''Watusi'' (also known as ''King Solomon's Mines 2'') is a 1959 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

, It is the sequel to the 1950 film ''

King Solomon's Mines ''King Solomon's Mines'' (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the ...

''. The film was directed by Kurt Neumann and starring George Montgomery,

Taina Elg __NOTOC__ Taina may refer to: People Women * Taina Asili (), Puerto Rican musician, filmmaker and activist * Taïna Barioz (born 1988), French alpine skier * Taina Bien-Aimé, Swiss social activist * Taina Bofferding (born 1982), Luxembourgish ...

, David Farrar and Rex Ingram. It was produced by

Al Zimbalist Alfred N. Zimbalist (March 3, 1910, Kiev, Ukraine – August 28, 1975, Los Angeles) was a producer of low-budget films such as ''Robot Monster'', ''Monster from Green Hell'', ''Cat-Women of the Moon'', '' Watusi'' and ''Baby Face Nelson''. Al Z ...

and Donald Zimbalist. The screenplay was by

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best ...

loosely based on the 1885 novel ''

'' by

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform ...

Plot summary

The film opens in the British Protectorate of

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

in 1919, shortly after the conclusion of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Harry Quatermain ( George Montgomery) is the son of Allan Quatermain who first set out on the quest for the source of Solomon's wealth, and he is determined to succeed where his father failed. He goes to Africa with his good friend Rick Cobb ( David Farrar) and as they continue on their journey, Erica Neuler (

) joins them. She is the daughter of a missionary who has been killed by a local tribe. Harry cannot hide his antagonism toward Erica. She is German, and Harry's mother and sister were killed at sea by Germans in World War I when their vessel was attacked by a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

, afterwards Harry had to identify their bodies, and he has harbored anti-German sentiments ever since doing so.

Cast

* George Montgomery as Harry Quatermain *

as Erica Neuler * David Farrar as Rick Cobb * Rex Ingram as Umbopa * Dan Seymour as Mohamet * Robert Goodwin as Jim-Jim * Anthony M. Davis as Amtaga * Paul Thompson as Gagool * Harold Dyrenforth as Wilhelm von Kentner * Charles Swain as M'ban *

Martin Wilkins Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

as Wounded Native

Production

The film was originally known as ''Return to King Solomon's Mines'' and was the first movie produced for the studio by Al Zimbalist since he signed a contract with them. Director Kurt Neumann had just made '' The Fly'' (1958) which was written by

and Clavell wrote the screenplay for this.

was under contract to MGM at the time and had just made ''

Les Girls ''Les Girls'' (also known as ''Cole Porter's Les Girls'') is a 1957 American CinemaScope musical comedy film directed by George Cukor and produced by Sol C. Siegel, with Saul Chaplin as associate producer. The screenplay by John Patrick was base ...

'' for them. The film reuses some footage from a previous MGM adaptation of the novel, ''

'' (1950) starring

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...

and

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

. During filming, Irma Neumann, wife of director Kurt, died. A few weeks after filming completed, the director himself died as well."Kurt Neumann, director, dies in mystery"
(1958, Aug 22). ''Los Angeles Times''

Reception

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $695,000 in the US and Canada and $850,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $79,000.

References

External links

* * *

{{James Clavell 1959 films Films set in Africa 1950s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by James Clavell Films based on King Solomon's Mines Films directed by Kurt Neumann 1950s English-language films 1950s American films