I remember my Mother and Dad taking us children to see this – and I also remember the publicity prior to its release which included a serialisation in one of the comics of the day. We were hooked before we even had a chance to see the film which in those days took about six weeks or more from its London release to arriving in the town in the North of England close to where we lived.

It was thrilling to see this on the big screen in Technicolor and we had a glimpse of the African jungle which we had no chance of seeing at that time but we would have read a lot about it in books of the day.

                                                

There have been a number of  film adaptations of H. Rider Haggard’s adventure novel, ”King Solomon’s Mines”. One film had been released in 1937,with Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson and then Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released this one in 1950, starring Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger.It took Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer nearly four years to get ”KING SOLOMON’S MINES” into production. They had originally planned to have Errol Flynn star as the Victorian hunter – Allan Quartermain but Flynn dreaded the idea of spending time away from any form of luxury, while on location in Africa. He ended up taking the leading role in MGM’s other adventure, ”KIM”, in which he spent his off-camera hours at a resort in India.

British actor, Stewart Granger, took the role of Quartermain . . . and became a major Hollywood star. The other cast members included Deborah Kerr as Elizabeth Curtis, the woman who hires Quartermain to lead a safari in search of her missing husband; Richard Carlson as John Goode, Elizabeth’s likeable older brother; Siriaque as the mysterious Umbopa, who is revealed to be King of the Watusi; and Hugo Haas as Van Brun, a former hunter who is wanted by British authorities for murder.

Directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, ”KING SOLOMON’S MINES”was filmed on location in the Republic of Congo and Kenya, along with California.

Very loosely based upon Rider Haggard’s novel, ”KING SOLOMON’S MINES” the film tells the story of Allan Quatermain (Stewart Granger), an experienced hunter and guide in 1897 Kenya, who is reluctantly talked into helping Beth Curtis (Deborah Kerr) and her brother Jack Goode (Richard Carlson) search for her husband, who had disappeared in the unexplored interior of Africa on a quest to find the legendary mines. They have a copy of the map that Henry Curtis had used in his journey. A tall, mysterious native, Umbopa (Siriaque), eventually joins the safari.

Inevitably during the gruelling journey, Elizabeth and Quatermain begin to fall in love.MGM castStewart Granger in many ways fitted the role of Allan Quatermain perfectly. He looked the part.

Deborah Kerr as Beth Curtis sets the journey in motion to find her husband.    Richard Carlson who was later to be The Maze and Creature from The Black Lagoon, played Elizabeth Curtis’ brother, John Goode.

                                          

This film was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1951.   It earned $5,047,000 in the US and Canada and $4,908,000 elsewhere. After production and other associate costs were deducted, the movie made a profit of $4,049,000, making it easily MGM’s most successful film of 1950.

“KING SOLOMON’S MINES” (1950)  Scenes from the Film below:-