Review of Solomon and Sheba

Introduction

You`ll be pleased to know that God is an Englishman, at least in this film. Perhaps it was something to do with the timing of the movie that it seemed appropriate in 1959 to make God speak nicely.

There was an opinion in Hollywood for many years that what made a good story was- orgies, slaughter and if possible ritual sacrifice. Happily for the censors the Bible provided for these in ample supply. So under the guise of an educational epic all kinds of mayhem could be shown on screen.

Wheel in the golden calf luv.

Solomon is the younger son of David, of Goliath fame. He becomes King because of a supreme directive. This somewhat annoys his older more worldly brother who decides to work for his downfall. Thanks to the turbulent politics of the Middle East there are lots of other people who would be interested in seeing a weakened Israel. The Queen of Sheba herself decides she can use her womanly wiles to bring Solomon to his knees. She works her magic on him and seduces him away from his people. Too late, she realises the terrible price he will pay. Meanwhile Solomon can`t find solace in his harem and his brother sends an assassin…

Trivia moment- Tyrone Power died of a heart attack half way through filming and was replaced by Brynner. Power died during a duelling scene with co-star George Sanders. He is apparently visible in long shots.

This was King Vidor`s last film. His career commenced in the silent era. Vidor`s breakthrough film was in 1925 with `The Big Parade` and proved his abilities with his effortless move to sound in the late 20`s.

Video

This is an `epic` of Biblical proportions and it needed widescreen to get all the chariots and armies on screen. Filmed in Spain to substitute for a problematic Palestine it looks like it provided work for thousands.

The battle scenes have many real extras putting themselves at risk for the movie-going public. Admittedly there also seem to have been thousands of dummy men and horses thrown off cliffs; come on there is a limit to what extras will do.
These days they are all little pixels and they don`t drown inconveniently or need feeding like the real thing.
The picture itself is surprising unblemished and clear for such an ancient one for which we are all truly grateful and wish that these were used by the televsion stations who use some abysmal prints on occasions.

Audio

A portentous introduction brings us up to speed with the story of the Old Testament. A British voice is deemed appropriate here. Yul Brynner`s accent is naturally slightly Russian With the addition of the Italian Lollabrigida and the smooth tones of George Sanders truly an international flavour.

One of the most compelling reasons to watch this film is this mix. These days with pretty much everybody being American or Hugh Grant British the flavoursome mix is almost edible.

Very loosely based on the Bible this plot brings Solomon and Sheba as lovers with the addition of a brother. The actual script doesn`t light up the world but aah the delivery. I`d like George Sanders to answer my phone.

The music soundtrack owes a lot to the Cowboy movie tradition.

Features

A glorious trailer with all the salacious expectation built in added to some previews of the enormous battles. This would have been shown prior to this week`s pot boiler and in a world of more limited choices this would have been a `date` movie.

Conclusion

The extremely creaky plot needed a severe dose of Wd 40, the cardboard wheels of the chariots threatened to fall off several times and some of the special effects are risible even by the standards of the time. And yet I was seduced by the story of the would-be lovers and I wiped a tear from my eye at the end of the film. I`m a sucker for a love story. This was truly the stuff and staple of the Saturday matinee on BBC2 when I were a lass and a girl never escapes from her melodramatic roots.

Nothing to lose sleep over this is I`m afraid strictly for fans of Brynner and perhaps a twist on Biblical stories.