Solomon and Sheba

Solomon and Sheba (1959)

Timing: 2:19 (139 min)

6.3/10
87

6.795/10
853

6.2/10
4300

All about film

Video 1

Photo 24

Actors and characters

Release date

1959-12-18

Country

United States

Production

United Artists, Edward Small Productions

Genre

History, Romance

Budget

$5 000 000

Revenue

$12 200 000

Website

Director

King Vidor

Actors

Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders, Marisa Pavan, David Farrar, John Crawford, Finlay Currie, Harry Andrews, José Nieto, Maruchi Fresno
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Crane Wilbur

Producer

Ted Richmond, Tyrone Power

Operator

Freddie Young

Composer

Artist

José María Alarcón

Audition

Editing

Otto Ludwig
All team (47)

• Tyrone Power was originally cast as Solomon, but he died of a heart attack during the filming of the first scenes in Madrid.
• The film was the second, after “Sleeping Beauty,” to use the widescreen technology “Super Technirama 70.”
• More than half of the film had already been shot when actor and producer Tyrone Power (1914-1958) suffered a heart attack. This happened during a fight scene between Solomon, initially played by Power, and a character played by George Sanders (1906-1972) on November 10, 1958, and Power passed away five days later. Yul Brynner (1920-1985) replaced him in the role of Solomon. He reshot all the scenes that had already been filmed with Power, although Power can still be seen on screen in some long shots.
• According to David Farrar, he initially rejected the offer to play the pharaoh, considering the role too insignificant for an actor of his stature (he simply referred to himself as a star). He eventually agreed to play the pharaoh – in exchange for a fee of $2,000 per shooting day (he was involved in filming for four days), as well as the words “guest star” next to his name in the credits.
• The film was the second, after "Sleeping Beauty," to use the widescreen "Super Technirama 70" technology.