King Solomon's Mines

Quartermaine is the best safari guide in Africa but he has been at it for far too long, and wishes to go back to England. His wife died six years ago and he has a son in England, whom he wishes to see again. He is fed up with taking rich people out on safaris and therefore turns down the sibling’s request to locate Henry Curtis. He tells them that it is too dangerous, they will have to go to an unexplored land where no white man has been before. There is also an unfriendly savage tribe there, one that even the local tribes avoid. But Elizabeth offers him a more than generous $5,000 pounds up front to be the guide. He coldly tells her that she has bought his services as a mercenary, that this is more money than he can earn in a lifetime; and, that even though he thinks there’s little chance of succeeding, he doesn’t care if he lives or dies, at least, his son will get the money. She promises him an extra five hundred pounds if they are successful.

Quartermaine questions Elizabeth’s reasons for coming here, surmising that she has an ulterior motive. But she tells him that she is independently wealthy and is only going because she loves her husband. The film is grandiose and colorfully shot, seeming much like a travelog. When it dwells on the trek’s hardships: fighting the oppressive heat, the centipedes, snakes and various bugs they are bothered by, the dangerous animals attacking them, a stampede of various beasts including zebras and giraffes they have to take cover from and the many obstacles the rescuers come across in the jungle — the film is simply a beautiful spectacle to behold. The story bogs down when it becomes too much about the dependable Quartermaine and the fetching redhead Elizabeth going through a love/hate relationship, where they eventually give way to their predictable feelings of love. Elizabeth will then confess to her brother that she never loved her husband and has come looking for him because of the guilt she has, knowing that he left her for the diamond mine because she treated him unkindly.

The story picks up some life when a lone 7-foot, taciturn Watusi tribesmen (Siriaque) asks to join the group and it turns out that he is a king returning to his native land to reclaim the kingdom from a usurper. Before entering hostile territory the bearers desert the safari, stealing most of the supplies. The only remaining natives are the loyal Khiva (Kimursi) and the purposeful Siriaque. —Ozu’s World of Movie Reviews