King David of Israel dies.Before he dies he announces Solomon would be his successor.His older brother Adonijah had already declared himself the new king, and therefore becomes his brother's biggest enemy.Egyptian Pharaoh has given a mission to Queen of Sheba to destroy Solomon.She uses her own sexuality to seduce him and introduces Sheban pagan worship into Jerusalem.But she finds it hard to resist Solomon's charm and falls in love with him.Solomon and Sheba (1959) is the last picture directed by King Vidor.The actors do fairly good job, with Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida taking the lead.And Gina does look pretty hot! Tyrone Power would have been the original male star, but he died of a heart attack during the filming.George Sanders plays Solomon's brother Adonijah.Marisa Pavan plays Abishag, probably my favorite character in the movie.David Farrar plays Pharaoh.Finlay Currie portrays David.The movie has gotten a lot of bad criticism.However, it is not near as bad as has been said.That is my opinion, anyway.The love affair between Solomon and Sheba is portrayed very nicely.There's the orgy scene that works.Not showing as much, obviously, as would be shown if the movie was made today.The movie also portrays the Judgment of Solomon, which I actually played one time at school.So it's very nice to watch it in a movie.If you're a fan of biblical movies, you should take a look at this.
Review of Solomon and Sheba
