Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 5-April-09
Spoiler Rating: Low

Solomon and Sheba (1959)

All the Bible-themed extravaganzas of the 1950s give off the same scent of absurd indulgence, with their dubious historical authenticity, racially incongruous actors, and bullheaded insistence on appearing both pious and titillating. I generally find them half amusing, half tedious, and Solomon and Sheba is no exception. However I do think it is one of the better representatives of the genre because of its harder-core religion and sexuality.

The latter characteristic results from the pairing of Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida. They play the king of Israel and queen of Sheba respectively. (You could make a double feature with Gregory Peck's David and Bathsheba for the sexiest dynasty of all time.) Admittedly, Brynner looked better without hair or shirt in The Ten Commandments, but he does not need to smolder so much with Lollobrigida in the room. Her biblically bodacious body could tempt the most dignified of patriarchs, which is what she sets out to do, and offers the ideal showcase for a splendid array of costumes. That's even before the pagan orgy scene.

The queen's plans for destruction by seduction hit a snag when she and Solomon actually fall in love. Then problems arise because they come from different cultures dominated by antithetical religious beliefs. This bit of ethnological drama is built up by the character of Jehovah himself. He is depicted as a jealous old-world god who talks directly to individuals, performs instant miracles for the penitent, and hurls thunderbolts when pissed off. Beyond prompting the pious notes, he becomes the unlikely source of an echo of ancient times when people viewed heaven and earth as smaller and closer together — and may or may not have been more bodacious.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.