KING SOLOMON'S MINES is a fairly typical historical adventure flick of the 1930s, this one's a British outing based on the novel of the same name by H. Rider Haggard. It's a well-mounted little movie involving a fated exploration party in deepest, darkest Africa, where the explorers encounter an ancient civilisation and some life-or-death peril. What follows is short and snappy, with lots of larger-than-life characters and a fairly authentic setting.

This is a rousing adventure story that has only a few flaws that keep it from an even higher score--amazingly good for a film that has somehow been allowed to slip into the public domain! The film begins with a really dumb girl (Anna Lee) and her even dumber father (Arthur Sinclair) hitching a ride along with the famous Allan Quartermain (Cedric Hardwicke) as he goes to meet a client. It seems that Quartermain's exploits as a great white hunter are legendary, though he seems a pretty likable guy who really is so unlike the two Irish idiots he happened upon. By the way, I have absolutely nothing against the Irish--it's just that the characters really overdo the 'I'm Irish' bit through the first part of the film.Along the way, they happen upon a dying man and his co-traveler (Paul Robson) and they learn about some sort of treasure of King Solomon's mines. Almost instantly, the father takes off in search of the treasure--even though it's blinking insane to travel through unknown African territory and through deserts to do this---alone!!! And, it turns out his daughter is also an idiot, as soon she steals one of Quartermain's wagons and sets off in search of her father and the treasure. Oddly, Quartermain's client who has hired him for a safari (Roland Young) decides that he and Quartermain should follow her and try to save her from herself. I say they should have just let her die and then celebrated with some pie...but that wouldn't make a very interesting movie, would it?! Eventually, their insanely difficult journey brings them to a strange land where there really is an honest-to-goodness treasure. But, they have to battle the tribesmen AND nature to get the treasure and, hopefully, find the idiots and save them from themselves.Overall, this is a really good African adventures story because the natives really do appear to be Africans, the scenery sure looks like Africa and there is no trace of the usual stock shots of animals from Asia or South America like you'd usually see in the countless low-budget films set in Africa that were the rage from the 1930s-50s. And, the story and acting are quite good, though I was a bit surprised to see Hardwicke as an action-hero--he's got a lovely voice and was a good actor, but 'macho' is not normally a word I'd associate with him! About the only problem with the film is all of Paul Robeson's gratuitous singing. Yes, he has a wonderful voice in the film, but the songs seemed irrelevant to the plot and were simply tossed in because he had a great voice. Also, oddly, his first song sure sounded a lot like a re-working of "Old Man River"--a song he made famous on Broadway and film in "Showboat" (1936).

Respectable early entry in the King Solomon's Mines sweepstakes. (No need to recap the plot.) Except for a few scenic shots of the overland trek, the movie doesn't really come alive until the last half-hour, but from then on it's near-brilliant. The sweeping shots of warrior armies advancing across the veldt, the close-in shots of the defenders with their magnificent shields, the pageantry and tomfoolery of the royal court, but most of all, the ghastly assassination squad led by the whims of a hump-back hag who moves like a creeping disease. I've seen nothing like her (Sydney Fairbrother) before or since, but her crab-like crawl over the gateway rock may make you rethink the pace of evolution. Also, the white-hot caldera with the clinging ledge above amounts to a spine-tingling effect for any movie period. I'm not even sure Technicolor could have improved on the staging of these remarkable scenes.Now, there are no seams that I can spot during this stellar last half-hour. I couldn't tell whether the scenes were done on location in Africa or maybe even Great Britain. However the earlier scenes of the trek are marred by obvious inter-cutting between long-shot locations and close-in exterior sets poorly done. For me, this breaks the spell and indicates a curious lapse in an otherwise well produced adventure film. Lee and Robeson are spirited and commanding as central figures. However, I agree with a reviewer's observation that Loder would have made a more convincing Quartermain than the stiff-backed Hardwicke. Also, Hardwicke and Young behave more like they belong in a gentleman's smoking club than footloose in the wilds of Africa, while Young's wry asides are strictly a matter of taste and, in my view, a lame attempt at comic relief.Nonetheless, this 1937 production is definitely worth catching up with, especially for those who have never seen or heard the great Paul Robeson.

This first version of H. Rider Haggard's 1884 novel has a wonderful cast (Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, Roland Young and John Loder), excellent production values which includes a bubbling volcano pit, and good special effects when the lava starts eroding the walls of the crater. Even with black and white photography, it is very comparable to the 1950 Technicolor version (with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr) and better than the 1985 version (with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone). Because I am partial to Paul Robeson, I didn't mind the intrusion into the narrative of his singing three songs with his magnificent voice. (Who can make a film with Robeson without having him sing?) The movie is full of suspense, action (when the tribes battle each other) and some comedy provided mostly by Roland Young. Overall a stirring addition to the genre that should please its fans.