. . . did not start in the 21st Century. KING SOLOMON'S MINES, a 1950 flick, documents that the Watusi Clique was resolving such disputes at least as early as the 1800s through their gyrations on the dance floor. While the two contestants making up the final pairing here may be wielding some sort of flimsy ceremonial "spears" not unlike the artifacts used during the Olympic "sport" of rhythmic gymnastics, the only implied scoring move apparently came out so lame in every "take" that it was cut from the final print of this film for being too trivial of a detail to include. Overall, the choreography of KING SOLOMON'S MINES leaves a lot of room for improvement. Featuring repetitious drumming, drab and hot-looking bulky costumes, as well as stiff almost geriatric "moves," these period movers and shakers would not make it out of the preliminary round of any present-day competition. However, since KING SOLOMON'S MINES also features the very real-looking extermination of many of Today's endangered or extinct critters of Africa (where this flick was shot), it's liable to hold a lot of historical interest for Wildlife lovers.

King Solomon's Mines is the second of the five film adaptations of the novel by Henry Rider Haggard.It stars Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. Granger portrayed the fearless-explorer Alan Quartermaine, and Kerr was the spunky Irish lass who hires him on to locate her husband. Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton directed this 1950 film.This was definitely an expensive remake of the classic film when it was released many years ago.The African scenery was something to behold.It was also an exciting and slam bang action film from beginning to end.Added to that,this could also be enjoyed by the whole family if seen today.Overall,this is definitely an adventure classic and remains one of the best adaptation of the Haggard's novel.

This movie is a bad remake of a very good movie that was made in 1937. The only advantage of this particular version is that it avoids the silly, comical aspects of the later versions. Most people who recommend this movie are comparing it to the more recent remakes, and most likely have never seen the 1937 version. The 1937 version tells an exciting story, and the acting is good. In this 1950 version, the plot is downplayed and becomes secondary to the romantic goings-on. Basically, it has been turned into a sort of soap opera set in Africa. Yeah, a lot of the scenery is good, but the special effects are not even as good as they are in the 1937 version, and the acting is deplorable. It is decidedly inferior to the 1937 version.

A little old-fashioned by today's standards but still a watchable and entertaining dramatisation of H Rider Haggard's popular adventure which seems to borrow rather a lot from the story of David Livingstone's discovery by Stanley.There aren't a great deal of bona-fide action sequences to speak of but the mystery of missing explorer Curtis's disappearance and the deepening of Stewart Granger's relationship with the missing man's wife Deborah Kerr, all set against an authentic African backdrop and their interaction with a variety of indigent tribesmen, keep the viewer interested.The leads play off each other well within the confines of their stereotypical roles, Granger the commanding, aloof adventurer Quatermain and Kerr the initially starchy but also feisty Englishwoman abroad. Unfortunately she typifies the clichéd image of representing the weaker sex by screaming, fainting and falling down rather a lot. Richard Carlson is however very good as Kerr's common-sense brother.The film location camera-work is generally good, particularly the night shots in the desert although there are, not surprisingly, a fair number of reaction shots of the leads intercut into scenes of danger and a fair number of not always successful process shots too. The local natives are happily given plenty of screen time, speaking in their own tongue more often than not, which adds a little to attempted authenticity.It winds its way to a, being honest, less than nail-biting conclusion but in these days of C-Gen backgrounds, it was good to see this adventure in natural settings, although I'm willing to bet a fair number of animals were harmed in the production.