This is an acceptable TV biblical epic that is beautiful too look at but filled with a bunch of laughable elements that ruin it in the end. Ben Cross is a good choice for the son of David, played by Max Von Sydow who earlier played a descendent of David named Jesus. Anouk Aimee is a very dignified Bathsheba, but as the queen of the nearby Sheba, Viveca Fox is embarrassing. She makes her way into the film 70 minutes and six minutes later is explaining to Cross why she is not going to marry him. Her performance never rings true, and I never felt that she had any of the strength and passion that Gina Lollobrigida did in the 1959 King Vidor epic which I described as "Solomon was wise. Hollywood is otherwise."
So we do get the basic stories of Solomon that are told in the Bible that everyone has read over and over. So we do get David's declaration of Solomon as his heir and successor, the attempt of David's other son Absolom to usurp the throne for himself, the bloody deaths that come from this and of course the fight for custody of a baby whom two women claim is their child. Cross is a far better choice for the role of Solomon than Yul Brynnur, and his wisdom is wisely mixed with his imperfections and conflictions. But this is a Sunday school class in theme which makes it a not very challenging story of a very challenging theme.
So we do get the basic stories of Solomon that are told in the Bible that everyone has read over and over. So we do get David's declaration of Solomon as his heir and successor, the attempt of David's other son Absolom to usurp the throne for himself, the bloody deaths that come from this and of course the fight for custody of a baby whom two women claim is their child. Cross is a far better choice for the role of Solomon than Yul Brynnur, and his wisdom is wisely mixed with his imperfections and conflictions. But this is a Sunday school class in theme which makes it a not very challenging story of a very challenging theme.