Solomon and Sheba (1959)

Very Cool!!!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

A film with a few big names, Yul Brynner, George Sanders, Harry Andrews, all three also very talented, and Gina Lollobrigida, which is not bad in the title role but not "the most beautiful woman in the world ever", how some called her. Genre and story that was once fashionable, not anymore.

I don't like Yul Brynner with hair. I prefer the man clean shaven, but he's still drop dead sexy in this movie. Goodnight! That man drives me mad.Yes, this is a "silly" biblical movie. Suspend reality for a moment and you will find that this movie is not so bad. It kept my attention span which is hard to do. I wish someone else had played the Sheban Queen instead of Lollobrigida. I found her too unbelievable.The supporting cast bored me. Especially the girl who played Abishag and the dude who played Pharaoh. Looked like he was wearing an Egyptian Halloween costume he purchased at Walmart. Once you see Yul Brynner play a pharaoh, none other can pull it off.

I saw SOLOMON AND SHEBA (1959) when I was 10 years-old and remember being quite impressed with King Vidor's last film. The production values seemed above average and the actors really stood as ancient figures in a frieze in my schoolboy's imagination. I have been able to watch the film several times since then and can only say that I am happy they did try to finish the film after the catastrophe of Tyrone Power's death. The situation faced by all must have been so desperate that everyone deserves praise for the great common effort necessary to pull the production through. I have reservations regarding the casting of several actors who seem totally wrong in their respective roles, notably George Sanders/Adonijah and David Farrar/Pharaoh. Yul Brynner does a decent job for someone who was rushed into Solomon's role. It is unfair to criticize him, trying to compare his performance to Tyrone Power's as we imagine it to have been. Gina Lollobrigida is excellent as Sheba. In fact, I see her at the center of the whole film, its unifying element. Her beauty is truly breathtaking and her orgiastic dance is the only good thing in a pagan ritual that deserved to be better choreographed. No doubt King Vidor deserved to end his illustrious career with a better film, but SOLOMON AND SHEBA remains a valid effort, nothing he should be ashamed of. Seen today, the film does stand as one of the finer biblical spectacles of the era, way better than THE ROBE (1953), THE SILVER CHALICE (1954) or ESTHER AND THE KING (1960).

This movie and several other movies from the 1950s with a religious overtone, such as The Robe, Quo Vadis, and Samson and Delilah, unfortunately depict all pagans or anybody who isn't a Jew or Christian as morally depraved and decadent. The focus is only on biblical-related stories that ignore the world outside the Bible. As far as they are concerned, nothing good came from pagan Egypt, Greece or Rome.Any movie that preaches about the "one true god" gives a short shift to freedom of religion. The movies ignore the fact that ancient Judea's lack of religious freedom made it a fertile ground for religious extremism. Most 1950s religious movies also overlook the loss of freedom the occurred after Christians assumed political power in the 4th century.