King Solomon's Mines

There have been plenty of adaptations of "King Solomon's Mines," the first of H. Rider Haggard's adventure novels. And the 1937 version is a solid if uninspired adaptation, with some good-to-excellent acting and a fairly faithful script, although I'm not sure where the Irish pair came from.

A strange wagon arrives at the camp of hunter Allan Quartermaine (Cedric Hardwicke), who's escorting a group of Europeans to the African coast. An unlucky Irish prospector goes off with the wagon, and a copy of a treasure map that supposedly leads to King Solomon's diamond mines. When Quartermaine refuses to go back after him, the prospector's daughter Kathy (Anna Lee) secretly makes off with his wagons.

Led by a mysterious native named Umbopa (Paul Robeson), the little group faces a trek across a blistering desert that no one has (supposedly) crossed alive. But when they do make it to the other side, they find that there is something even more dangerous -- a tribe of natives ruled by a ruthless chief, who has a very personal connection to Umbopa...

This is actually a pretty faithful adaptation of the original novel, with plenty of good-ish acting and startlingly good special effects. If there's a problem, it's that there's no real character development except for Umbopa, and for an adventure tale, it's actually rather low on appreciable action (although there's one good battle scene).

But it's a magnificent spectacle, and I can only imagine what it would have looked like in color. Sweeping deserts, big African villages, and even a climax that takes place INSIDE a volcano, complete with bubbling lava and collapsing tunnels. And the slowly unfolding storyline is very well-drawn, whether it's the slow journey across the desert or the sumptuous tropics of the oasis near where the tribe leaves.

Though Hardwicke is the lead character -- and does a pretty good job -- it's Paul Robeson who really rules this movie, with his majestic demeanor and rich, rolling voice. Roland Young provides a bit of stodgy comic relief, but John Loder is forgettable and Lee is simply an embarrassing caricature of an Irish colleen. I'd love to know how she always stays spotless and perfectly coiffed too.

But viewers should be warned that time has had its way with this movie -- either it hasn't been restored, or it was in VERY bad condition to begin with. It's a bit fuzzy and crackly in places, and the sound is distinctly tinny. And when it's dark, it's very difficult to see what's going on.

"King Solomon's Mines" is a stately, well-made story that is a bit too slow to be an adventure story, but has good scenes, a taut climax, and a great performance by Robeson.

Over the years Gaumont British's ambitious 1937 version of King Solomon's Mines has developed a reputation as something of a stinker, which is rather unfair. It's certainly no more faithful to H. Rider Haggard's novel than any of the other screen adaptations, starting the trend for adding a female companion to the quest to attract a wider audience. Unfortunately in this case it's a rather annoying Anna Lee, complete with unconvincing Irish accent, who is particularly awkwardly grafted into the story. Yet in most other departments the film delivers rather well, with Cedric Hardwicke an older than usual but still convincing Allan Quatermain and Paul Robeson easily dominating the supporting cast as the exiled chief Umbopa (yes, he does get to sing). The African footage gives it a broader scale than most British films of its day, and the climax in the volcanic mines is still impressive stuff. Dated, certainly, but not without its pleasures by any means.

MGM /UA's DVD is a decent enough transfer considering the age of the material, but there are no extras.

Darn. Right off the bat - it's AlLan QUATERmain, NOT ALan QuaRtermain. Of the five film versions of this novel, Cedric Hardwicke is the ONLY actor even roughly approximating Haggard's hero in age and appearance. But what the....?!?! Who are these two O'Briens we have? The young lady (Anna Lee) has the worst stage brogue to date. I guess back in the 30's, the film industry thought EVERY film needed romance and comic relief. Be off you you, you and your shamrock medallions! Where's Umslopogaas? What do you mean, that singing dude over there? Paul Robeson may have a terrific voice, but here it's totally wasted, and besides, Umslopogaas is a mighty warrior, not some chant leader. (And why the name change to Umbopa, anyway? The bad part is that "Umbopa" stuck through ALL of the remakes, too.)

Even with all that, it remains the closest to the source novel. The thousands of Zulu extras brought in for the war scenes are great, and the mine is pretty convincing if not as grand as what the mind's eye would create.

Stll, this is really showing its age - after all, it's 75 years old, and much closer in time to the period it's representing than we are to it. Do yourself a favor and skip ALL of the film versions - read the novel, instead.