''King Solomon's Mines'' is a 1937 British

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

and starring

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

Anna Lee Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell". Early life Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, th ...

, John Loder and Roland Young. A film adaptation of the 1885 novel of the same name by

Henry Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

, the film was produced by the

Gaumont British Picture Corporation The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France. Film production Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, a ...

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character ...

. Sets were designed by

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Alfred Junge Alfred Junge (29 January 1886, Görlitz, Silesia (now Saxony), Germany – 16 July 1964, London) was a German-born production designer who spent a large part of his career working in the British film industry. Junge had wanted to be an artist ...

. Of all the novel's adaptations, this film is considered to be the most faithful to the book.

Plot

In 1882, Irish dream chaser Patrick "Patsy" O'Brien and his daughter Kathy have failed to strike it rich in the diamond mines of Kimberley,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

(then the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

). They persuade a reluctant Allan Quartermain to drive them to the coast in his wagon. Along the way, they encounter another wagon carrying two men in bad shape. Umbopa recovers, but Silvestra Getto dies after boasting to Quartermain that he has found the way to the fabled mines of

Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...

. Patsy finds the dead man's map and sneaks off during the night, unwilling to risk his daughter's life. Kathy is unable to persuade Quartermain to follow him; instead, they rendezvous with Quartermain's new clients, Sir Henry Curtis and retired naval commander John Good, who are hunting for big game. Kathy steals Quartermain's wagon to pursue her father. When they catch up with her, she refuses to return with them, so they and Umbopa accompany her across the desert and over the mountains 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 Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or village surrounded by a fence of t ...

of their chief Twala to be questioned. Twala takes them to see the entrance of the mines that are guarded by the feared

witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...

Gagool. 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, 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 devise a plan that the natives think will counter Gagool's magic. During the rite, Gagool chooses several natives who are killed on the spot. Recalling having made a bet on the previous year's Derby Day, Good notices in his diary that there will be a total

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six mon ...

that day at exactly 11:15 a.m. The quick-thinking Quartermain predicts the eclipse 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, and 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. 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

as Umbopa *

as Allan Quartermain * Roland Young as Commander John Good * John Loder as

Sir Henry Curtis Sir Henry Curtis is a fictional character in a series of adventure novels by H. Rider Haggard. His Zulu name is Incubu, which means "Elephant". He is the constant companion and fellow traveller of Allan Quatermain.Franey, Laura E. ''Victorian Tr ...

as Kathy O'Brien * Arthur Sinclair as Patsy O'Brien * Robert Adams as Twala *

Arthur Goullet Arthur Goullet (1894–1978) was a British stage, film and television actor. He played the role of Sebastian Moran in the 1937 Sherlock Holmes film '' Silver Blaze''.Nollen p.298 Selected filmography * '' Down River'' (1931) * '' A Gentleman o ...

as Sylvestra Getto * Ecce Homo Toto as Infadoos * Makubalo Hlubi as Kapse * Mjujwa as Scragga *

Sydney Fairbrother Sydney Fairbrother (31 July 1872 – 4 January 1941) was a British actress. Born Sydney Tapping on 31 July 1872 in London to actor/playwright Alfred B. Tapping and actress Florence Cowell, she was educated at Blackpool and Bonn. She made her sta ...

as Gagool (uncredited) *

Frederick Leister Frederick Leister (1 December 1885 – 24 August 1970), was an English actor. He began his career in musical comedy and after serving in the First World War he played character roles in modern West End plays and in classic drama. He appeared in ...

as Diamond Buyer (uncredited)

Production

Gaumont-British announced the film in 1935 and

was signed in 1936. Filming began in

, London in November 1936, and the unit then travelled to Africa for a further eight weeks of work. Charles Bennett is credited as one of the writers, but he claimed that he "didn't really" contribute to the screenplay. He said that he was opposed to the idea of a woman going along on the trip ("it was a damn silly idea") and took himself off the project.

Reception

Writing for '' Night and Day'' in 1937,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gave the film a neutral review, summarizing it as "a 'seeable' picture." Greene praised the acting of Hardwicke and Young as well as the clever dovetailing of scenes from

Geoffrey Barkas Geoffrey Barkas (born Geoffrey de Gruchy Barkas, 27 August 1896 – 3 September 1979) was an English film maker active between the world wars. Barkas led the British Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate in the Second World War. His large ...

' documentary, but he disliked the performances by Loder and Robeson and yearned for Lucoque's 1919 black-and-white version, which he felt was more faithful to Haggard's original 1885 book. (reprinted in: )

References

External links