King Solomon's Mines

"Lovers trapped in animal stampede!"

1950 1h 43m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🔥

92%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 141🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●69Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 7,660

AdventureActionRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Fortune hunter Allan Quatermain teams up with a resourceful woman to help her find her missing husband lost in the wilds of 1900s Africa while being pursued by hostile tribes and a rival German explorer.

“Lovers trapped in animal stampede!”

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Cast

Deborah Kerr
Elizabeth Curtis
Stewart Granger
Allan Quartermain
Richard Carlson
John Goode
Hugo Haas
Van Brun
Lowell Gilmore
Eric Masters
Kimursi
Khiva (as Kimursi of the Kipsigi Tribe)
Siriaque
Umbopa (as Siriaque of the Watussi Tribe)
Sekaryongo
Chief Gagool (as Sekaryongo of the Watussi Tribe)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Compton Bennett
Writers: Helen Deutsch
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

76 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Quartermain Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Compton Bennett, shot by Robert Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mischa Spoliansky. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Compton Bennett directs. Robert Surtees behind the camera. Mischa Spoliansky scores. Ralph E. Winters cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 6.5× over at the box office.
376 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "Quartermain Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Compton Bennett, shot by Robert Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Mischa Spoliansky. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Lovers trapped in animal stampede!".
10IMDB entry: tt0042646 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "based on novel or book", "africa", "diamond mine", "wildlife".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Original score: Mischa Spoliansky
Editing: Ralph E. Winters
Costume design: Walter Plunkett
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,300,000
Box office: $15,057,465
Return: 655% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: King Solomon's Mines (1950)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 69/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 7,660 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 2 Oscars. 4 wins & 2 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Film Editing

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Quartermain Collection

Stewart Granger as Allan Quartermain and George Montgomery as his son Harry Quartermain. In these two movies an R was integrated to the novels' fictional character name Quatermain.

Also by

Compton Bennett

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-12-27
★ 7/10
H. Rider Haggard's story of jungle intrigue and treasure hunting is given the lavish Hollywood treatment in this colourful adaptation of the story. In this slightly different version, Stewart Granger ("Allan Quatermain") is hired by Deborah Kerr ("Elizabeth Curtis") to track down her brother lost whilst off in search of King Solomon's legendary treasure. Unlike the 1937 version; this becomes more of a romance - as you might expect given the leading performers; and as such it loses much of it's grittiness and the tension is much more tied to their relationship than to their exploits in hostile territory. The film looks great (Oscar for cinematography) but some stories are best left in their original B&W iteration.

Production companies