Solomon & Sheba
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Movie Reviews of Solomon & Sheba
Movie Review: Solomon & Sheba DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a lover of old bibical movies - this was one of the greats!!Movie Review: A mere shadow of what it could have been
Summary: 3 Stars
Solomon and Sheba is a film more famous for original star Tyrone Power's death two-thirds of the way through shooting than for anything it achieved once the cameras started rolling again with Yul Brynner in the role (having shot most of the big exteriors, there simply wasn't enough footage of Power in the key scenes with Gina Lollabrigida's Sheba to cut together into a feature).
From the few extracts that have emerged of Tyrone Power's footage this could have been a contender, but after his fatal heart attack filming the final swordfight with long-time co-star George Sanders, unpopular replacement Yul Brynner had the script rewritten to replace Power's doubting warrior king with a more confident and less interesting typical movie hero. There's a huge element of half-heartedness to much of the film that doesn't help matters, much of it no doubt due to reshooting so much of the film again, but it's doubtful this would ever have been more than big-budget hokum. The result is one of those films like Blood Alley (which saw Robert Mitchum controversially replaced by John Wayne days into filming), where the story of what happened behind the screen is much more interesting than the one on it.
Movie Review: Fun and Funny
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie has very little historical value to it. It loosely based on the Bible and that you have to remember.
Yul Brynner plays Solomon and Gina Lollobrigida plays the Queen of Sheba, who's never directly given a name. She starts out trying to destroy Solomon, but ends up falling in love with him.
The sets are outlandish, the dialogue is too. The acting which is OK seems completely, and is, out of date. But for all of that it's still a watchable movie. The ending could have used a little work though, as could the action scenes, but still a watchable movie.
Movie Review: Shlomo and Sheba...
Summary: 2 Stars
Well, besides being a big ham, unless of course you are a big fan of the Bible and the Scriptures, this is a worthless effort in story telling.
Nowadays we have much more specific indications on who Solomon was and how the Queen of Sheba came into play. There are even sources that really and strongly doubt the two ever actually met.
So, premises apart, and taken into consideration that it is a Yul Brynner / Gina Lollobrigida vehicle, it is still watchable, especially for its "saucy" values of the time (1959).
A bit like "The Prodigal", this is by no means a serious attempt at translating the Bible into a historic document.
It is just Big Circus meets Big Actors. There is even poor George Sanders standing by, lending a hand at this.
Poor man, he must have been desperate in doing so.
Anyway, if the pay is right, why not...
It is barely good enough for Popcorn and Soda and for keeping your kids laughing for a couple of hours in front of your TV set.
Other than that, consider, it is cheap, so if you decide to buy it, it won't be a big dent in your purse, just do not expect something really intellectual out of this one.
And Yul in a wig is ridiculous at best.
Stick to "The King and I" or other better pictures, like "The Magnificent Seven" and even the Sci-Fi thriller "Westworld", if you really like to see Yul at his best.
Image, Screen Ratio and Sound as conventional as ever for MGM/UA products.
As said, cheap.
Movie Review: Not a great film, not a great DVD
Summary: 2 Stars
A big spectacle movie with cartoon-like acting. I wish MGM or whatever corporation did the DVD production had pulled out some more of the Tyrone Power footage (shot before his death 2/3 of the way through filming) and added it to the bonuses. Since the film itself does not have the greatest reputation, I would think that the addition of some cinematic history would really make this DVD more worthwhile. Too bad. If there is more footage other than the bits you can see spliced into the film in long shots (look for puffier hair), it would be great to see it someday.