King Solomon's Mines

Synopsis: Guide Allan Quatermain helps a young lady (Beth) find her lost husband somewhere in Africa. It's a spectacular adventure story with romance, because while they fight with wild animals and cannibals, they fall in love. Will they find the lost husband and finish the nice connection?
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
PASSED
Year:
1950
103 min
512 Views


Hold on. You've got yours.

What are they doing?

They're trying to lift him up

and carry him off.

Gallant fools.

I missed mine.

You wounded yours. It took off.

We'll go after it later.

We have to get rid of these others.

Look out.

You stay here. Come on.

I'll bet the big fellow of mine breaks a

record. What do you think, Quatermain?

Well, they're all right.

You don't seem to have

much zest for hunting.

My job's to find you the game

and let you do the shooting.

Don't tell me your respect for animals

has turned into sentiment.

There are times that I

prefer them to humans.

Very sorry Qually died.

Bad hunters?

No worse than usual.

It's bad luck, that's all.

Speak to his wife.

I'll see her in the morning.

Hello, Lulu.

How's my girl, huh?

- Hello, Allan.

- Oh, hello, Eric. Come on, sit down.

- Bad trip?

- No. I was paid.

I hear you lost Qually.

- He was a good man.

- Yes, the best. I'll miss him.

He was with me eight years.

Want to take on another party?

Had an inquiry today.

No, not this time, Eric.

These people seem pretty decent.

- And willing to pay almost anything.

- No, not anymore.

I've had enough. I think I'm through.

Perhaps I'll do this house up

and send for my son.

Bring the boy out here?

It's no life for a child.

- How old is he now?

- He's almost 7.

I can understand your wanting to see him,

but isn't he better off where he is?

- English schools, all that.

- Perhaps I'll go back to England.

- I've thought of that too.

- What would you do there?

Become a shopkeeper?

This is a mood, Allan.

I've seen it growing on you the past

few months. You've been alone too much.

England's no place for you.

You've built a career here.

Don't toss it away.

The happiest, finest fate a man can have

in this world is to be the best at something.

You may not realize it, but your

reputation's spread to England.

- Have another drink.

- I mean it.

Today, that pair who were looking

for a guide, they knew your name.

Ever meet a man called Curtis?

Henry Curtis?

No.

Curtis.

Yes. A fellow about 18 months ago.

An Englishman.

Tried to get me to go

into unexplored country.

Had some crazy notion

about a lost diamond mine.

- That's him.

- Yeah, well I turned him down.

It sounded like romantic foolishness.

He wants to go hunting now?

- No.

- I got a letter from him months ago...

No. No, it was asking about him.

- It didn't make any sense.

- It was his wife, Mrs. Curtis...

...who tried to engage you today.

- A woman? A woman on safari?

- No, thank you.

- She seemed very...

Any woman who wants

to traipse through jungle...

...must have something the matter with her.

Besides, I really am fed up.

I'll tell her so.

If you're serious about England, stop in at

the office. Perhaps I can be of service.

Get some sleep.

- Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't...

- Come in, Allan.

- I dropped by to talk.

- John Good, Allan Quatermain.

- Hello.

- How do you do?

Mr. Good insisted on waiting.

I said it was useless.

I refuse to give up.

I've come from England.

I thought you could

give me information, at least.

I see. I thought you said

it was a woman.

There are two of us.

My sister and I.

Two years ago, her husband,

Henry Curtis, left England.

His last letter came from here.

He was headed west

into unknown territory.

We never heard from him again.

We wanna find him.

I can't give you any information other than

he asked me to go with him, and I declined.

He was tracking down some queer legend

about a diamond mine far into the interior.

Such stories are constantly

cropping up in Africa.

No, Curtis' project was too thick for me.

I advised against it.

- Why? - Nobody's ever been

in that region before...

...and lived to tell about it.

- You mean returned to tell about it.

As far as anyone can say,

he may still be alive.

Well, perhaps as a captive,

but the chances are very slim.

My sister feels as long as there's

a chance, she must pursue it.

She's had a bad time lately.

Can't sleep nights. Wakes up screaming.

Dreams about him wandering in the jungle.

Surely you must have made

other inquiries.

I was able to establish that he headed north

and west toward the Kaluana country.

The Kaluana country.

Well, there you have it.

How would you proceed?

The Kaluana country lies there.

You'd have difficulty getting that far.

Then where would you go?

Thousands of miles where no white man

has been. Even natives are afraid.

- In which direction would you begin?

- We have a map.

- A map?

- Henry's last letter was addressed to me.

He enclosed a copy of the map

he intended to follow.

There are no maps. There isn't a village or

a river recorded beyond the Kaluana region.

This sort of thing is peddled to greenhorns

from Timbuktu to Johannesburg.

You may be right. Henry said he bought

the map to King Solomon's Mines...

...from an Arab trader

who claimed it was 400 years old.

Kaluana Village, desert,

water, White Twins...

...King Solomon's Mines.

The Flying Dutchman.

Captain Kidd's treasure.

All right. Perhaps there is no diamond mine.

But this tells us where to look for Henry...

...because he followed it.

So will we. With your help.

This safari is not child's play,

Mr. Good, especially with a...

Well, shall we say

an overwrought woman?

- Elizabeth knows that. So do I.

- You have absolutely no idea...

...of the dangers. Neither have I.

- But I can guess.

- Allan knows the country...

...better than anyone else, you see.

- But that's exactly why we want him.

That, and because I can see

you'd be fair and honest with us.

Well, thank you, but...

I'm sorry I can't undertake it.

My advice is to take your sister

back to England...

...and both of you pray that eventually

her husband turns up.

It's nice to have met you.

- Bye, Eric.

- Bye, Allan.

Sorry I couldn't have been

more help to you.

Mrs. Curtis, I believe.

Won't you come in?

Oh, excuse me.

Now, this is Lulu.

- Lulu, this is Mrs. Curtis.

- Oh, she's enchanting. She's a charmer.

She knows it. And she makes use of it.

Lulu and I enjoy having visitors,

but I ought to warn you...

...you've come on a hopeless errand.

- My brother told me your reasons.

- There's one argument he neglected to use.

- Oh, what was that?

Money.

That's a very good argument.

I'm willing to pay anything.

- Beyond reason, of course.

- Why are you so determined?

I understand planning before you knew its

dangers, but your brother must've told you.

Are you sure you aren't

exaggerating the dangers?

With proper equipment and your services,

we should manage.

- I'm not afraid.

- Your courage does you no credit.

It's the result of ignorance.

What is your usual fee

for a safari, Mr. Quatermain?

Two hundred pounds and all expenses.

I wouldn't undertake this one for 500.

Would you for 5000?

- That's a great deal of money.

- I mean it.

More than I could save in a lifetime.

- Would you pay, win or lose?

- Of course.

Even if you back out...

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Helen Deutsch

Helen Deutsch (21 March 1906 – 15 March 1992) was an American screenwriter, journalist and songwriter. Deutsch was born in New York City and graduated from Barnard College. She began her career by managing the Provincetown Players. She then wrote theatre reviews for the New York Herald-Tribune and the New York Times as well as working in the press department of the Theatre Guild. Her first screenplay was for The Seventh Cross (1944). She adapted Enid Bagnold's novel, National Velvet into a screenplay which became a famous film (1944) starring Elizabeth Taylor. After writing a few films (Golden Earrings (1947), The Loves of Carmen (1948) and Shockproof (1949) ) for Paramount and Columbia Pictures, she spent the greater part of her career working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and wrote the screenplays for such films as King Solomon's Mines (1950), Kim (1950), It's a Big Country (1951), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Lili (1953), Flame and the Flesh (1954), The Glass Slipper (1955), I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), Forever, Darling (1956) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). Her last screenplay was for 20th Century Fox's Valley of the Dolls (1967). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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