KING SOLOMON’S MINES (MGM, 1950). Directed by Compton Bennett & Andrew Marton. Screenplay by Helen Deutsch, from the novel of the same name by H. Rider Haggard. With Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger, Richard Carlson, Hugo Haas, Lowell Gilmore. (102 min, Technicolor, 35mm print from the Copyright Collection.)
Arguably the best and certainly the most spectacular of the eight screen adaptations of H. Rider Haggard’s popular novel about an expedition into uncharted regions of Africa to find an English explorer who disappeared while searching for the legendary diamond mines of King Solomon. Stewart Granger, in his American film debut, plays adventurer and big game and treasure hunter Allan Quatermain, the hero of more than a dozen Haggard novels who in many ways was the predecessor to Indiana Jones. The MGM production was shot almost entirely on location in equatorial Africa with many of the supporting parts played by natives of the Kipsigis and Watusi tribes. This “smashing kitsch entertainment,” as described by Pauline Kael, is a quintessential 1950s adventure film which makes full use of its exotic locations (Murchison Falls in Uganda and Congo’s volcano country, among others) and Technicolor’s superior imbibition dye transfer process.
Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
Thursday, August 15, 2024
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
James Madison Building – Pickford Theater (LM302)
101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].