Solomon and the Queen of Saba Original Title -Solomon And Sheba
Year - 1959
Director - King Vidor
Cast - Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders, Marisa Pavan , David Farrar, John Crawford
In 1958, Tyrone Power's proposal receives producer Ted Richmond to play Solomon, the wise king of Israel, in the over six million dollars "Solomon and the Queen Saba ", which share roles with the most famous Italian beauty then, Gina Lollobrigida. On September 5, "Ty" comes to Madrid with his new wife, who was pregnant. In the rough shooting, are disputes between Power and King Vidor, the same as "Duel in the Sun" -; Franco agents intrude into every scene, Lollobrigida's presence causes a stir, but nothing as shocking as what would happen when was about to finish filming.
The November 15, 1958, at approximately noon, began the filming of what would be the highlight of the movie, the duel between the characters of Solomon, played by Power and Adonijah , played by George Sanders. Nothing better to contemplate the photographs of the filming to realize that both players had taken their characters more seriously. But few minutes later felt bad Power. He drank a glass of brandy, lit a cigarette and collapsed. He was immediately taken to the nearest hospital, even wearing the clothes of Solomon, Gina's car, but everything was useless. He had suffered an angina attack that had destroyed his life.
What happen next was equally tragic and regrettable. The producers and director, instead of finishing what was left running with a double, they decided to filming all the scenes of the character of Solomon. Yul Brynner hired to replace the deceased and the scenes shot by Tyrone Power stayed forever in the archive. Well, most of them. Like a "tribute" is involved, King Vidor announced that included in the final cut those scenes in which Power appeared on his back. When the film was released in Christmas of 1959, the public went largely to see at least these scenes, the only character that we can see where the great actor Tyrone Power, had lost their lives.
Understandably then, that the film is not good. You should not have been easy for actors to re-shoot the scenes made with the friend who were killed. On the other hand, given the coldness of the producers, on November 16 arrived in Madrid Yul Brynner and immediately began filming again. At what point could prepare your character? Must have learned just the dialogue and that is what God wants!. It would have been better for the film to the public and to the memory of Tyrone Power shooting that ended with a double. "Solomon and Sheba" is in the history of cinema as an example of the coolness of this industry, where what matters most is money and no place for sentimentality. (Alfredo Guevara: BFI)
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