King Solomon’s Mines is the second of three adaptations of the H. Ryder Haggard novel. I covered the first version in early 2021, and I’ve touched on Haggard with that and the two versions of ‘She’. Suffice to say that Haggard’s ‘Lost World’ novels are very much the product of the 19th century. They have a very patronizing view of native peoples and frequently feature a great civilization led by (of course) white people. Real Commander McBragg stuff.
While the 1937 version effectively side-stepped much of the problematic content (star Paul Robeson humbly disagrees), this version aged much better. Every African character is played by an African, hired on location. Our hero speaks to them in their actual language and their deaths are handled with real gravity. This is also the first time the Watusi tribe was filmed. There is no score save for the tribal dancing, which is fascinating to watch.
Story-wise, this differs from the earlier edition in a couple ways. Rather than looking for the father who disappears in the first act, pretty Beth is searching for her husband, gone for a year or so, making the love element rather problematic. Also, Granger embodies the commanding adventurer that Indiana Jones was partially modeled from. And Richard Carlson plays Beth’s concerned brother, a significant tonal shift from Roland Young. Other than that, the story pretty much hits the same beats.
Films are a product of the time they are from. They are crafted to speak to audiences of the day, and King Solomon's Mines is no different. I am not concerned when the source material is out of date with the times nor to filmmakers liberties with such material. Even Gone With the Wind saw reenvisioning. I also try to be tolerant of films that age rather poorly, but I'm not always so successful. As for today's film, despite knowing the story, I found it rather enjoyable. AMRU 4.
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