Solomon and Sheba 1959 123movies

Watch: Solomon and Sheba 1959 123movies, Full Movie Online – Shortly before his death in ancient Israel King David has a vision from God telling him that his younger son Solomon should succeed him as king. His other son Adonijah is unhappy and vows to attain the throne. Meanwhile the Egyptian Pharoah agrees to cede a Red Sea port to the Queen of Sheba if she can find a way to destroy Solomon, whose wisdom and benevolent rule is seen as a threat to more tyrannical monarchs in the region. Sheba, Pharoah, Adonijah, the leaders of the Twelve Tribes and his own God make life difficult for Solomon who is tempted by Sheba to stray..
Plot: Under the rule of King David, Israel is united and prosperous although surrounded by enemies including Egypt and its allies. The aging King David favors his younger son, Solomon, as his successor, but David’s elder son Prince Adonijah, a warrior, declares himself King. When David learns of this, he publicly announces Solomon to be his successor. Adonijah and Joab, his general, withdraw in rage. Israel prospers under King Solomon’s wise and benevolent rule and is seen as a threat to more tyrannical monarchs in the region. The Pharaoh of Egypt agrees to cede a Red Sea port to the Queen of Sheba in a plot to undermine Solomon’s rule. Sheba is to seduce Solomon and introduce Sheban pagan worship into Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Prince Adonijah, now banished, also conspires with Pharaoh and is given an army to defeat Solomon. The film is a highly fictionalized dramatization of events depicted in The Bible — First Kings chapter 10 and Second Chronicles chapter 9.
Smart Tags: #female_feet #toes #sword_and_sandal #character_names_as_title #king_david_character #king_solomon_character #queen_of_sheba_character #arabic_history #king #queen #pharaoh #israel #tribe #egyptian #death #ancient_israel #jerusalem #egypt #brother_versus_brother #horseback_riding #husband_wife_relationship

Find Alternative – Solomon and Sheba 1959, Streaming Links:

123movies | FMmovies | Putlocker | GoMovies | SolarMovie | Soap2day

Ratings:

	6.1/10 Votes: 3,378
	14% | RottenTomatoes
	N/A | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 67 Popularity: 17.924 | TMDB

Reviews:

It is said that Solomon is wise. But no matter how wise he may be, he is still human, with a human weakness.

Solomon and Sheba is directed by King Vidor and collectively written by Anthony Veiller, Paul Dudley, George Bruce and Crane Wilbur. It stars Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, Marisa Pavan, George Sanders, David Farrar, Harry Andrews, John Crawford and Laurence Naismith. Music is by Mario Nascimbene and cinematography by Fred A. Young.

A fictionalised screenplay cribs from parts of the Bible, where the story here follows the relationship between Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba, a problem because initially Sheba is in league with Israel’s enemy, Egypt. All that and Solomon has to deal with his nefarious brother, Adonijah, who is a little miffed that Solomon has inherited the crown of Israel.

Famously it was the production that saw the sad death of the leading man, Tyrone Power, while Vidor was so disillusioned about the whole film he quit making feature length films. It’s a very mixed bag, very much showing the good and bad sides of the big historical epics that dominated Hollywood back in the day. In part it’s a grandiose melodrama, in others it’s cheap looking and given to campy histrionics (the orgy operatics sequences are just awful), while the screenplay jostles with itself as to being biblical blarney or potent pontifications.

Costuming and colour photography smooths the eyes, but then the optical nerves are shredded by set design so poor a child making paper mache boulders could have done better. The cast are also in and out, Brynner is fine as Solomon (broody, brainy but troubled), as is the lovely Lollobrigida (stoic, smart and sexy), but the support slots barely convince. Sanders is badly miscast as Solomon’s warrior brother Adonijah (he was 53 at the time), 10 years earlier in Samson and Delilah his villain turn worked, but not here.

Sword fighting choreography is poor, as are the miracle effects work, but conversely the big battle that crowns the story is smart in writing and in execution, where not even the model work can dim the thrill of it all. Released in the same year as “Ben-Hur” obviously does it no favours by comparison! But then so many other big swords and shields epics would also struggle as well. Vidor’s movie is just above average in the genre pantheon, but the faults are irritable and hardly render it as a must see film for genre enthusiasts. 6/10

_**Hollywood’s account of wise King Solomon’s reign in Israel, including his folly**_

In the 10th Century BC, elderly King David’s reign is ending and there’s a dispute between siblings Adonijah (George Sanders) and Solomon (Yul Brynner) about who will take over the kingdom. Once this is settled, the Queen of Sheba (Gina Lollobrigida) visits Israel for dubious reasons and Solomon becomes entranced.

“Solomon and Sheba” (1959) is a biblical epic covering the first eleven chapters of 1 Kings with bits & pieces of other scriptural characters/stories thrown in, plus the fabrication that Solomon had an affair with the Queen of Sheba. In truth, the Queen visited Israel because she heard of Solomon’s great wisdom and wanted to test it for herself, plus witness the splendor of the renowned kingdom. While the movie shows Solomon’s harem of hundreds of wives & concubines, the scriptwriters decided to make the Queen of Sheba a microcosm of these women for dramatic purposes. So it’s true that Solomon’s foreign wives led him astray into idolatry and disfavor with the LORD, it just wasn’t the Queen of Sheba who did it.

Nevertheless, I thought there were enough historical truths to roll with the film and appreciate it despite its fabrications and bloated talky-ness. For instance, Adonijah really did seek to usurp the throne, but the way the story evolves in the movie is false. Yet I liked the inclusion of several real-life characters beyond those already mentioned, like Bathsheba, Abishag, Joab, Nathan, Zadok and Pharaoh.

Meanwhile Brynner is stately as the protagonist and Gina is ravishing, not to mention the costumes, sets, action pieces and score are all well done. Speaking of the score, power rock/metal bands of the 70s-90s were obviously influenced by parts of it (e.g. Rainbow, Savatage, Manowar, Crimson Glory, Bathory, Jag Panzer and so on). Rock ‘n’ roll bands of the late 50s-early 60s certainly weren’t playing this kind of dramatic stuff with their pop ditties!

Interesting trivia: Tyrone Power originally played Solomon and two-thirds of the film was shot with him when he suddenly died after the sword duel with George Sanders (Adonijah), which is when Brynner was brought in for the starring role and the movie was completed in ten more weeks. Director King Vidor preferred Power because he depicted Solomon’s conflicted spirit better whereas he believed Yul played him with too much self-assurance. While the troubled film turned out to be a box office success, it would be Vidor’s final feature film.

It’s worth checking out if the topic and actors interest you, but it’s not as compelling as “Samson and Delilah” (1949), “The Ten Commandments” (1956) and “Ben-Hur” (1959). Still, it’s not far off; you just have to be willing to swing with the alterations to history.

The movie runs 2 hours, 21 minutes, and was shot entirely in Spain.

GRADE: B-

Kind Vidor’s last movie is worth a look.
A heavy budget, a star that died with 75% of the movie completed. Recipe for disaster right, not in this case as Yul Brynner, the “great bald one” as he was known , except with hair here makes a convincing Solomon and Vidor scores in his direction. This movie sets itself up from the beginning as the story of two brothers and a case for redemption for that is what this movie is about. Solomon as everyone, Christian or not knows was wise as the common adage states. He inherited the Kingdom of Israel from his father as chosen by God to replace his older brother, the warrior played by the great supporting and sometimes leading man George Sanders in one his nefarious performances. Solomon prays for wisdom which God grants him and Israel prospers. Neighbors become jealous and scared as a redeemed Sanders courtesy of Brynner builds Israel’s army to a sizable number. They also fear their teachings of equality to all men and their notion of One God. Sheba is sent or chooses to tempt Solomon with riveting consequences. The problem with these movies in our modern eyes is that the writers have them talk in the way texts and related scriblings depicted dialogue back then which is as poetry with innuendoes and rhyme. This today is often seen as camp, such the case of recent Swords and Sandals like Gladiator avoiding these dialogue. The movie also bears a certain resemblance to De Mille’s classic Samson and Delilah which kickstarted the whole genre. That said, a “Shield of light” action sequence is worth a look to see how it was staged and shot. Gina Lollobrigida is absolutely stunningly photographed and the performance is quite good. All in the one, one of the master’s last can be your first intro into his ouevre.

Solomon was wise. Hollywood is otherwise.
Directions to two hours and 20 minutes, this biblical epic had a lot of problems getting released but still managed to come out with a profit. Perhaps the prophets weight of the Biblical times were looking over them and ask God to give King Vidor a break for his last film. It’s an entertaining but overstuffed example of how certain producers and writers effort’s to climb onto the certain bandwagons of hit genres of the time didn’t always come together. The 1950’s were overloaded with these sword-and-sandal widescreen extravaganzas, and if people could spare a couple of extra hours than the usual 90 minutes, they take them in just for the spectacle and an occasional unintentional laugh.

Obviously, the big battle scene towards the end was inspired by “The Ten Commandments”, and the scene of charging chariots taken by surprise with a clever battle technique is quite a shocking moments. The story surrounds Solomon’s efforts to hold on to his throne when neighboring countries to conquer him because of the country’s belief in one God and Solomon’s alleged wisdom which they are obviously envious of. This brings on the Queen of Sheba, played by the ravishing Gina Lollobrigida who delivers a sensational performance even if she isn’t physically accurate historically.

When we first see the very tough Lollobrigida, she is charging past the Israeli Army led by George Sanders (as Solomon’s much older brother) and ferociously whips his face until he collapses in shock. She’s not one to be taken advantage of because she is a woman, and as we learn, Sheba has always had a queen, not a king. Sanders believes that by being King David’s eldest surviving son, he will be the heir, but King David (Finlay Currie) has other ideas.

That’s where Solomon comes in as king, played by Yul Brynner who replaced Tyrone Power. On the surface, Brenner is perfect, but I had a hard time accepting him as an Israeli king after seeing him as the Egyptian pharaoh in “The Ten Commandments” and the King of Siam in “The King and I”. Tyrone Power certainly would have been a bit more reflective, but Brynnur, even in his quieter moments, is far too big as a performer to play a man who was presumably humble yet morally strong. With a dark wig and beard, Brynner does manage to look a bit different, but that voice betrays who he is with all that extra hair. Yet, you can’t take your eyes off of him because he is such a fascinating personality.

While this is big in scope and huge of heart, containing many of the great stories that the Bible tells us about one of the wisest rulers ever on the face of our Earth, it seems far too forced to be completely successful. The story of the two women fighting over a child is a classic moment as is the attempted stoning of Sheba. Marisa Pavan has a nice supporting role as a woman in Solomon’s Court who is obviously in love with him and pays for that love by praying for his wisdom to return when his temptations with Sheba becomes too much. That leads to a sequence of idol worship for Sheba and her people that is completely over-the-top. Utilizing ideas that were done in different ways and other epics made before this also shows a lack of creativity to make it stand out on its own.

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 2 hr 21 min (141 min) (TCM print)
Budget 5000000
Revenue 12200000
Status Released
Rated Not Rated
Genre Drama, History, Romance
Director King Vidor
Writer Crane Wilbur, Anthony Veiller, Paul Dudley
Actors Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders
Country United States
Awards 1 nomination
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix 4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints), 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)
Aspect Ratio 2.20 : 1, 2.35 : 1 (35 mm prints)
Camera N/A
Laboratory Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA (color)
Film Length (14 reels)
Negative Format 35 mm (horizontal)
Cinematographic Process Super Technirama 70 (as Technirama)
Printed Film Format 35 mm, 70 mm