The story has been told on film three times before, a tale of adventure, intrigue and action that is more than a century old.
But the new movie “King Solomon’s Mines,” airing at 5 and 9 p.m. June 12 on the Hallmark Channel, has a few features that make it distinct, executive producer Nick Lombardo says.
“The biggest difference is we had Patrick Swayze,” Lombardo said. “He has always portrayed characters of passion. … That is what shows on camera.”
Swayze called the film “a dramatic telling of the adventure, but with a sense of fun. I read this (story) when I was a little kid, and every kid has dreamed about being this kind of man. And out of that was born that whole genre of Indiana Jones.”
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Thrice-told tale
The story of Allan Quatermain and the search for King Solomon’s mines has been the inspiration for three other movies. Each film has different plot quirks, but all were titled “King Solomon’s Mines”: 1937: Cedric Hardwicke plays Quatermain, who goes in search of a missing fortune hunter named Patrick O’Brien at the request of O’Brien’s daughter Kathy.
1950: Stewart Granger is Quatermain. This time the missing man is the husband of a woman played by Deborah Kerr.
1985: Richard Chamberlain is Quatermain. He is hired to find the missing jungle explorer-father of Jesse Huston, played by Sharon Stone.
The Washington Post
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The tale is of explorer Allan Quatermain (Swayze), who goes in search of a kidnapped archeologist in the heart of Africa.
The captive’s daughter, Elizabeth Maitland (Alison Doody), insists on accompanying Quatermain on the rescue mission. Her father, being held by a native king, possesses a map that is the key to untold treasures, the legendary King Solomon’s mines.
Some of the subplots set this version apart from the others: Quatermain’s grief over his wife’s death, his vow never to return to Africa and his fight to gain custody of his young son in London.
“In the original, they were going back to Africa after treasure,” Swayze said. “But treasure doesn’t make an audience care. …
“So it has to be about something, and the something is, he needs the money for his son, because he wants to keep him.”
The basis for the story is an 1885 novel by H. Rider Haggard. The book introduced Quatermain, a hunter hired to find an Englishman’s brother and a diamond mine.
“Adventure, scope, betrayals, that is what attracted us to retell it,” Lombardo said. “… But we gave the Allan Quatermain character a sense of conservation.”
Not unlike his portrayer. Swayze, a self-described conservationist, said working with the film’s wildlife was a treat.
“There were two main elephants I worked with, Harry and Sally,” Swayze said. “I fell in love with Harry. When we were … getting ready to leave, I wanted to see if this elephant really knew who I was.
“I yelled at him, and …he ran to my vehicle and wrapped his trunk around my head. He didn’t want me to go.”
Hallmark Channel
Patrick Swayze stars as Allan Quatermain in Hallmark’s “King Solomon’s Mines.”
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