the project.[2]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/80378/King-Solomon-s-Mines/articles.html
  2. ↑ Tom Weaver Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews McFarland, 2003 p 30

External links

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