1950 - KING SOLOMON'S MINES, movie adventure in the grand tradition

MGM put to together a lavish remake of this old H. Rider Haggard story featuring the character Alan Quatermain.  Quatermain is  clearly the inspiration for Indiana Jones and just about every other adventurer in the movies.  

With this film MGM shot on location in Africa in what must have been really challenging locations considering the period the film was made in.  The story in a very brief nutshell has Quatermain leading a safari in search of the missing husband of Deborah Kerr.   The husband apparently had a map which lead to the fabled King Solomon's diamond mines. The various incidents that occur along the safari highlight the on location scenes and the wild animals of Africa.

Stuart Granger plays Alan Quatermain and Deborah Kerr with her flaming red hair (photographed in technicolor) is obviously going to be the love interest.  But probably the most interesting casting are the native Masai tribe.  I doubt any audience had seen anything like them especially while they were performing their ceremonial dances.

 

The film was photographed by Robert Surtees one of MGM's greatest cameramen who particularly excelled at color photography. Surtees had a long career starting in 1928 and working until 1978.  When you needed someone to master a complex production and produce great photography he was the man.

 

Compton Bennett was the original director but was replaced by Andrew Marton a specialist in photographing "2nd unit" action.  In this instance Marton was the right man for the job, King Solomon's Mines is a classic Hollywood adventure film.

The film was written by Helen Deutsch another old Hollywood pro, the running time is 103 minutes.

1945 - THE SEVENTH VEIL, incredibly over the top and incredibly entertaining drama

This is a mix of classical music and psychology which would probably give 50 Shades of Grey a run for it's money in the sexual masochism department.  British actor Ann Todd really plays off of her ice princess look is the ward of James Mason her rich benefactor who all but physically tortures her into becoming a famous classical pianist.  When Todd falls in love with an artist, Mason takes his cane and hits Todd's hands with it so she will never be able to perform again.  This is the high point of the film.

Into the mix with Mason and Todd's fun and games is Herbert Lom as the psychiatrist tying to straighten things.  This film would have a viewer believe that one visit to Lom and with a little shot of some kind of narcotic, Todd is running her mouth off to Lom about her strange private life.  Herbert Lom is probably remembered today as Chief Inspector Dreyfuss in the Pink Panther movies.

All this stuff is very entertaining for some reason and this film was a huge hit in England in the 1940's.  Even watching it today it is incredibly easy to get caught up in this story and I'm not actually sure why.  Is it Mason's performance or Todd's porcelain looks?  Do the classical music excerpts that run throughout the film add a layer of class to the film? Finally, is the strange masochist streak that runs through the Mason and Todd relationship some sort of erotic turn on for an audience?

Whatever is going on in this film it's very entertaining and something of a forerunner in the erotic thriller genre.

94 minutes