" Black Narcissus "
" I See A Dark Stranger "
" King Solomon's Mines "
" The S u n d o w n e r s "
( Mountainside Marvel )
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HIGH and SOCIAL DRAMA Films
Black Narcissus
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Starring DEBORAH KERR, Jean Simmons, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Sabu, Kathleen Byron, Esmond Knight and Judith Furse.
Anglican nuns face a variety of pressures as they attempt to maintain a convent school and hospital in the Himalayas.
approx. running-time 120 minutes - England, 1947.
The Sundowners
Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Starring Robert Mitchum, DEBORAH KERR, Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns, Michael Anderson Jr., Dina Merrill, Chips Rafferty, Lola Brooks, John Meillon, Wylie Watson.
An itinerant sheep drover in Australia revels in the freedom of the open road while his wife yearns for their own farm.
approx. running-time 150 minutes - USA, 1960.
Filmed more than 50 years ago " King Solomon's Mines " is as exciting an any recent movie. Perhaps even more so when considering that all the stunts and action shots were real. No computer generation back then! Somewhat politically incorrect for today's sensibilities, nevertheless, the film is one of the best adventure flicks made. Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr were perfectly suited for their roles as the " Great White Hunter " and the indomitable Englishwoman he leads into darkest Africa.
Breathtaking is the best was to describe " King Solomon's Mines. " The scenery of 1950 Africa is spectacular. The gorgeous - and ugly - animals are amazing. The scope of the story is magnificent.
Allan Quartermain ( Stewart Granger ) is an adventurer who leads hunters on safaris in Africa. He's just about had enough of the spoiled Englishmen he escorts when Elizabeth Curtis ( Deborah Kerr ) offers him too much money to take her into unexplored territory. She wants to look for her husband who disappeared while searching for diamond mines. " A woman on safari? " Quartermain says, aghast. But in the end, against his better judgment, he accepts her offer.
Along the way, she shows her grit, although he has ample opportunity to rescue this damsel in distress who, unlike today's heroines, sits by and waits to be saved. They ford crocodile infested rivers, jungles crawling with snakes and bugs, and protect themselves against a colossal animal stampede. They deal with natives, hostile and friendly, and cross a seemingly endless desert.
Of course, the ending is no secret. They find the remains of Mrs. Curtis's husband, come out on the winning side of a native civil war, and walk off into the sunset to live happily ever after - maybe. But the fun of this movie is the journey, and it is a trek not to be missed. Children as well as adults will enjoy " King Solomon's Mines. "
v& "King Solomon's Mines" was filmed entirely in Africa.
v& The film was nominated for the BEST Picture Oscar.
v& The film received Oscars for Coulor Cinematography and Film Editing.
v& Based on H. Rider Haggard's classic 1885 novel, " KING SOLOMON'S MINES " has been filmed four times.
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Dedicated to the work of Deborah Kerr and all he people, actors and technicians - producers, directors - who helped Deborah make those wonderful motion pictures we all loved to watch and identified with all these years . . . .
