Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

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Movie
German title Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Original title Solomon and Sheba
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1959
length 140 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director King Vidor
script Anthony Veiller
Paul Dudley
George Bruce
production Ted Richmond
music Mario Nascimbene
camera Freddie Young
cut Otto Ludwig
occupation

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is a monumental film from 1959. It is based on the biblical story of King Solomon , the son of King David .

action

When King David is dying, he does not hand over the crown of Israel to his eldest son, the warlike Adonijah , but to his younger, peaceful son Solomon. Adonijah feels betrayed and is reluctant to take on the subordinate position of military leader. Under Solomon the empire flourished in a long period of peace, especially his wisdom and justice were admired by the people.

A conspiracy by the surrounding kingdoms led by the Egyptian pharaoh one day leads the devious Queen of Sheba to the capital Jerusalem. This should find out where the weak point in Solomon's mighty empire lies. Under the pretext of wanting to learn from Solomon, she spies on him and those around him. The initial mendacity of this suggestion quickly turns into real admiration and ultimately love. Solomon, who knows that he cannot really trust the Queen of Sheba, for his part succumbs to her feminine charms.

Through love, Solomon forgets his fear of God and ignores his advisers, especially the prophet Natan , who warns him against making too many concessions to the Queen of Sheba, who indulges in pagan gods. It has long since recognized that this is where Solomon's weak point lies. Despite great turmoil between her love for Solomon and her pact with the Pharaoh, she finally persuades Solomon to grant her a pagan festival on a holy Jewish mountain. Blind with love, he allows sacrilege. In the middle of the lascivious festival, powerful lightning bolts smash the worshiped idol and the temple of Jerusalem. Here Abishag dies, who was devoted to Solomon in pure love.

Although Solomon, judged in this way by God, becomes aware of his error and deeply regrets it, the believing people of Israel turn away from him, the land of the 12 tribes falls apart. Adonijah, seeing his hour has come, betrays his brother and joins the Pharaoh, who mobilizes his army to attack weakened Israel. With a remnant of loyal soldiers, Salomon marches against the overwhelming army, is defeated and has to withdraw. In the hour of certain defeat, the Queen of Sheba, plagued by her conscience, finally goes to the destroyed temple and prays to the God of Israel for forgiveness for Solomon. She also promises to free her people from paganism.

Thereupon a miracle happens to Salomon and a final group of soldiers. With renewed courage and a warlike ruse, the Egyptians can still be beaten. When Solomon triumphantly returns to Jerusalem, Adonijah, who thinks Solomon dead, has already proclaimed himself king and allowed the angry mob to stone the Queen of Sheba. Salomon faces Adonijah and kills him in a duel. Then he enters the temple with the queen's lifeless body, and through another miracle she awakens to new life.

background

The story of Solomon, taken from the Old Testament, serves only as a framework. Most of the story, especially the relationship with the Queen of Sheba, is fictional. Although she is mentioned in connection with Solomon in 1 Kings 10.1-13  EU , there is only talk of a visit and that she was impressed by his wisdom. From a purely scientific point of view, practically nothing is known about the historical figure of the Queen of Sheba, it is not even certain whether she was really queen.

The film uses the famous story told in the Bible about a case law of Solomon. Two women stand before his throne and both claim that the baby who will be placed at Solomon's feet is their son. Solomon then has a sword brought and orders the baby to be cut in two. When one of the women bends protectively over the child and begs the king to give the child to the other woman, Solomon puts the sword away and explains that only this woman can be the mother of the child because she would rather give the child away would have than to watch it die. The winged word Solomonic Judgment known from linguistic usage as a designation for a particularly wise judgment relates to this.

Cinematic

For director King Vidor , who was awarded the Honorary Oscar in 1979, it was the last major feature film. The film is considered to be one of the most elaborate films of its career, but was not a box-office success.

Tyrone Power initially took on the role of Salomon . However, he suffered a heart attack during a fencing scene with film partner George Sanders , whose supposed clumsiness led to the recording being repeated several times, and died on the set. The scenes with Tyrone Power were then re-shot with Yul Brynner .

synchronization

Reviews

"The turmoil of battle and superficial love banter without human passions and religious substance are admittedly skilfully put into the picture, but leave uninvolved beyond the monumental entertainment show."

- Lexicon of international film

"Solomon and the Queen of Sheba" with its wonderful love story and its impressive fight scenes is a masterpiece of the monumental film. "

- Prisma movie database

"Expensive snout from pre-Christian times, for which the Bible was hardly used as a source for research."

- Heyne Film Lexicon (1996)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used