King Vidor last film, Solomon and Sheba, was a fictionalized historical epic romance, shot in Technicolor.
The film fictionalizes heavily events that are described in The Bible—specifically, the tenth chapter of First Kings and the ninth chapter of Second Chronicles.
It starred Yul Brynner as Solomon and Gina Lollobrigida as Sheba; and features George Sanders as Adonijah, Marisa Pavan as Abishag, and David Farrar as the Pharaoh.
The screenplay by Anthony Veiller, Paul Dudley, and George Bruce was based on a story by Crane Wilbur.
The film’s theme differs substantially from Biblical sources and is highly fictionalized, most notably in representing the Queen of Sheba as an ally of ancient Egypt in opposition to King Solomon of Israel, and in her having a love affair with Solomon.
Lollobrigida was financial partner, getting a percentage of the profits. The role of Solomon was initially turned down by Tyrone Power and Yul Brynner; however, Power agreed to accept the part after rewrites.
The film was shot in Madrid and Valdespartera, Zaragoza, Spain.
The orgy scene cost about $100,000, and was choreographed by Jaroslav Berger, the ballet chief of the Berne State Theatre in Switzerland. Gina Lollobrigida rehearsed her dance for over a month.
Two thirds of the movie had been shot and the unit was in Madrid when on November 15 Tyrone Power filmed a duel scene with George Sanders, who played his brother. (The two had also filmed a sword fight in the 1942 film The Black Swan.) The duel had to be repeated, and Power finally dropped the sword and said he couldn’t continue, complaining of a pain in his left arm. He was helped to his dressing room and given brandy. It is unclear what happened next, as stories differ. In one scenario, he was taken to the hospital in Gina Lollabrigida’s car and died.
Others claim that Power died in his dressing room. In order to keep his jaw from dropping, a scarf was put around his neck to “walk” him out of the studio to the car. This was done in part because Mrs. Power was at the hotel and knew nothing about what happened. Ted Richmond gave orders that no press was to be called, and Mrs. Power was not to be called. He died en route to the hospital. Mrs. Power was escorted to the hospital. A memorial service was held in Spain on 16 November at the U.S. Air Force base in Torrejon.
Production of the movie was halted. Because love scenes remained to be shot, another actor would have to be cast if the existing script was to be used.
The battle sequences had been filmed, but most of these could still be used, with close ups of the new actor added. Other possibilities discussed including rewriting the script to use Power’s footage, or use Power for the first half of the movie (as “young Solomon”), then recasting another actor as Solomon for the second half. The issue was complicated by the fact that three different parties had full script, star and director approval: Small, Copa Productions, and Lollobrigida.
Small offered the part of Solomon to Yul Brynner, a friend of Power, and the actor accepted. This meant Brynner had to delay playing the lead role in an adaption of the 1951 novel Spartacus which was subsequently cancelled, and instead adapted as the 1960 movie Spartacus, to which he had committed.
However United Artists had not been told of Brynner’s casting and were unsure of the conditions which had been granted to him. Ted Richmond wanted to pull out of producing and for a time there was some doubt if the film would go ahead at all.
Another option was to cancel Solomon and Sheba altogether: the production was insured up to $3 million. Lloyd’s of London covered the daily $100,000 bill while the film was halted. However, in the end, it was decided to proceed with Brynner as Solomon.
The film was eventually completed over ten weeks with estimated cost of $6 million. This was relatively inexpensive, considering the scale of the movie; and Spain increasingly became a base for Hollywood movies.
Solomon and Sheba got its world premiere October 27, 1959 in London (in 70mm presentation). But the notices were either indifferent or negative reviews. Yul Brynner’s performance was criticized by the film’s director, King Vidor, who stated that Tyrone Power had been much more believable as a conflicted king than Brynner, who apparently played it with too much self-assurance.
Even so, the movie was a box office success, earning an estimated $5.5 million in American rentals, with a total gross of $12.2 million.
Cast
Yul Brynner as King Solomon
Gina Lollobrigida as Queen of Sheba
Marisa Pavan as Abishag
David Farrar as Pharaoh (Siamun)
Harry Andrews as Baltor
John Crawford as Joab
Laurence Naismith as Hezrai (credited as Lawrence Naismith)
Finlay Currie as King David
Jean Anderson as Takyan
William Devlin as Nathan
Jack Gwillim as Josiah
José Nieto as Ahab (credited as Jose Nieto)
George Sanders as Adonijah
Maruchi Fresno as Bathsheba
Julio Peña as Zadok (credited as Julio Pena)
